'Into the Spider-Verse 2': Phil Lord confirms Japanese Spider-Man's appearance in the movie sequel
Ever since the ‘Into the Spider-Verse 2’ teaser released, confirming that the sequel to the highly acclaimed ‘Into the Spider-Verse’ movie would be coming out in 2022, fans have been picking apart every frame to try and find out exactly which Spider-Heroes would be appearing. After all, the first movie featured a cartoon spider-pig named Peter Porker, so it’s safe to say that nothing’s off the table. As of November 6, one hero has already been confirmed - 1978’s Japanese Spider-Man.
Sharp-eyed fans recognized that one of the spider logos included in the teaser matched the color scheme of the logo from the Japanese show. When Shannon Tindle, character designer and creator of ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’, reached out to Phil Lord, one of the movie producers, on Twitter, with hopes of designing the character, Lord confirmed that the Japanese Spider-Man would be appearing with one simple reply: “He’s designed!”
The Japanese version of Spider-Man appeared in a live-action TV series produced by the Toei Company, whose version of Spider-Man was very different from the Marvel Comics character. Though the costume was the same, this version of Spider-Man was a motocross driver named Takuya Yamashiro. While both characters had similar powers, Takuya Yamashiro’s Spider-Man notably fought larger enemies with the help of a giant robot named Leopardon.
Much speculation has gone into what characters the other logos represent, but according to sources at WeGotThisCovered.com, the next movie will also include Spider-Man 2099 (which seemed a given, considering his appearance in the post-credits scene of ‘Into the Spider-Verse) and a female Iron Spider. The Iron Spider suit was designed by Tony Stark for Spider-Man, but Mary-Jane Watson recently wore a version of it in the comics during an emergency.
What other characters do you think ‘Into the Spider-Verse 2’ may feature? Let us know in the comments!