Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, as Mashable’s Kristy Puchko wrote, has reminded us of « the wonders animation can bring — even to the overexposed superhero genre. » Behind the scenes, however, animators describe unsustainable working conditions that may even delay the next movie, Beyond the Spider-Verse.
In a report by Vulture, four pseudonymous Spider-Verse animators say the relentless revisions on the project delayed the release and made 100 animators quit. The release of Spider-Verse was pushed from April 2022 to October 2022, then again to June 2023.
It’s typical that there are major changes with an animated story — in the early stages of development and storyboarding. Apparently, writer-producer Phil Lord (who wrote and produced the movie with his creative partner, Chris Miller) fiddled with the movie during the layout stage, when the first 3-D storyboard renderings are created. This led to a three-to-six-month time period where the animators couldn’t work, they say, which then caused them to work 11-hour days, seven days a week, for more than a year, to make up for the lag.
Lord allegedly demanded approval for every sequence of the film, as well. « Phil does have good ideas. He speaks creatively really well, and listening to Phil can be inspiring. But the process is not inspiring, » one animator claimed to Vulture. They described an analogy of Lord pulling together construction workers to make a building without a blueprint, then making them scrap work and start over.
These animators also doubt that Beyond the Spider-Verse will be released in March 2024 as announced. Another told Vulture, « There’s no way that movie’s coming out then. »
Sony executives that spoke toVulture denied these claims about Lord’s management style. They also declined to comment on whether Beyond the Spider-Verse will be delayed.
