Summary
TheSpider-Versefilms have been massive fan favorites and adored by critics and casuals alike, but one person pretty close to the project seems a lot less enthusiastic about it as they revealed in a recent interview concerning their role.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versehit theaters as a follow-up to 2018’sInto the Spider-Verse,an animated project that really surpassed fan expectations with its visual style, narrative and characterization. It was revealed that it was the first of a planned trilogy, which set the stakes pretty high forAcross the Spiderversewhen it finally released in 2023. Fortunately, the animated sequel film proved to beone of the best sci-fi movie projects of the year right from the opening sceneand kept fans interested from that point on to the end to set up the final film in the planned trilogy:Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
A large part of the appeal of theSpider-Versefilms, other thanthe well-done disregard for Marvel canon, is the myriad of unique Spider-People shown. One hilarious addition was the animated interpretation of Spider-Ham voiced by the talented comedian John Mulaney, and the comic took just as much interest in the whole thing as one would expect from someone not into comic books. In a recent interview reported on byComicbook, Mulaney gave some frank and potentially shocking responses to questions concerning his role as the comedic character. “Everything I know about Spider-Ham is the lines I say in the movie,” the comic revealed. “I didn’t understand what it was when I arrived, and I don’t understand now.” He also clarifies that he wasn’t given any prior briefing on the role or given a chance to brush up his knowledge, recalling that “-they wouldn’t even tell me what [the movie] was called. I showed up and it had, like, a code name. And they were dancing around that it was a Spider-Man-related movie. I was like, ‘I don’t give a s-.’ Like, ‘Don’t tell anyone’ – who am I going to tell?’”
As would be clear to anyone in the know, the character is far more popular than Mulaney gives him credit for, withmodders even bringing Spider-Ham to life in Marvel’sSpider-Man.However, the comic book industry is still pretty niche despite growing thanks to adaptations like the Spider-Verse films. For his part, Mulaney is an equal-opportunity non-fan, showing equal disinterest in DC. When asked about fan requests for himself or Pete Davidson to be cast as Plastic Man in James Gunn’s new DCU, Mulaney said “I know who Pete and I are, but I don’t know what the rest of that means. Is Plastic Man a DC Comic?” When actually addressing the question of taking on the role, Mulaney was just as frank. “It’d be a money thing. Honestly, I can answer for Pete as well – it’d be a money thing. Apparently, these movies pay a lot, these action hero things. But that is also changing in today’s ever-evolving media landscape.”
Regardless of the attitude towards the character or even the medium being adapted, there’s no denying that Mulaney made his fair contribution to fan enjoyment of the sequel film. Sincesome of the rumors surroundingSpider-Versedelays were debunked, fans can look forward to gettingBeyond the Spider-Versesoon enough, accounting for how much time and effort goes into the unique visuals and the stellar voice acting. Spider-Ham is set to return in the threequel as well, so viewers can look forward to hearing Mulaney struggle through yet another pretty good voice-acting performance.
