Sony’s animatedSpider-Versemovies (includingSpider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseandSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) are even more impressive than their live-action counterparts when comparing how much they each cost to make. Recent flops notwithstanding, Sony has a pretty decent track recordwhen it comes to Spider-Man movies, with the studio opting to capitalize on its ownership of the rights to the IP repeatedly throughout the last few decades. Now thatSony’s Spider-Man Universe is ostensibly defunct, however, the studio’s sights will be diverted to alternative options.
The MCU’s Spider-Man is one of these, withSpider-Man: Brand New Daycontinuing the wildly successful franchise in July 2026. TheSpider-Versefranchise, meanwhile, falls entirely under Sony’s purview. SinceSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verseshattered records and expectations when it was released on July 06, 2025, the pressure is now on for Sony to first deliverSpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verseand for the sequel to live up to expectations. If it does,Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Versehas the potential to surpass even the cinematic fortunes ofSpider-Man in live-action, which would be unprecedented, but not entirely unexpected.
The Spider-Verse Movies Were Universally Acclaimed
The stunning success of Sony’s Spider-Verse moviesis laid bare when comparing their budgets to their global gross. The prevailing rule of thumb with all films is that they need to make 2.5x their overall budget to be considered profitable. BothSpider-Man: Into the Spider-VerseandSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verseare therefore huge successes asthey made more than four times and six times their budgets, respectively.
While the high status of the prequel (which won the Oscar for “Best Animated Feature”) certainly helped this success, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was additionally praised for going even further with its distinctive art style.
According toThe Numbers,Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Versegrossed $374 million against a budget of $90 million, which is a better ratio thanmany live-action MCU movies, and a higher overall gross thanthe three lowest-grossing MCU movies. In general, animated movies perform worse than live-action ones, but the success ofSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Versecan be credited to a number of factors. The first is its overall quality, being acclaimed for its charm, pathos, and action. The second is its decision to push the boundaries of animation.
The intention for the Spider-Verse’s multiple universes was for them to look like they had been drawn by different artists.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, of course, doubled down on the best-received aspects of its predecessor and earned $681 million against a budget of $100 millionfor its efforts. While the high status of the prequel (which won the Oscar for “Best Animated Feature”) certainly helped this success,Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versewas additionally praised for going even further with its distinctive art style. This certainly contributed to the extra $10 million in its budget, but that still pales in comparison to its live-action counterparts.
The Spider-Verse Movies' Budgets Look Even More Impressive Compared With Their Live-Action Counterparts
The Movies Were Much Cheaper To Make
Sony has now attemptedthree Spider-Man franchisesthat at least feature the wall-crawler in the flesh. 2002’sSpider-ManlaunchedSpider-Man’s cinematic success story(and, partly, the superhero genre as a whole) and earned both critical acclaim and a dizzying $823 million for its efforts against a budget of $139 million. While this is an incredible amount for an early superhero movie to earn at the time,Spider-Man’s budget-to-gross ratio is still less thanSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which is the case for most other live-action Spider-Man movies.
Spider-Man Movie Box Office And Budget (viaThe Numbers)
$139,000,000
$822,652,467
$200,000,000
$795,888,127
$258,000,000
$895,937,268
$220,000,000
$758,576,824
$709,672,746
$175,000,000
$878,852,749
$90,000,000
$373,807,069
$160,000,000
$1,132,298,674
$1,921,206,586
$100,000,000
$681,138,413
The MCU’sSpider-Man: Far From HomeandSpider-Man: No Way Homeare two ofthe MCU’s most profitable movies, although the latter boasts one of the largest budgets in the MCU. The star-studded cast would have had a large part to play in this, thoughit is the case for most live-action Spider-Man movies that including a generous helping of CGI will also bloat the budget substantially. This could be whySpider-Man 3andThe Amazing Spider-Man 2had larger budgets thanSpider-Man: No Way Homedespite featuring far fewer stars.
This is also what makes the budgets of Sony’s Spider-Verse movies even more impressive. The fact that the movies were entirely animated means that CGI was used extensively, yetthe franchise’s highest budget (so far) of $100 million still falls short of the lowest live-action budget of $139 million, in a movie that did not make extensive use of CGI. There are several reasons for this gulf, however.
Why The Spider-Verse Movies Have Much Lower Budgets
Animated Movies Cost Less Than Live-Action Ones
A purelyanimated movie is far less resource-intensive than a live-actionone. Although Sony’s Spider-Verse movies make liberal use of CGI, its use in an animated context is not the same as making Rhys Ifans' Lizard, for example, as photo-realistic as possible. Costs can be further reduced with voice actors, despite Sony’s Spider-Verse movies including such high profile names as:
This is due to them spending less time on-set than their live-action colleagues, with some with smaller roles (like Andy Samberg’s Ben Reilly / Scarlet Spider, for example) possibly even voicing their lines in the space of a single day.Such costs as live-action sets, trainers for physical fight scenes, cameras, lighting rigs and crews are also (mostly) omittedwhen producing an animated movie. The trade-off, however, is that animation tends to take far longer - which iswhySpider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verseis taking so long.
The Spider-Verse Movies' Budget Vs Box Office Suggests Marvel Needs More Animated Films
Animated Marvel Movies Are Evidently Profitable
Although sentiments may have soured onSony for its live-action offeringsin the ill-fated Sony Spider-Man Universe, it can’t be argued that the studio hasn’t knocked it out of the park with its animated movies.Sony’s Spider-Verse movies are a prime example of how animated movies can still form an important part of the superhero movie zeitgeistif done correctly. This is something that DC, with its extensive list of animated DC movies, has been well-versed in for quite some time, after all. While Spider-Man may be excluded due to Sony’s ownership, it is still something that Marvel could stand to emulate.
While it is worth reiterating that animated movies don’t tend to gross as much as their live-action counterparts, thereby perhaps dissuading Marvel Studios from the idea, Sony’s Spider-Verse movies counteract that narrative.Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versegrossed more thanDoctor Strange,Iron Man 2and even Fox’s acclaimedLogan, and did so at less cost. As the MCU looks towards recuperating from losses made in the Multiverse Saga with fresh ideas, theSpider-Verseproves that it could stand to wield its wealth of talent to deliver some incredible animated movies spotlighting other, perhaps lesser-known, Marvel superheroes.
Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse
Cast
In the first animated Spider-Man film released in theaters, Miles Morales, a teenager who idolizes Spider-Man, gains Spider-Man powers of his own. While learning to use his new abilities, Miles crosses parallel dimensions and teams up with the different versions of Spider-Man from those dimensions to stop a threat to all reality.
Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse follows Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales as he discovers his powers after being bitten by a radioactive spider. While adapting to his new abilities, he encounters a super collider constructed by the villain Kingpin, which inadvertently brings other Spider-heroes from parallel universes into his dimension.
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is the direct continuation of 2023’s Across the Spider-Verse, and is the third film in the Miles Morales animated Spider-Man franchise.
