WARNING: This article contains spoilers about the events of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Read at your own risk.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse featured a couple of live-action elements that were great surprises for fans. Aside from the archive footage of the past live-action Spider-Man films, they also have Donald Glover's cameo as the Prowler and Spot visiting the Venom universe for a brief moment.
The film clearly established that every single Spider-Man films, TV shows, and other media in the past are part of the Spider-Verse canon although it was missing the proper appearances of any of the live-action versions.
Some fans are wondering whether they were planning to expand the live-action elements beyond what they've ended up doing and now we finally have the answer for it.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Originally Had More Live-Action Sequences
Speaking with Variety, the filmmakers behind Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse revealed that they had plans to do more live-actions sequences in the film. Unfortunately, they ended up scrapping it as the idea didn't work during conception.
Co-director Justin K. Thompson said, "We had even bigger ambitions."
"There were times when we had huge live-action sequences in the film, and it just turned into a bad joke. Even we didn’t like it anymore," co-director Kemp Powers added.
"And we just said, ‘OK, enough, let’s make sure that it’s something precise that gets the most bang for the buck, and speaks to the story,’"
The directors declined to reveal what the sequences looked like except that they made storyboards and animatics that has cut-out versions of the live-action characters.
This is certainly intriguing information since it confirms that we could have seen more live-action elements. In the end, what they ended up doing still worked and a lot of fans were delighted by it.
Who knows, maybe they'll do them eventually in the third film where it is expected to be bigger than the scale of the first two movies.
The Story Behind Donald Glover's Surprise Live-Action Cameo
The filmmakers also laid out some fascinating behind-the-scenes details on how they pulled off Glover's surprise live-action cameo appearance in the film where they revealed that it was shot during the later part of production.
"It was shot at a studio in New York. Chris Miller flew to be there in person, and Phil Lord and I were on the video feed giving direction. We got it in at the 11th hour. As a matter of fact, even in audience preview screenings, it was a little cardboard cutout of Donald Glover," Powers said.
Joaquim Dos Santos, another co-director, also revealed, "We knew it was still going to land, though, because the idea of it still got people geeked. That’s when you know you have something."
Glover's appearance was definitely a great surprise for fans since it was a nod to his role in Spider-Man: Homecoming where he played Aaron Davis. It remains unclear whether it's the same version as the film or it's another variant of one of the universes.
Also Read: Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse's Daniel Kaluuya Hints At A Spider-Punk Spin-Off
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is showing in theaters everywhere. You can check more details about it here.
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