Sony Pictures Animation has announced a new Spider-Man short film focused on mental health. The short, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, focuses on Miles Morales when he is suffering from an anxiety attack. According to Deadline, Miles feels “overwhelmed by school work, exams, and relationships.”
The short film debuted at Annecy International Film Festival. In it, Miles’ fears come to life in the form of a “dark figure” that is meant to represent his alter ego. Miles is also seeing projections of spiders in this bedroom in the movie. According to Deadline, the film ends on a bright note, with Miles and his father Jefferson connecting.
Earlier today, our talented LENS filmmaking team premiered The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story at #AnnecyFestival! Here is an exclusive first look at their short film. pic.twitter.com/XBwU9WMGRh
— Sony Pictures Animation (@SonyAnimation) June 12, 2023
The Spider Within was produced out of Sony’s Leading and Empowering New Storytellers (LENS) initiative, which aims to help cultivate talent from underrepresented groups. Director Jarelle Dampier said he and writer Khalla Amazan came up with the idea for The Spider Within after Dampier had his own anxiety attack after he was accepted into the LENS program.