The problems of being Spider-Man are well-known at this point — the delicate balance of fighting crime while keeping a separate personal life going. Whether you’re Peter Parker, Miles Morales or Spider-Ham, it’s a universal fact of the webslinging life. In the new short released by Sony today, that fact seems to be digging at Miles to the point of being overwhelming.
No one currently knows when the third chapter in the Spider-Verse trilogy will be released. The film was originally promised for March 29 — this coming Friday — but was removed from the schedule months ago by Sony. Allegedly this was due to the actor’s and writer’s strikes, but there was also a lot of bad press over the working conditions at Sony Animation which, hopefully, made them take a pause to restructure things.
As this short begins, Miles is feeling low over the pressure of his life. He’s not doing so well in school, and his superheroics are literally taking a beating on him. The worst thing is, he can’t tell anyone. When he trudges through the door and his father invites him to watch the horror movie he’s checking out, Miles turns the offer down, and goes to wallow in his room.
But Miles’ anxieties may be too strong to bear. He’s now having a nightmare where they’ve manifested in the form of the movie monster he just saw downstairs! We should warn you while the Spider-Verse movies are family-friendly, this is a very creepy short. As in “Don Bluth without any studio notes” creepy. That creepy.
You know what else is cool about this short? It’s not technically a Lord Miller production, but was created by folks who hope they can get where Lord and Miller are someday. It was created through Sony Imageworks’ LENS program, which seeks out young talent from marginalized backgrounds and gives them the funds to create animated projects. This particular short was directed by Jarelle Dampier from a screenplay by Khaila Amazan. They may not be huge names now, but may be in the future.
