Alice Brooks (‘Wicked’) to Shoot ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ — Live-Action DP is Franchise First

“Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” was initially supposed to come out in 2024, then 2025, but last year, things changed, and it’s now set up for a summer 2027 release.

‘Beyond the Spider-Verse,’ which starts right where the last film ended, has been described as “bigger and bolder than the last two films,” and a “massive finale,” with an entire team working on new animation techniques.

Last year, reports indicated that Sony had scrapped most of ‘Beyond the Spider-Verse’ for “creative reasons,” and, given the detailed animation that was required, the movie would not be released for another few years. A few months later, another report insinuated that Sony had actually demanded for the ENTIRE ‘Beyond’ script to be rewritten. This meant that reels of animated footage had to be thrown out. The studio was also said to be undecided on the film's climax.

Now, an update: speaking with THR, Sony Animation’s Kristine Belson and Damien de Froberville have confirmed that, for the first time in the franchise, they’ve brought on a live-action DP, Alice Brooks, for the third chapter.

We made some changes to the pipeline to, not avoid — because Chris and Phil are always going to iterate late — but to lessen the amount of iteration on the back end. We brought on a live-action DP, Alice Brooks. She’s been directing camera in a way that we hadn’t done on Spider-Verse before.

Brooks is best known as the DP behind “Wicked,” “In the Heights,” and “Tick Tick Boom” — musicals that fully demand camera movement and fluid control. According to Belson, she is currently working on the animation with the ‘Spider-Verse’ crew.

The visionary “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” was a commercial and critical success back in the summer of 2023 — appearing on hundreds of top 10 lists and grossing over $690M worldwide. “Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse” is currently expected to be released on June 18, 2027.