Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has almost 100 named characters

Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse — (Image credit: Sony)

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse co-director Justin Thompson has revealed the scarcely believable amount of Spider-Men, Spider-Women, and Spider-People that form part of the multiverse-heavy cast of the Spider-Verse sequel.

"The exact number? Oh boy, we kept adding, like all the way up until the very end. Honestly, I'm gonna be level with you, we just finished the film, like in the last like two weeks, and I don't think I've had time to pause and actually take a final count," Thompson explained to Collider.

"But I think it was about 280 the last time I looked in. Just to be clear, that doesn't mean specific, unique characters that you might recognize, it might mean variations as well. But if you're just talking about named characters, then I think there's probably about 95."

The Across the Spider-Verse teasers and trailers have already given us a taste of the sheer breadth of incredible pulls from Spider-Man’s storied history. There’s – deep breath – Ben Reilly, Spider-Punk, Spider-Man Unlimited, Spider-Man India, Spider-Woman, Superior Spider-Man, The Bombastic Bag-Man, and Spinneret. And that’s only a handful of names, with plenty more left to discover.

Co-director Kemp Powers told Total Film that one cameo remains a secret, but "it's gonna blow your eyeballs out the backside of your head".

Given the serious attention to detail, it's little wonder that Across the Spider-Verse is getting overwhelming praise from critics. The first reactions describe it as "another milestone for animation" and the best Spider-Man movie. Period.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is swinging into cinemas on June 2. For more, check out our guide to new superhero movies, our movie release dates calendar, and our current ranking of best Spider-Man movies.

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.