Phil Lord, one of the writers of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, has shared the film's insane rewriting process that went on behind the scenes. Upon its release at the end of 2018, Into the Spider-Verse became a critically acclaimed hit, scoring a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and going on to win Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. Into the Spider-Verse brought beloved comics character Miles Morales (Shamiek Moore) to life while also introducing a number of other Spider-People from other dimensions, from Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) to Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld). A sequel has been officially announced for April 8, 2022.
Lord worked on the screenplay alongside Rodney Rothman, while directing credits went to Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rothman. In addition to writing Into the Spider-Verse, Lord served as one of the producers on the film alongside his frequent working partner Christopher Miller. The duo previously worked on films such as The LEGO Movie and 22 Jump Street. Famously, they were hired to direct Solo: A Star Wars Story before being ousted midway through the production, though they were still credited as producers.
On Twitter, Lord shared what he called the "storywheel" for Into the Spider-Verse. As he explained it, less than a year before the film's release, he and Rothman opted to shake up the story and had to "figure out how to reshape sequences we had already boarded and animated and fold them in with new stuff." He also said they "rebroke the while third act." Lord made sure to include pictures of whiteboards showing said shakeup, and it looks a bit like organized chaos. Check out his tweet below:
While the pictures themselves look a lot like scattered fragments, it's easy to pick out several moments from the film, like Miles and Peter's goodbye after the final battle. It sounds like Lord and Rothman were very stressed in planning out the new course of the film, but clearly it worked out well, seeing as Into the Spider-Verse is now widely considered one of the best Spider-Man films ever.
Fans are eager to see where Into the Spider-Verse 2 will go, and they've already gotten some teases from the filmmakers. Rothman previously hinted that one of the first film's side villains, Doc Ock (Kathryn Hahn), could become a bigger villain going forward. Plus, the sequel could include even more Spider-People from the comics. Into the Spider-Verse 2 is still a long ways off, but the first film remains on Netflix for everyone's viewing pleasure. Into the Spider-Verse has cemented itself as a beloved addition to the superhero genre, and thanks to Lord, fans have gotten more of an idea of how much work went into crafting such an excellent film.
Source: Phil Lord/Twitter
