BIOGRAPHY AND WIKIPEDIA: Preston Mutanga worked on the LEGO sequence for ‘ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE’ over several weeks during Spring Break & then after finishing his homework on school nights

Preston Mutanga worked on the LEGO sequence for ‘ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE’ over several weeks during Spring Break & then after finishing his homework on school nights.

Preston’s father built his son a new computer to help render his work faster. Early in the thrill-packed sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” the story takes a brief yet memorable detour into a dimension that resembles Lego building blocks and figures.

The clever and amusing scene, a tribute to “The Lego Movie,” was not the work of seasoned animation artists, but that of a 14-year-old fan turned professional creator living in Toronto.

Mutanga seemingly confirmed his involvement on Twitter, replying “(Yes)” when asked by a fan “wait did you actually animate the Lego world in the movie?” In Across the Spider-Verse, the Spot makes a quick jaunt into a Lego-verse while exploring his extra-dimensional powers. There, he wrecks the Daily Bugle building, leading Lego Peter Parker to warn non-Lego Miles Morales another anomaly has occurred. Mutanga, whose Lego-animated bona fides have been viewed by hundreds of thousands, directed the sequence after his videos attracted the attention of Lord and Miller. Case in point:

It’s nice work if you can get it, especially if you’re 14 years old! It’s also very cool for Lord and Miller to not only recognize Mutanga’s talent but also give him a chance like this. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is in theaters now.

“My dad showed me this 3-D software called Blender and I instantly got hooked on it,” he said. “I watched a lot of YouTube videos to teach myself certain stuff.”

In December 2022, Preston took on a project that would have a profound impact on his young dreams. Using his father’s old computers, he recreated the trailer for ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ shot by shot, giving it a Lego-themed look and feel.

BIOGRAPHY AND WIKIPEDIA:

Preston Mutanga is a talented teenager born in Minnesota to immigrant parents from the Northwest Region of Cameroon. In an interview with the New York Times, Mutanga said, “I also used to make comics when I was younger.” He added, “Looking back at them now, they’re not the greatest; I’m not going to lie, but it was good practice for telling stories.”