Last-Minute Twists of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: What the audience gets to witness on screen is the final product. But what we never get to witness is the toil of the makers to bring the best before the audience. No matter how great the story is, the back story attached to it always brings many intriguing twists. Recently, directors of the Oscar-nominated film, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” shared during an interview with Collider how the film came into being after so much hassle.
Directors Justin K. Thompson, Kemp Powers, & Joaquim Dos Santos sat for a Q&A with Collider and revealed the challenges behind the last-minute changes. The trio shared that they made some changes in the film that were not initially there when the production began.
Spider-Verse Sequel underwent some crucial changes before its theatrical release
It’s a constant quest of an artist to present their work in the best way possible. And when the three good directors are behind the camera, how can they miss out on delivering their finest product? Filmmakers Justin K. Thompson, Kemp Powers, and Joaquim Dos Santos have poured their passion into the Spider-Verse film, and the appreciation and accolades it received are proof of it. However, the story of this success would have been different if the visionary filmmakers hadn’t invested themselves so keenly in the production. During their conversation with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, the trio opened up about the last-minute changes implemented in the film.
They gave some interesting insights about the making of the film that included the ending’s two big twists. Explaining the scene where Miles Morales discovers his Earth-42 counterpart is the Prowler, Santos said, “Initially in Earth 42 at the end, that Miles wasn’t the Prowler, remember? We had even designed the character quite differently, and it was fairly late in the game, and we were kind of doing an audience review, and we started texting one another during the review, and I felt so guilty because it was like, “Oh my god, the character designers are gonna have to redo this character because wouldn’t it be great if he was the Prowler in this universe?”
Santos further added that it was Kemp Powers’ idea. To which Powers’ said, “It was never too late to make it better.”
The next scene, which was altered, was Gwen Stacy putting together a team to bring Miles home. Thompson shared, the ending that you just watched, where Spider-Gwen goes out and gathers Peter B. and Mayday and Peni and Noir and Ham, and she kind of gets the band back together to go save Miles, and you’re filled with hope and excitement that, “Oh, they’re gonna go back,” and, “Oh, it’s coming! They’re gonna get the band back together.”
This was indeed a crucial moment, as Thompson admitted that they didn’t figure it out “until about six weeks before the film wrapped.” He went on to say, “We actually had a screening, and it just ended with Miles on the bag, and everybody was just like, “Boo!” And we went, “Oh god, what are we gonna do? We gotta do something.”
Even the best of directors need inspiration for their work, and for Spider-Verse sequel makers, it was the 1980 sci-fi film “The Empire Strikes Back.” Watching the film, they realized that what their film lacks is a hopeful ending. Thompson said, “We ran back, and we quickly scrambled and brainstormed and realized. We went back and watched “The Empire Strikes Back” again and said, “How did Empire Strikes Back do it?” And we realized, “Oh, they gave you hope at the end.”
Thompson continued, “Okay, we need our Go Rescue Han moment.” So we boarded it, animated it, put it all together within six weeks, and then screened it again. The audience went through the roof, and we went, “Okay!”
The keen eye for the details and determination to rework the film are what led the film to become this year’s Best Animated Feature nominee. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” grossed over $690 million at the worldwide box office. Now, the audience eagerly awaits the third installment of “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is currently streaming on Netflix.
