This Teenager Re-Created The "Across The Spider-Verse" Trailer With Legos, And Then He Was Hired To Work On The Movie

1 year ago 7

Preston Mutanga, who is only 14 years old, worked on his Lego section of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse during his school's spring break and at night (after he finished his homework).

A sequel to Into the Spider-Verse, this movie follows Miles Morales/Spider-Man (Shameik Moore) as he enters a wild adventure through the multiverse where he encounters a team of Spider-People, including Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), who are charged with protecting its very existence.

Like the first movie, Across the Spider-Verse does an impeccable job of telling this story of Miles, diving deeper into the multiverse, and utilizing various animation styles incredibly well.

While Into the Spider-Verse had some amazing moments when it came to animation, Across the Spider-Verse seems to dial it up to 11. By utilizing various Earths, the movie is able to use so many different animation styles, and it's honestly so impressive.

In fact, the Across the Spider-Verse team wanted the movie to feel like you were jumping from one comic book to another. So, in order to achieve an authentic feeling of different animation styles, various artists were brought in who had worked on other Spider-Man comics, other animated films, and more.

The various animation styles make it so when Miles and Gwen arrive at the Spider Society, you can really feel how it's a celebration of ALL the Spider-Man stories and everything coming together.

While I could sit and talk about the Across the Spider-Verse animation for literal hours, there's one amazing behind-the-scenes fact about a particular moment that I can't stop thinking about.

At one point in the movie, we see an Earth where everything is made out of Legos, and it's there where we meet Lego Spider-Man (Nic Novicki).

It's a sequence that earned a lot of laughs in my theater when I saw it — it was just executed so perfectly and was a great nod to The Lego Movie.

Well, it turns out the Lego section of Across the Spider-Verse was actually animated by 14-year-old Preston Mutanga, who was hired by Sony to work on this specific sequence.

Like, it's literally a perfect re-creation.

One more side-by-side because I'm simply so impressed:

At the time, Phil and Across the Spider-Verse director Kemp Powers even commented on the video, with Phil saying, "Well done!!! Where were you in 2014 [when The Lego Movie was released] oh wait you were 6."

I was closely observing the movie ;)

— LegoMe_TheOG (@FG_Artist) January 3, 2023

@FG_Artist / Phil Lord / Twitter / Via Twitter: @FG_Artist

Phil and Christopher wrote and directed The Lego Movie.

Fans of Spider-Man and the Spider-Verse were so impressed as well, even asking Preston when he'd start working for Sony:

Ha ha , Thanks, I'm still in school but hopefully soon. :-)

— LegoMe_TheOG (@FG_Artist) January 23, 2023

@FG_Artist / Twitter / Via Twitter: @FG_Artist

So, when Phil, Christopher, and the rest of the Across the Spider-Verse team decided to include a Lego universe as part of the movie's exploration of the multiverse, producer Christina Steinberg reached out to Preston and asked if he wanted to animate it.

After being contacted by Sony (and verifying that it was, in fact, a real job offer), Preston's dad built him a new computer and bought him a state-of-the-art graphics card so he could render his work faster.

So, Preston got to work. He worked on Across the Spider-Verse during his school's spring break and then on school nights (after his homework was done). He would also meet with Christopher, who would check Preston's progress and provide input.

Speaking about how magical it was to work with Preston, Phil told the New York Times, "The Lego Movie is inspired by people making films with Lego bricks at home. That’s what made us want to make the movie. Then the idea in Spider-Verse is that a hero can come from anywhere."

He continued, saying, "And here comes this heroic young person who’s inspired by the movie that was inspired by people like him."

You can follow Preston on Twitter here and check out his YouTube channel for even more amazing videos — like when he re-created the Stranger Things "Running Up That Hill" scene.

And you can read Preston's entire profile with the New York Times here.

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