Andy Samberg Confirmed to Play Scarlet Spider in SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
It was recently reported that Andy Samberg jumped on board Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse to voice one of the 280 Spider-Man characters that will appear in the film. It was speculated that he would be playing Ben Barnes aka Scarlett Spider in the film and it looks like that speculation is correct! It’s been confirmed that Samberg is, in fact, voicing Scarlet Spider.
It was also announced that Amandla Stenberg (The Darkest Minds, The Hate U Give) will be voicing Spider-Byte. These announcements were shared on the film’s official Twitter feed.
In the comics, Scarlet Spider is a clone of Peter Parker who takes the name Ben Reilly, inspired by the names of Peter's aunt and uncle. During a previous interview with Across The Spider-Verse co-directors Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, and Joaquim Dos Santos discussed the inclusion of Scarlet Spider and how they wanted to make sure they captured the character perfectly.
Dos Santos said that they followed "the letter of the law" to embrace that era of 1990s comics, and Kemp added: "It's representing an era in comics. That's one of the key things with the character is that Ben Reilly was an era when super duper ripped characters were like the (norm); and being in positions that were not physically possible....Muscles on top of the muscles on top of muscles and being in positions that were not physically possible. And we were just like we really wanted to capture that."
Director Joaquim Dos Santos previously said: "I can't wait for people to hear who voices him. It still hasn't been released, but I love our Scarlet Spider actor." Well, it’s now been announced and I’m sure that Samberg will be great at voicing the character!
As for Spider-Byte, in the comics her name is Margo, and when crime occurs in the cyberverse, she fires up her VR goggles and protects the Worldwide Web as Spider-Byte. Piloting her spider-costumed avatar, Margo safeguards the Internet's users from hackers and other cyber-criminals.
Check out the announcement tweets below.
The film follows Miles Morales as Brooklyn’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, “plunged into the multiverse where he joins forces with Gwen Stacy and a new team of Spider-folks to face off with a villain more powerful than anything they have ever encountered.”
After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, “Brooklyn’s full-time, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence. But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.”
The cast includes Shameik Moore as Miles; Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099; Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen, Brian Tyree Henry as Miles’ dad Jefferson Davis; Luna Lauren Velez as Miles’ mom Rio Morales; Issa Rae as Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman; Jorma Taccone as Vulture; Rachel Dratch; Shea Whigham; Greta Lee;Jason Schwartzman as Spot; and Daniel Kaluuya as Hobart “Hobie” Brown, a.k.a. Spider-Punk.
The movie is being directed and produced by Justin K. Thompson, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Kemp Powers. Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, Chris Miller and Christina Steinberg are also producing. Lord and Miller will also be credited as writers on the film, along with David Callaham.
The movie is set to be released on June 2nd, 2023!