Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has been heaped with praise by industry folks and fans alike since it hit theaters last December. The film took home an Oscar for best animated film, swept at the Annie Awards, and made $375 million at the global box office. Sony has a sequel and a spider-women spin-off planned. And according to Deadline, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller are set to expand the universe further as they develop a Spider-Verse TV series and more.
Deadline reports that Lord and Miller signed a massive five-year overall deal with Sony Pictures Television. This means they can develop their own projects for network, cable and streaming platforms, in addition to overseeing the work of others.
“We are so grateful to everyone at Sony Pictures Television for choosing to partner with us and expand our enduring relationship with the studio. Together we aim to make groundbreaking work of the highest quality and integrity, and to place that work in convenient proximity to your eyeballs and earholes, wherever you may be,” said Lord and Miller in a statement.
The news is in-line with previous announcements concerning the upcoming Spider-Verse films. In November, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Lord, Miller and Avi Arad are expected to be involved creatively in those films, though not to the extent that they were in the inaugural movie.
The outlet reported that Joaquim Dos Santos (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Voltron) will direct the Spider-Verse sequel, with producer Amy Pascal (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as the live-action Spidey movies) returning to her role for both the sequel and the spin-off. In addition, Lauren Montgomery (Voltron, Batman: Year One, Superman/Batman: Apocalypse) was in negotiations to helm the spider-women spin-off, with a script written by Bek Smith.
As of now, there doesn’t seem to be a public timeline for the next chapters in the Spider-Verse. However, Lord and Miller signing an exclusive deal with Sony is a good sign that there’s much to come, hopefully sooner rather than later.
