Miles Morales’ story continues, and this time, fans are about to see it for free on YouTube. Sony Pictures Animation and Imageworks have collaborated with the Kevin Love Fund to digitally release the Spider-Verse animated short titled The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story on the former’s official YouTube channel on Wednesday, March 27. But instead of seeing Miles fighting off the enemies, he will be seen struggling with what seems to be the most relatable problem teenagers experience today: balancing responsibilities.
With the success of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, receiving critical acclaim and setting several box office records, the famed NBA player’s organization aims to use Miles’ story to tackle mental health issues and create a lesson plan called The Hero Within that focuses on students’ well-being. This lesson plan encourages students to tell their own stories through mental health awareness using an interactive curriculum that features a creative storyboard activity.
Talking about this project, The Spider Within director Jarelle Dampier told Variety that Miles represents the story of many people doing their best in their everyday lives. So, he wanted to use this short to ignite “deeper conversations among friends and family about their own mental health journeys.”
We don’t often realize all that we’ve been through until our own body forces us to become aware of its experience. …I hope it feels like a love letter to those who adore Miles Morales.
Alternatively, Kevin Love, known for being a professional NBA player, a mental health advocate, and behind the said foundation, wanted the young people to know their feelings are valid and they’re not the only ones experiencing what they feel through the Spider-Verse animated short. He also revealed what the viewers could learn from The Spider Within that they had to apply in real life.
You see it with Spider-Man in the short film, where Miles has a trusted confidante. He is able to take a walk with his dad and express what he’s going through. We can all learn from that – how important it is to reach out to someone, express your true emotions, speak your truth, and not hold everything inside.
What is The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story about?
Set in the world of Across the Spider-Verse, The Spider Within tells the story of Miles as he finds it hard to balance his responsibilities of living his day-to-day life, from being a normal teenager, friend, student, and an extraordinary superhero Spider-Man. As he navigates all these things, he feels pressured and suffers from a panic attack that will lead him to confront his manifestations and do the bravest thing that he can ever do: ask for help.
You can read the synopsis below:
Miles Morales struggles to balance his responsibilities as a teenager, friend, and student while acting as Brooklyn's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. After a particularly challenging day living with these pressures, Miles experiences a panic attack that forces him to confront the manifestations of his anxiety and learn that reaching out for help can be just as brave an act as protecting his city from evil.
The short debuted at Annecy in 2023. It was developed and produced during the first year of Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Leading and Empowering New Storytellers (LENS) program, which aimed to help candidates from underrepresented groups gain valuable leadership experience in animation. As a final project of the nine-month program, they came out with an original short film set in the existing world of Sony Pictures Animation and Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. It's written by Khaila Amazan and produced by LENS program creators Michelle Raimo-Kouyate and David Schulenburg
What is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse about?
The second installment to the Spider-Verse trilogy, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse follows the story of Miles as he works together with Gwen Stacy, who happens to be the Spider-Woman, across the Multiverse. Here, he meets a group of Spider-People called the Spider-Society, led by Miguel O’Hara/Spider-Man 2099. However, problems arise when a new threat comes.
You can read the synopsis below:
Miles goes on an adventure with Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman across the Multiverse, where he meets a team of Spider-People led by Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 known as the Spider-Society, but comes into conflict with them over handling a new threat in the form of the Spot.
Across the Spider-Verse was released in June 2023 with great success, following the 2018 film Spider-Mean: Into the Spider-Verse. The third and final movie in the trilogy, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, is now in development.
Many teenagers today look up to Miles Morales as he effortlessly navigates his teenage years while fighting off enemies and saving the world. But like other teens, Kevin Love Fund wants to show that Miles experiences real-life problems, too, to make the young viewers feel that they’re not alone and it’s alright to ask for help.
