Miles Morales Swings Into ‘Spider-Verse’ Short Film at Annecy Film Festival

With Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse crushing our universe’s box office and earning itself the bragging rights of being Sony’s highest-grossing animated film of all time, the studio used its platform at the Annecy International Film Festival to unveil its short, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story. Harnessing its own superpowers of reaching out to a broad demographic, Sony Pictures Animation is bringing mental health to the forefront in its latest project.

Picking up with the franchise’s main protagonist, Miles Morales, the story follows the young man’s struggle with his mental well-being as he works through anxiety attacks from his high-pressure powers and responsibilities as well as the same tensions that face other kids his age, including stress surrounding relationships and succeeding at school. The feature, which was shown twice during the session, sees Miles come to blows with his alter ego and fight off an imaginary outbreak of spiders who are creepy crawling all over his bedroom. Turning to his father, Jefferson “Jeff” Morales, for guidance Miles finds strength in his family to help him get a better handle on his mental health. As anyone who’s seen Across the Spider-Verse will know, the Morales’ familial bond was a main plot point making it no surprise that Miles would seek out his dad for reassurance during his darkest days.

Directed by Jarelle Dampier, the filmmaker said that he plucked the storyline from his own struggles with an anxiety attack that he suffered from after learning that he’d landed the position on the short. While taking the stage with his fellow creatives, Dampier said on the day that he was given the offer he “had the largest panic attack I remember in my life,” adding that things got so bad he was forced to check into a hospital where he stayed overnight. “I was so excited and happy at the opportunity and yet my whole body shuts down,” he said, realizing then that he wanted to use this platform as a sort of outreach to “open the door for some healing conversations.” You can see a first-look image from the short below.

RELATED: How Does ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ Fit Into the MCU?

When Can Audiences Expect to See The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story?

As of right now, no release window has been announced for the short to make its way into theaters or in a streaming capacity. Teasing the answer to that question, Dampier said, “Exciting things are coming and we will let you know as soon as possible.” Along with its side story of Miles exploring his mental health, the film is also said to contain a handful of Easter eggs that point to the young man’s experience with the radioactive Earth-42 spider which gave him his powers.

Although we may need to wait to see The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, it’s worth noting that the short was well-received with the animation professionals in attendance. Check out a trailer of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse below and swing by a theater near you to see it on the big screen.