As Sony Pictures shuffles its release schedule, Miles Morales fans will have to wait a year for the hero to return. According to Variety, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has been moved from its original Oct. 7 release date to June 2, 2023. The third entry in the trilogy Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part II, is scheduled to hit theaters on March 29, 2024.
Across the Spider-Verse, the follow-up to 2018 Oscar-winner Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, once again stars Shameik Moore as the voice of Miles Morales, our Black/Latinx Spider-Man, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew/Spider-Woman and Oscar Isaac as Spider-Man 2099. The film follows Miles as he and Gwen travel through the Spider-Verse for more adventures while meeting various Spider-people.
There’s no reason given for the schedule change, but if I had to guess, I’d say Sony is probably experiencing the same post-production back up that other studios are working through. Warner Bros. recently shifted its schedule due to a log jam at visual effects houses.
As disappointing as that Spider-Verse news is, it’s tempered by the excitement of having The Equalizer 3 officially announced. Star Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua will return for the film, which is scheduled for release on September 1, 2023. In case you haven’t seen the first two during one of their multiple airings on TNT or FX, the story revolves around former spy Robert McCall, who faked his death and now uses his skills to help regular people. Per Box Office Mojo, The Equalizer made $192 million worldwide, with The Equalizer 2 bringing in $190 million. Those aren’t blockbuster numbers, but for films geared toward an older audience, they’re a big deal. And in the new post-COVID box office, that’s considered massive.
A third Equalizer movie sounds really cool, but what we really need is a crossover with Queen Latifah’s similarly titled great CBS action-drama. Imagine a world where Latifah and Denzel get to kick bad guy ass side by side? Would we call that The Equalizer Cinematic Universe?