Animation Guild | We are 839 Digital Magazine
Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500204
D E PA R T M E N T 23 KEYFRAME MULTI-LAYERED MAGIC SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE CHARACTER DESIGNER: KRIS ANKA In Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Miles Morales is catapulted across a multiverse filled with Spider-People. All of them are charged with protecting its existence, and all of them have very different ideas about how to do this. Especially Miguel O'Hara, AKA Spider-Man 2099. Unlike Miles and his predecessor, Peter Parker, Miguel intentionally altered his DNA to become a Spider-Person. Because he played a role in his own transformation, he is as multi-layered as the movie he inhabits—literally. Character Designer Kris Anka approached Miguel in stages, adding layers throughout the process to develop the complexity of this superhero. When Anka was invited to work on Across the Spider-Verse by Joaquim Dos Santos, the film's director, he was already familiar with Miguel. A CalArts graduate, Anka had been working at Marvel comics for eight years, even designing one of Miguel's suits. He had worked in animation before his Marvel stint and was ready to return. Little did he know that his three-month contract would extend to three years, with much of his time focused on Miguel. While Miguel exists in comics, and screen audiences got a glimpse of him briefly in the end credits of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Anka says the sequel's creative team wanted to take a new approach to the character. Some early pre-concept work had been done, and "they knew the vibe they wanted," he says. "They wanted Miguel to be someone who was very proactive. He Designing an animated character means more than just creating how the character looks. As three TAG Character Designers share, it requires an understanding of physical movement, technology, and the art of collaboration. By Kim Fay SUMMER 2023 23