Sony Pictures Animation has announced a new Spider-Man short film focused on mental health. The short, The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story, focuses on Miles Morales when he is suffering from an anxiety attack. According to Deadline, Miles feels "overwhelmed by school work, exams, and relationships."

　　The short film debuted at Annecy International Film Festival. In it, Miles' fears come to life in the form of a "dark figure" that is meant to represent his alter ego. Miles is also seeing projections of spiders in this bedroom in the movie. According to Deadline, the film ends on a bright note, with Miles and his father Jefferson connecting.

　　Earlier today, our talented LENS filmmaking team premiered The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story at #AnnecyFestival! Here is an exclusive first look at their short film. pic.twitter.com/XBwU9WMGRh

　　— Sony Pictures Animation (@SonyAnimation) June 12, 2023

　　The Spider Within was produced out of Sony's Leading and Empowering New Storytellers (LENS) initiative, which aims to help cultivate talent from underrepresented groups. Director Jarelle Dampier said he and writer Khalla Amazan came up with the idea for The Spider Within after Dampier had his own anxiety attack after he was accepted into the LENS program.

　　"The day that I was offered this job to direct this film, I had the largest panic attack I remember in my life. I spent the night in the hospital. I was so excited and happy at the opportunity and yet my whole body shuts down," he said. "I wanted to explore that and to open the door for some healing conversations for everyone."

　　There is no word yet on when The Spider Within will be released publicly for everyone.

　　Spider-Man: Across the Universe is in theaters now and is putting up big numbers, earning more than $300 million worldwide. A sequel, Beyond the Spider-Verse, is coming in 2024.