A recent rumor claiming that Christopher Daniel Barnes was in final talks to reprise his role as Spider-Man from the 1994 animated series for the upcoming Into the Spider-Verse sequel has proven to be just that: a rumor.
Barnes took to Instagram to debunk the theories, which he says, “has been gaining some traction.”
I wish it was true. That would just be super cool. Unfortunately, it’s not true at all. There’s just no truth to the rumor. I don’t know how these rumors get started. I don’t know. Like I said, I wish it was true, because that would be frickin’ awesome to be part of the Spider-Man movie. But it’s not true. I wish it was, so I just wanted to clarify that for anybody who was curious.
You can watch the full video below.
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This news is slightly heartbreaking for longtime Spider-Man fans like me. Into the Spider-Verse would be the optimal vehicle for Barnes to reappear as the web-slinger in an in-universe kind of way, so to hear that that won’t be happening is crushing. But I have no doubt that the film will be excellent.
In addition to voicing Peter Parker/Spider-Man for the animated series, Barnes has also lent his voice talents to other incarnations of Spider-Man, such as Spider-Man Noir in the video game Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, and Spider-Man 2099 in the game Spider-Man: Edge of Time. Barnes is also famous for his role as Greg Brady in the films The Brady Bunch Movie and A Very Brady Sequel. He also voiced Prince Eric for Disney’s The Little Mermaid.
Though Barnes has stated that the rumors of his involvement in the next Spider-Man film are true, there is still some speculation that he will be appearing in the Into the Spider-Verse sequel, or at least one of them. The Hashtag Show, where the report originated from, broke down Barnes’ debunking of the rumor, noting that he referred to the project as “the next Spider-Man movie.” The site pointed out that the next Spider-Man movie is the Sony/MCU project Spider-Man: No Way Home. It could be that Barnes is confused about the timeline of the films and does believe Into the Spider-Verse 2 is the next Spider-Man movie, or he’s being coy and trying to smother the wildfire of rumors to keep his involvement a secret. Either way, I do believe that if he was involved, or in talks to be involved with, Into the Spider-Verse 2, he would certainly be under some non-disclosure agreement, especially this early into the film’s development.
There’s no denying that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was a massive hit. The plot of the film, a crossover of Spider-People from alternate realities working together to save the multiverse, was critically acclaimed upon its release, and even went so far as to, if the rumors are true, influence the direction of the third Sony/MCU Spider-Man movie. If this news does turn out to be true, it would elevate the already-much anticipated sequel.
