Andy Samberg’s previously-undisclosed role in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has finally been revealed. According to the upcoming film’s official social media channels, the Brooklyn Nine-Nine star has officially joined the cast of the upcoming Into the Spider-Verse sequel and will voice the character of Ben Reilly. Samberg will star in the animation alongside already-confirmed castmates Hailee Steinfeld, Brian Tyree Henry, Jake Johnson, Daniel Kaluuya and Oscar Isaac, among many others.
Ben Reilly appears in the comics upon which Across the Spider-Verse is based, making his Marvel Comics debut in 1975. Reilly is the real-name alias of Scarlet Spider, a superhero grown in a lab as a clone of Peter Parker. Samberg has previously undertaken voice roles as Jonathan in the Hotel Transylvania franchise, and Baby Brent in Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.
Johnson will voice Across the Spider-Verse’s version of Peter Parker, while Shameik Moore will reprise his role as Parker/Spider-Man variant Miles Morales. Amanda Stenberg of Bodies Bodies Bodies has also been confirmed to voice the role of Spider-Byte.
The announcement of Samberg’s role follows a string of teases made by Spider-Verse co-director, Joaquim Dos Santos. Earlier this year, Dos Santos — who is directing the film alongside Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson — said he couldn’t “wait for people to hear who voices” Scarlet Spider, before revealing that the role had even been kept secret from the rest of the cast.
Samberg’s addition to the cast comes amid a flurry of developments surrounding Across the Spider-Verse. Ahead of its premiere in June, it’s been revealed that the film is one of the longest animations ever made, and that it could be contention for the Oscars race.
Elsewhere, Steinfeld, who is set to voice Gwen Stacy, shared her thoughts on who would win in a fight between Stacy and her Hawkeye character Kate Bishop, while Dos Santos revealed that Across the Spider-Verse contains “plenty of nods all over the place” to the broader Spider-Man universe.
