Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse massive chase sequence took four years to animate

Across The Spider-Verse co-director Joaquim Dos Santos stated the film’s enormous chase sequence took four years to make.

The latest adventure into the Spider-Man multiverse was an absolute visual feast, full of jaw-dropping animation in practically every scene. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse boasted several animation styles, including a stop-motion LEGO scene created by a 14-year-old super fan, it’s no wonder the film had to be split into two parts, continuing the story in next year’s Beyond The Spider-Verse. Out of all the scenes featured in the film, one in particular required a lot of time to perfect, and it was none other than the cinematic insanity of Miles Morales being chased down by an army of Spider-People.

Take a look at Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse in action below.

Warning, mild spoilers lie ahead. The scene involved a fearful and emotionally traumatised Miles Morales attempting to escape the Spider-Society HQ, while being pursued by Spider-Man 2099 and hundreds of other wall-crawlers. It was a thrilling and intense scene, and like the rest of the film, beautifully animated.

Co-director Joaquim Dos Santos recently discussed the scene in an interview, confirming the whole sequence was four years in the making. Santos said, “If you think about the Guggenheim sequence, that was the first thing that we storyboarded, that was the last thing that locked animation in the film. So that was the entire four years that sequence was worked on. I think Justin [K. Thompson, co-director] has the actual figure, but if you were to line up the hours worked on this film in a straight line, it's like 792 hours straight … it’s insane.”

Safe to say, those hundreds of hours were well spent as Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse is being hailed as one of the best-animated movies ever made, being absolutely adored by both critics and fans of the character. We called the film “the greatest superhero sequel of all time” in our review, which is well worth checking out.