It’s been five long years since the world was forever changed by the release of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It didn’t just mark a major shift in big-budget animation. It also brought a comic book Latine superhero to the big screen for the first time in a leading role: Miles Morales. We love Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) and Gamora (Zoe Saldaña), but they are not Earthlings shaped by a cultural heritage traced back to Latin America.
The web-slinger also came four years after Sunspot (Adam Canto) was a part of the large ensemble in X-Men: Days of Future Past. All this to say Miles is a huge deal. Now, several understandable delays later, we are finally coming up on a continuation of his story with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Now, per Variety, we’ve learned that there’s also a short animated feature coming, too!
Nine days after Across the Spider-Verse comes out, The Spider Within will premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. This film is part of a very exciting Sony Pictures mentorship project called LENS (Leading and Empowering New Storytellers). Guided by Michelle Raimo Kouyate and David Schulenburg, LENS sources talented filmmakers from underrepresented groups and gives them the opportunity to work on big projects in leadership positions. The Spider Within featured the inaugural LENS mentees Jarelle Dampier, Khaila Amazan, Clara Chan and Joe Darko.
They told Variety,
Animation is the most collaborative art form there is, and it takes a special place to open its doors and foster creatives who have the potential to tell great stories, but haven’t been given their chance to shine. We are so grateful for this experience and the opportunity to create something meaningful, and we can’t wait to share it with the world
Initiatives like these are very important to the work of diversifying filmmaking—which is a win for everyone! A Miles Morales short is the perfect way to start this venture. After all, the success of the first movie—alongside other major films in 2018 like Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians—instilled more faith in Hollywood to invest in talent and stories from people of color.
The Spider Within
This short will follow Miles just being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. In his film debut, we’ve only really seen him starting to come into his power and deal with multi-versal conflict involving several other Spider-heroes. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse appears to extend that narrative in some pretty big ways. However, this short will focus on him just navigating the “regular” Spider-Man struggles—balancing responsibilities and growing up.
After a stressful day of these pressures, the superhero experiences a panic attack. Fully worn down by everything else that led to the attack, Miles reaches out for help. He learns that not everything can be tackled alone. Also, reaching out for help is just as important as everything he does for his community. In a time of increasing levels of mental health concerns among everyone, but especially kids Miles’ age and younger, this seems like a much-needed story to tell.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish recently explored anxiety and what many have perceived to be panic attacks. However, we could always use more good media on this subject, especially in a country where basic healthcare is not accessible.
(via Variety, featured image: Sony Pictures Releasing)
