If everything had gone to plan for Sony Pictures Animation, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse would have been released in theaters last week. The previous Spider-Verse film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, left Miles Morales on quite a cliffhanger ending, and we’re still waiting for that to be resolved in the sequel. But in the interim, Sony Pictures Animation is checking in with Miles in a new animated short, The Spider-Within: A Spider-Verse Story.
The short takes place somewhere between the events of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Across the Spider-Verse, as Miles feels the weight of the world on his shoulders. His parents don’t know that he’s the new Spider-Man, and he can’t explain to them why his focus is so torn between his studies and his life as a superhero. So they think he’s skirting his responsibilities without realizing that Miles is putting himself on the line every day.
That pressure finally takes its toll when Miles comes home too tired to even watch some movies with his father, Jefferson Davis. Instead, Miles attempts to relax and sleep, but that plunges him into a vivid nightmare, where he is visited by the literal spider within him. Or should we say thousands of spiders? And this is the one foe that not even Spider-Man can defeat by simply punching it.
Shameik Moore reprises his role as Miles Morales for the short, and Brian Tyree Henry rerturns Jefferson Davis. Unlike Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man, Miles still has both of his parents, which means he can still look to Jefferson for comfort and guidance as he does here. Because even superheroes need to keep their mental health in mind.
The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story was directed by Jarelle Dampier from a script by Khaila Amazan. Sony has posted it for free on YouTube, and it will presumably be on the Blu-ray of a future Spider-Verse movie.
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