The Shocking Reason Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Was Almost Censored

The creators of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse boldly incorporated references to the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Spider-Man: No Way Home without seeking permission from Kevin Feige. Christopher Lord and Phil Miller did not hold back in their expansion of the Spider-Man film universe, with Spider-Man 2099, played by Oscar Isaac, even calling out Doctor Strange and a certain "little nerd" in Earth-199999, a clear nod to the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home.

According to Lord in an interview with Collider, there was no negotiation with Feige to include the joke in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse during production. Miller added that their policy is to focus on what they believe is interesting and best, leaving the legal and business affairs to be handled later. The collaboration with Marvel has been fruitful, with Sony being given enough freedom to create their own references to the MCU. Miller emphasized that the references are made with admiration and enjoyment, and not from a place of malice. The partnership between Sony and Disney to share Spider-Man's screen rights in 2015 has been a win-win situation, with Marvel Studios gaining more fans and inspiration to create their own multiverse movie, Spider-Man: No Way Home, which was a commercial and critical success.

The inclusion of references to various popular Spider-Man properties in Across the Spider-Verse was a smart move, including nods to the current video game franchise, the Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy, The Amazing Spider-Man duology, and the 1960's Spider-Man cartoon. Even the lesser-known Spectacular Spider-Man had a brief appearance. Given the popularity of the MCU's Spider-Man, it would have been odd not to reference him in some way, especially after the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home. However, it is disappointing that we didn't get to see footage of Holland's Spider-Man like we did with Maguire and Garfield, likely due to legal issues with Sony's ownership of those two franchises. Despite this, fans still hold out hope for a reunion of all three Spider-Mans in the future, or the appearance of other beloved versions of the web-slinger.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters

Source: Collider Interviews/YouTube