Spider-Man: Beyond The Spider-Verse may still be a few months away, but it seems Sony is planning on filling that time with a new short film. Set in the Spider-Verse, The Spider Within will take a horror spin on Miles Morales, delving into the teenager’s anxieties as he attempts to don the mask and be a superhero. Thanks to The Wrap, we now have a first look still from the movie featured in this article’s cover image, as well as an interview from filmmaker Jarelle Dampier whose pitch won over Sony and series creators Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
While the entire interview is a great read, I want to focus on some more pertinent bits here. First off, Dampier talks about the origins of the idea of putting Miles in a horror-centered story and one that tackles his fears and anxieties living up to his new responsibilities. Dampier cited it as a combination of horror being his favorite genre, and an attempt at taking a beloved character and putting them in unexpected but relatable places, a mix that helps filmmakers extract a lot out of the proceedings.
My favorite genre is horror. I think it’s the perfect envelope to give great messages out, especially to younger audiences, and I think it’s something that we’ve kind of shied away from for a long time. But I think if you take a character that kids really love and you put that character in a thrilling situation, I think they get a lot out of it. I say kids, but really I’m talking about all of us. I’m talking about the kid inside of us, you know what I mean? The ability to use something scary with something we love, I think that’s the combination to landing the points, sticking the landing in the film.
Dampier then interestingly talks about receiving the offer from Sony to direct it as part of the studio’s LENS program (Leading and Empowering New Storytellers), only for panic to set in later on. He factored those feelings into his pitch for the movie, explaining that as great as the Spider-Verse movies are, their scale prevents us from exploring the character’s depths in intimate ways. A standalone short film like this provides that opportunity, while bringing something to the table that many of us can relate to.
When I was asked to direct at Sony, I accepted almost immediately, but that night I had the biggest panic attack I’ve ever had in my life and I spent the night in the hospital. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. The funny thing is people think it’s not just bad things. It’s even great things that happen to you. They can be so emotionally charged and overwhelming that, yeah, it just put my whole body in shock and it was scary. But that kind of led to the birth of this idea.
When we talked about what’s something that you feel like could be relevant to the story of Miles, and I think one of the things I didn’t want to do was inject a problem into a character without him really dealing with that. I think a lot of people who are fans of Miles, if I tell them my short’s about Miles being anxious, having a panic attack, most people who have been around a while, well, that seems like something that would happen to Miles.
He just seems like that kind of kid. But we’ve never been able to have that slice-of-life moment because the movies are so big and excellent and breathtaking. I think horror is just one of those great down-on-the-street-level genres that you can use to just get intimate and find out what really makes this character tick, what makes them scared, and what are they going to do to get through it. I love that.
Finally, when quizzed on where in the Spider-Verse does this movie fit, or if it serves as a prequel to the recently released Across The Spider-Verse, Dampiers played coy, suggesting that fans would have to wait for the movie’s release to find that out.
That’s an interesting theory. I will say that I would love to be able to answer that question, but I think I want to wait a little bit. I will say that there are several Easter eggs inside of the short.
Check out the whole interview through the source link below where Dampier talks about how he landed the job on his merits as a filmmaker, his collaboration process with Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and more. The Spider Within currently does not have a release date.
