New photos revealed some major Spider-Man villains that were removed from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse at the last minute.
Sony's latest web-slinging adventure is continuing to roll at the box office as Shamiek Moore's Miles Morales traverses the greater Multiverse for the first time in the animated franchise.
Miles' Multiversal travels brought him face-to-face with hundreds of Variants of Marvel's iconic webhead.
As it turns out, there are even more alternate takes on the wall-crawler that were cut from the movie, along with a whole swath of other Spider-Verse content.
Villians Cut from Spider-Verse 2
New concept art from the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse artbook offered fans a first glimpse at from Spider-Man villains who were removed from the animated sequel.
- Puma
- Art Deco Chameleon
- Glistening Sliver Diamond Head
The artbook revealed the "film’s character designers were asked to come up with a wide range of background villains;" however, "many of which didn’t make the final cut:"
"The film’s character designers were asked to come up with a wide range of background villains for some of the scenes in the movie, many of which didn’t make the final cut."
- Snake Oil Salesman Hobgoblin
- Leap-Frog
- Actual Octopus Doctor Octopus
- Ultimate Mysterio
- Knives-in-the-Back Rhino
Director Justin K. Thompson remarked that the team "wanted to really express the range of diversity in this universe," so he asked the character design team to work up "designs for villains with all kinds of body types, physiques, and backgrounds:"
“We wanted to really express the range of diversity in this uni verse, so l asked Kris Anka, Jesús Alonso Iglesias, and Ami Thompson to lake a pass at coming up with designs for villains with all kinds of body types, physiques, and backgrounds, just as we did for our heroes.”
- Robot Suit Alistair Smythe
- Bear Skin Grizzly
- Leather Jacket Kraven
- Cartoon Electro
He added that their "approach to the heroes also extends to the villains," including alternate takes on iconic big bads from across the Spidey canon:
“Our approach to the heroes also extends to the villains. That’s why we have a medieval Vulture and Hobgoblin who wears a flashy sequin suit and looks like snake oil salesman or motivational speaker!”
- J. Jonah Jameson's Spider-Slayer MK I
- Mooseterio
- Cavewoman Boomerang
- TV-on-the-Head Screwball
Some of these different Multiversal takes on beloved Marvel antagonists included a Doctor Octopus that was an actual octopus, a leather jacket-clad Kraven, and Moosterio (a cartoon take on Mysterio).
While most of these characters never made it into the super-powered blockbuster, there are hints of them sprinkled throughout the film like Kraven, Rhino, Grizzly, and Mooseterio making cameos as prisoners in the Spider-Society's detainment area.
Where Were the Villains in Spider-Verse 2?
While Into the Spider-Verse featured a bevy of iconic villains from across Spider-Man lore (i.e. Kingpin, Doc Ock, Scorpion, and Prowler), Spider-Verse 2 was significantly lacking in that department.
Instead, more focus was put on the primary antagonist of the film (and its eventual sequel), Jason Schwartzman's The Spot.
Perhaps all this concept art was done for these Multiversal villains with the intention of getting them into Spider-Verse 2, but as the movie ballooned in scale were pushed to be a bigger part of the next movie.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse did a fantastic job of focusing on the sheer breadth of the Spider-Verse and all its wonderful and wacky Spider-Man Variants.
Given next year's Beyond the Spider-Verse will be the culmination of this critically-acclaimed trilogy, having Miles and co. go up against hundreds of different Spider-Men as well as Spider-Man villains from across the Multiverse.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters worldwide.
