Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse writers, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord reveal that the film did not perform well at an early test screening. Released back in 2018, Sony’s animated take on the beloved comic-book hero, Spider-Man, enchanted audiences with its unique and innovative animation style. The film saw Shameik Moore voice Miles Morales, as he encountered a number of Spider-Man variants, who teach him the true meaning behind putting on the Spider-Man mask.
Following a triumphant box office run that saw it become one of the most successful releases of 2018, Into The Spider-Verse went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. The film’s major success spawned an immediate demand for a sequel, meaning fans were delighted at the announcement that the film would receive two follow-up movies, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Parts One and Two. Despite its success, however, it has now been revealed that Into The Spider-Verse was not an immediate hit with audiences.
Recently appearing on the Happy Sad Confused podcast (via The Direct), Miller and Lord shared how an early test screening for the film, that took place in Arizona, received an overall bad response from its audience. The screening lead the two writers to make a number of adjustments to ensure that the final cut of the film would align with what audiences wanted, as they just “weren’t engaging with it.” Check out the full quote below.
Every single thing that we’ve done, we’ve had some screening midway through the production where we all looked at each other going ‘We are screwed. We are absolutely screwed.’ Even Spider-Verse! We did an early test in Arizona, and it did not test well at all. We made some adjustments, we figured out what people were bumping on, why they weren’t engaging with it, and you just keep working. It’s just a thing that evolves. The audience sort of tells you what it wants, and then you have to figure out the way to give what they don’t realize they want. It is a case of just grinding, where you kinda go ‘I’m trying to sustain an audience’s engagement in this thing for as long as possible,' which means you have to sit there and watch it going like ‘Alright, those five seconds, those are great. The next five seconds, those are great.’ Then, something happens in my body like, the whole thing grinds to a halt, and I’m like ‘What? That was dumb.’ And then you gotta either cut it or beat it, usually, we try to beat it because we try to leave it all on the field, and then only cut things down as a last resort.
The pair recently revealed that they have more confidence going into their Spidey sequel, which has ultimately enabled them to take Miles Morales to "places you couldn't imagine." Miller and Lord also revealed that they had almost no limitations when it came to which Spider-Man universes they wanted to visit in the film, offering a real tease as to what could be on the cards this time around. The sequel will see Moore and Steinfeld return, with Oscar Isaac set to have an expanded role following on from his exciting end credit scene during Into The Spider-Verse's final moments.
When considering the immense success that Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse enjoyed throughout its theatrical release and beyond, it's hard to imagine how the film could have been so drastically different that it received an overwhelmingly negative response from its early audience. It's certainly a credit to Miller and Lord that they were able to take the criticisms and turn the film into the critically acclaimed award-winner it is today. Now that the pair have seemingly nailed the formula, audiences can look forward to Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (Part One) when it releases later this year.
Source: Happy Sad Confused (via The Direct)
