Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, the first animated movie in the Spider-Man franchise, was released to great success in 2018. As its second installment, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, experienced the same critical and commercial achievement, its lead star, Jake Johnson, who plays the role of Peter B. Parker, was asked if he would be interested in taking his character out of animation and bring it to the world of live-action. Though the actor seems skeptical, he reveals one condition that will convince him to do it.
While promoting his new comedy film Self Reliance, Johnson revealed to Comicbook that he already loved Spider-Man as it is. But though he loves its animation, the decision to do a live-action will still be up to its producers, Phil Lord and Chris Miller.
“I think for me, truthfully, it's all about Phil Lord and Chris Miller,” he said.
A fellow filmmaker himself, Johnson revealed that if he ever got a text from Lord or Miller that they would like him to be part of the potential live-action, he would definitely be in it. But if the offer comes from Sony Pictures, which produces the animated movies, with a different director, he would be less excited about it.
“I think that a lot of this stuff is ... There's an element that's just money to make money, and projects just to make money,” he explained. “And then there's a few people who really care, and those people who really care, if it's them, I'm on board for anything."
Johnson is confident that a possible Spider-Man live-action will be “thoughtful, good, and mean so much to many people” if Lord and Miller will handle it. But he will refuse if it’s just him who will do it without these two directors.
He then confessed his love for his character and that the thought of Peter B. Parker not returning to the Spider-Verse makes him sad. He’s always pitching on this role, trying to honor him and making sure he’s funny because he’s their Spider-Man. He even added that he loves playing Peter B. Parker, who means so much to him, so he didn’t consider doing it outside the animated films.
Will there be Spider-Verse 3?
Lord and Miller confirmed the third Spider-Verse film in December 2021 when the second movie, Across the Spider-Verse, was supposed to be split into two. Originally titled Across the Spider-Verse Part Two, it was later retitled Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. It was set to release in 2023 but was later delayed due to the actors’ strike, as it prevented the voice cast from recording their lines on schedule.
Hence, now that the strike is over, Deadline reported that the voice recording would resume, though it didn’t reveal when. The film was already taken off its 2024 schedule, and there are no words yet on when it will be officially released.
Live-action is all the rave today. With the success of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece, followed by Yoshihiro Togashi’s Yu Yu Hakusho, it looks like this will be the future of the famous animated series and manga. That said, it may not be far that a live-action adaptation of Spider-Man may be in development in the future.
