It’s unlikely audiences will revisit the Spider-Verse on the big screen anytime soon, with Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse eyeing a 2025 release date amid delays, but viewers can soon see a new story about Miles Morales for free from the comfort of their own home. Following its North American debut at last year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story is coming exclusively to YouTube courtesy of Sony. Variety reports that the short film will be available on Sony Pictures Animation‘s channel starting on March 27 as part of a partnership with the mental health outreach and support program, the Kevin Love Fund.
The Spider-Within sees Miles take a break from fighting multiversal threats and villains of the week to tackle a more insidious and all too common foe – Anxiety. Saddled with responsibilities as a student, a teenager, a friend, and the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, he experiences a panic attack when everything in life overwhelms him. The moment pushes him to address the manifestations of his anxiety and reach out to his support system in his time of need. It’s meant to send an important lesson to anyone struggling with mental health – opening up to and seeking help from others can be as brave as swinging into danger to save the day.
In addition to Annecy, the short also appeared as part of last year’s Animation Is Film Festival lineup, joining other animated darlings like The Boy and the Heron and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Described as a trippy and somewhat scary tour through Miles’s subconscious, the new Spider-Verse adventure was made for Sony Pictures Imageworks as part of the LENS (Leading and Empowering New Storytellers) mentorship program with Jarelle Dampier directing and Khaila Amazan writing. Shameik Moore and Brian Tyree Henry reprise their roles as Miles and his father, Jefferson Davis. In an official statement, Dampier hit on how he wanted to ensure audiences related to Miles’s struggle with The Spider Within and hoped that it would spark a realization in many viewers who love the character:
“Miles represents so many of us doing the best we can in our day-to-day lives. We don’t often realize all that we’ve been through until our own body forces us to become aware of its experience. My intention is that ‘The Spider Within’ can motivate deeper conversations amongst friends & family about their own mental health journeys – and I hope it feels like a love letter to those who adore Miles Morales.”
‘The Spider Within’ Contributes to a Worthy Cause
The release of The Spider Within directly ties into the KLF‘s new mental health-centric lesson plan “The Hero Within,” which is built for students to create their own stories around mental health awareness as part of an interactive curriculum. NBA star Kevin Love created the fund to ensure everyone has the means to live a healthy life mentally and physically without stigma by combining research, advocacy, education, and grantmaking into one program. In his own statement, he emphasized how the new Spider-Verse short represented the perfect partner for the KLF by showing what a healthy expression of mental health struggles looks like, especially for younger viewers:
“My hope for the short film would be for everyone, especially young people, to understand that your feelings are valid and that you are not alone in this. You see it with Spider-Man in the short film, where Miles has a trusted confidante. He is able to take a walk with his dad and express what he’s going through. We can all learn from that – how important it is to reach out to someone, express your true emotions, speak your truth, and not hold everything inside.”
The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story debuts on the Sony Pictures Animation YouTube channel on March 27 at 6 a.m. PT. Check out the Kevin Love Fund‘s official website for more information on everything they do to support mental health.
via Collider