Starting with 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the Spider-Verse animated movie series has been quite successful and very popular. The first movie was followed five years later in the form of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which was an even bigger hit, and both are loosely based on the overall Spider-Verse concept from the comics. It ended, however, on a notable cliffhanger, which leads directly into the third and final movie.

, which is unfortunately years away. While Miles Morales is obviously going to return, the rest of the Spider-Verse's broad web of characters remains up in the air. Thankfully, there are a few elements that have been confirmed, though little of it has to do with the story direction.

Miles Morales became more cemented as the new Spider-Man on his home world in 2023's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. However, this familiarity is soon disturbed by his old friends Peter B. Parker/Spider-Man and another world's version of Gwen Stacy/Spider-Woman. These two have now become invited to the multiversal "Spider Society," which is where Spider-Men and Spider-Woman from throughout the multiversal congregate.

Things are made worse by the presence of The Spot, a villain who has powers that are also tied to the multiverse. Eventually running afoul of Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099, Miles departs to stop his own canon event from taking place. Unfortunately for him, this sees him lost in a parallel universe in which his father has already died, and that universe's Miles Morales equivalent has become the evil Prowler.

, showcasing a captured Miles, with Gwen Stacy and his other friends on their own as a group to try and find him. Beyond that, however, there's no clue as to where the sequel will go. Miles facing his multiversal counterpart and reuniting with his friends will be one part of the story in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, and the same goes for the obvious threats of Spider-Man 2099 and The Spot.

Sadly, none of the cast and crew working on the new movie have solidified a story direction for the next movie. This stems from its unexpectedly muddled production so far, which is a big reason why the movie hasn't swung into theaters already. The main thing that's known is that Phil Lord and Christopher Miller are intentionally seeking to make an emotional Spider-Verse conclusion while avoiding the issues seen in other "threequels," be they superhero movies or notable disappointments such as The Godfather Part III.

, who's from the world of Earth-1610 (the designation of Miles' world in the original Ultimate Universe comic books) currently trapped in the reversed world of Earth-42. He's voiced the character since the beginning of the series, and he had made his cinematic debut three years beforehand in the 2015 live-action movie Dope. Jason Schwartzman will once again voice Johnathon Ohnn, a.k.a. The Spot, who represents the biggest threat to both Miles and the Spider Society as a whole. This character actually debuted in the first Spider-Verse in a particularly short appearance, but his narrative purpose wasn't established until Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. So far, it seems that character is the ultimate villain for the series, but there may be another major villain introduced in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. Karan Soni will reprise his role as Pavitr Prabhakar, also known as Spider-Man India, while voice actor Jharrel Jerome will again play the Earth-42 version of Miles Morales/The Prowler.

, though this is likely a formality. After all, these characters logically have to show up in order to find Miles (as shown by the previous movie's cliffhanger), and it wouldn't make sense to recast them at this point with actors besides Hailee Steinfeld and Jake Johnson. The latter has even personally expressed interest in wanting to come back, and given his fan-favorite, he's certain to show up in some capacity. Initial voice work only began in January 2025, however, after so much work on the animated movie was delayed due to the preceding SAG-AFTRA strike. With wheels once again turning for the movie, it's likely that more cast members will be announced, namely once the release date is finalized.

Fans were finally rewarded after years of patience when Spider-Man: beyond the SPider-Verse released a few brand new images from the film. A small teaser trailer was also shown to attendees that has yet to be released to the public. The teaser mostly reiterated Miles's plans from Across the Spider-Verse's finale while also teasing a few of the main characters in Beyond the Spider-Verse.

The new images showcase the alternate Miles Morales and his role as Prowler, as well as the inevitable confrontation between that Miles and the Spider-Man version he captured at the end of the last film. The Spider-Verse franchise's unique animation style was also showcased in the bright yet frenetic images, further teasing audiences who are still dreaming about the long-awaited release.

Before the first movie even came out, Sony Pictures Animation was interested in sequels for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The idea for the first sequel (which already involved The Spot) was deemed too big to have as one movie, resulting in it being split into two films.These were initially referred to as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One and Part Two, with the first going to be released theatrically in 2024 before being pushed up to 2023.

Ideas for the third movie were shelved and even scrapped entirely as work on the second was finished, showcasing just how many divergent directions this sequel might have gone in. In June 2023, following the second movie's release, Lord and Miller confirmed that Beyond the Spider-Verse would be the final part of what's planned as a trilogy, all while ensuring a closed chapter for Miles Morales. Many fans have already hypothesized about what this means, with some believing that the trilogy will conclude with Miles Morales losing his powers.

Lord and Miller also stated two years ago that the third movie would take as long as needed to perfect the story, with the script at the time not even having an ending yet. As mentioned, the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike kept any work (namely voice work) from being done for the movie, meaning that its March 2024 release date was impossible to maintain. The first planned release date for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse was later taken by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the newest Sony Ghostbusters movie and the sequel to Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Sadly, a concrete release date wasn't given after that, especially as plans have changed for the screenwriters and the studio itself.

Bob Persichetti and Justin K. Thompson are the directors for the movie, replacing Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson. Likewise, Miller and Lord's script was also worked on by David Callaham, who helped write the second movie, as well. Another returning talent is composer Daniel Pemberton, whose score for Beyond the Spider-Verse is engineered to have cohesion with the first two movies. The singer d4vd confirmed in 2024 to be working on music for the movie as well, though little else has been said about this after he also gave a release date for the movie that ended up not coming true.

In 2024, journalist Jeff Sneider reported that the third entry in the franchise might not be released until 2027. This was ultimately confirmed by the CinemaCon announcement that ​​​​​​​. This is likely due to Sony not wanting it to be released in the same year as and compete with the next live-action Spider-Man movie, which is set to be released in July 2026.

Years beforehand, there was also talk of a Spider-Women spinoff based around the female Spider-Verse heroes, such as Spider-Woman/Gwen Stacy. So far, however, there's been nothing but radio silence on this potential project, which may not see the light of day. It will more than likely be produced and released after Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, which is the main animated feature for the franchise that's being prioritized at the moment.