The New York Times noted that writer-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller had already planned to have a Lego scene which is why they got the kid on board after seeing his work on Twitter.

The film 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse', which hit the theatres on June 1, has been receiving a great response from audiences across the world. One of the interesting aspects of the film is that its team of animators includes a 14-year-old schoolboy named Preston Mutanga.

After creating a replica of the first trailer for Across the Spider-Verse with Lego bricks, he received an invitation to work on the actual film, as reported by Deadline. 

The New York Times noted that writer-producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller had already planned to have a Lego scene which is why they got the kid on board after seeing his work on Twitter.

“We found out that it was a 14-year-old kid who made it and we were like, ‘This looks incredibly sophisticated for a nonadult, nonprofessional to have made,” said Miller in an interview with the Times. “It blew us all away, including some of the best animators in the world.”

I recreated the entire second Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer in LEGO! @philiplord @chrizmillr @LEGO_Group @SpiderVerse #AcrossTheSpiderVerse #Blender pic.twitter.com/IlWfuEpp3Q

— LegoMe_TheOG (@FG_Artist) May 24, 2023

The teenager from Toronto began animating after his father showed him the 3-D software called Blender which instantly got him hooked. “I watched a lot of YouTube videos to teach myself certain stuff,” he said.

Preston’s parents agreed he could work on the project, but only after finishing his homework on school nights.

“I know Preston has a gift that was given to him by God, and once we identified that he had that gift, all we could do as parents was to nurture it and let him fly,” his mother, Gisele Mutanga, told The New York Times.

Speaking to the Times, Lord said, "'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. And here comes this heroic young person who’s inspired by the movie that was inspired by people like him."

While Preston is still dedicated to his high school studies, his career goal of becoming a full-time animator and director feels more within reach now than he or his parents might have imagined.

'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' is the sequel to the 2018 film 'Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.' It is still running in theatres both in India and across the globe.