Joaquin Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson have been tapped by Sony Pictures Animation to direct the second Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse movieThe sequel will be produced by Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Amy Pascal, Avi Arad and Christina Steinberg, all of which were on the team for the Oscar-winning 2018 animated film.

While Dos Santos’ directorial involvement had been previously announced, we now learn that the trio has been working together on the project since the beginning. “The crew behind the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse set such a ridiculously high bar, and we’re humbled to take on the challenge of charting the next chapter in the story of Miles Morales,” said the directing team in a joint statement.

While Dos Santos and Thompson are both making their directing debuts, their previous animation backgrounds make them well-qualified for the job. Dos Santos’ previous credits include Nickelodeon’s The Legend of Korra and Avatar: The Last Airbender, while Thompson served as the production designer for the first Spider-Verse movie as well as Sony Animation's Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Powers is currently up for an Academy Award as the co-director of Pixar’s Soul.

“We are so lucky to have Joaquim, Justin and Kemp on the Spider-Verse team,” Lord and Miller said in a statement. “All three of them elevate every project they take on, and they are certainly raising our game. We honestly just like them and want to be their friends and we’re hoping working on this movie together for the next few years will totally make that happen.”

The follow-up to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is currently set to be released in theaters on October 7, 2022.

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