Netflix has more original TV shows and movies than any other streaming service, but some of the most exciting additions are licensed content. For example, on Tuesday, Deadline reported that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has set its Netflix premiere date for October 31. The animated sequel has been available to rent and buy for over a month, but this is the first time it will be available to watch on a streaming service.
Sony has struggled to impress critics or general audiences with its recent live-action comic book movies, but the Spider-Verse films have been bona fide hits. 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse made nearly $400 million at the worldwide box office, garnered a sterling 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and found a second life streaming on Netflix.
This June, Across the Spider-Verse premiered to near-universal acclaim and an even larger box office haul of $690 million, along with a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The sequel picks up a little over a year after the first movie. Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is having trouble balancing his superhero duties with his education and his social life. He ends up reconnecting with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), only to draw the ire of a huge team of Spider-People who see him as a threat to the multiverse.
Across the Spider-Verse was initially set to be the one and only direct sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, but Sony eventually decided to split the story into two movies as the story grew. The third movie, Beyond the Spider-Verse, is currently slated to hit theaters on March 29, 2024, but given the Hollywood strikes and the rapid turnaround time, it seems unlikely the filmmakers will be able to make that date. That said, no new release date has been announced.
