Spiderman: Across the Spiderverse has quickly become one of the most successful movies of the year, with box office numbers nearing $650 million. Writer-producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller credit a huge chunk of this success to the three directors of the movie: Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson.
All three are accomplished creatives in the entertainment industry; Powers was a screenwriter of Soul, Dos Santos has worked on many animated TV shows such as Avatar: The Last Airbender, and Thompson was a production designer on Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Thompson said the process for putting together a Spiderverse movie works as an assembly line: “working on the writing, which is at the front end of that pipeline. Then Joaquim will be in the middle with storyboards and layouts. Then it comes to me to put the final assembly together.”
Along with working with the voice actors, Dos Santos brought in his expertise with action animation to the animation room, allowing the whole project to be brought together in a cohesive way.
“I have waited my entire career for there to be a time where an animated feature film could be told this way, drama mixed with comedy and a no-rules take on what animation could be,” said Dos Santos. “I’m excited to take the momentum of this film and apply it to animation moving forward.”
Spiderman: Beyond the Spiderverse is out in theaters.