Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Kinda Predicted The Return Of Clone High
In 2023, the names "Lord & Miller" are synonymous with impressive, hilarious, successful projects. Whether it's writing, directing, or producing, the collaborative team of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller is involved in some of the biggest releases of the last decade, across a variety of different mediums. There are animated features like "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," "The Mitchells vs. The Machines," and the "Spider-Verse" franchise, adult comedies like "21 Jump Street," "The Afterparty," and "Cocaine Bear," and plenty of other hits like "Unikitty!" and "The LEGO Movie" entries. At this point, having the duo involved in any capacity is a sign of quality, but 20 years ago, they put out what would become one of the biggest animated cult hits on TV.
First shown on the Canadian cable network Teletoon and later on MTV in the United States, "Clone High" was an edgy, hilarious, ridiculous animated series about a fictional high school filled with clones of some of history's greatest figures. It was a biting parody of the high school dramas like "Dawson's Creek" that flooded TV spaces throughout the decade, and the building blocks and narrative voice found in so many of the projects that we'd love from Lord & Miller in the future are well on display. It was announced in 2020 that the duo would be reviving the series for a second season but until the series' return this year (read our review here), plenty were skeptical that "Clone High" would actually come back.
But we shouldn't have doubted Lord & Miller, as the "Clone High" revival was predicted in "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse."
'They're rioting at a college level!'
There's a moment in "Into the Spider-Verse" when Spider-Gwen is explaining to Miles Morales how she's able to jump between universes and how she wound up in Miles' version of New York City. At one point she is seen sitting in front of a billboard for an upcoming movie called "Clone College," with teenage Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy from "Clone High" on the artwork. The billboard is shown again when Miles Morales looks toward the Planet Inglewood (a play on Planet Hollywood) sign, alongside a number of other fake movies, Broadway shows, and products. My personal favorites are the ads for Red Man Group (a parody of the Blue Man Group) and the film "Baby Showers," which perfectly recreates the poster art for "Bridesmaids."
While it more than likely was just a cool little Easter egg from Lord and Miller to their die-hard fans, with the "Clone High" series returning at the same time as the release of this summer's "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," it's hard not to see it as foreshadowing. Fortunately, the new "Clone High" season is sincerely fantastic, and the animation style continues to be some of the best in the game. We all know the unwritten rule of Spider-Man is that "everybody gets one," and we're just happy that the "one" fake billboard made a reality in this instance was the return of "Clone High."
Our apologies to "Baby Showers" for not being chosen.