The Spider star Chandler Riggs & director Andy Chen discuss viral Spider-Man inspired horror short film which adds a terrifying twist to Peter Parker’s story.
The Spider is a viral short film, written and directed by Andy Chen. It stars Chandler Rigg (The Walking Dead) as Peter Parker, except this story takes a much darker turn than fans have seen in any Spider-Man film before it. The trailer has nearly 1.5 million views, but the short, which released on YouTube less than two weeks ago, already has over 3 million.
We sat down with Chandler Rigg and Andy Chen to discuss bringing a terrifying horror element to the Spider-Man story. Chandler reveals what it was that drew him to want to be a part of this film, as well as what it was like to dabble on the other more “unhuman” side of things, which he did not get to do in The Walking Dead as Carl. Andy explains what it was that inspired this story, and how he has a lot of ideas should Sony allow them to make a full feature length film.
The Spider: Chandler Riggs & Andy Chen Talk Spider-Man Horror Short Film
Tessa Smith: Chandler for you. I’d love to know what made you want to be a part of this?
Chandler Riggs: Well, first of all, just getting an opportunity to play one of the most iconic characters ever, that I’ve always dreamed of playing, was definitely a cool selling point. But really, it seem ed like the kind of project that was just a group of friends coming together and making something cool. It’s just such a cool, fun, original take on a beloved character that I felt that it would be so cool to be a part of and to bring it to life. And I was right, it was a blast.
Tessa Smith: Andy, where did the idea to mix in this horror element of spider man come from?
Andy Chen: I feel like it’t there. Like the Sam Raimi movies, Sam is known for his horror stuff like The Evil Dead already. So I felt like the original Spider-Man already had jump scares and darker tones. Just knowing the origin story, that’s a scary thing. You get bit by a radioactive spider – that’s really scary by itself. So just taking it to another level, with more body horror stuff. There’s been comic books and other versions of Peter, and other characters, where they don’t get superpowers. I was inspired by a lot of a lot of those things.
Tessa Smith: I love the reveal of your hand getting stuck to the other guy’s hand as the first thing to happen to you as you turn. How was that done?
Chandler Riggs: It was some sticky blood stuff on my hands, and then I just went and held the other guy’s hand and pulled it apart. It was so cool. We did do a few times to get it right. But it was really really cool.
Tessa Smith: Is that you at the end? What was that like?
Chandler Riggs: Yeah, that was me in the suit and with the arms and everything. It was nuts. It was very claustrophobic, but it was so cool. I remember Andy asked me, he was like, Do you want to be in the suit? I’m like, Yeah, I want to be in the suit! Yes, absolutely. Are you kidding me? It was really, really cool. And it was kind of a challenge to have it be me in the suit. We were working against the clock and I would come in early and do it. It was one of our last pieces of puzzle. So it was kind of hard logistically, to plan it out, but we pulled it off and it worked out great.
Andy Chen: I think it’s worth it too, because, I don’t know if you’ve seen on Tiktok, right now people are taking screenshots of the last shot and they’re like, Oh, Chandler’s eye. You can see him tearing up. He’s sad. Everyone has their, they notice little details.
Tessa Smith: It feels like there really is so much more to explore. Do you have ideas in your head on how you can expand on this world?
Andy Chen: Yeah, it’s funny too, because I think in the comments and in my DMs, people are sending me other takes. Like, oh, you have got to do Venom in this world. And you’ve got to show Green Goblin and all this stuff. So, yeah, this Spider-Man world is so expensive. There’s really a lot we can tell if we did expand it, which I mean, that would be the goal. If we can get Sony’s attention, let’s make this.
Tessa Smith: There has been such a massive positive response to this film. What was that like for the both of you?
Chandler Riggs: Man, it’s been so gratifying. I knew it was going to be a really cool thing. I knew people were really going to like it, and I knew it was going to be so fast paced and straight to the point, not wasting any time, but it came out so much better than I could have could have imagined.
Andy Chen: Yeah, it’s been surreal. I feel like seeing that view count go up, and all the comments, and the reaction videos. I didn’t realize until my friends sent me a couple TikToks that people are making these trends with the audio file from some zombie sound. And it’s like, trending on TikTok. I feel like a lot of it is that Chandler’s fans really wanted him to be Peter. I didn’t even realize that till the first day on set. And I think that that had a lot to do with all the hype and stuff. The response has been amazing so far.
Tessa Smith: In The Walking Dead, Chandler, you played Carl and never got to dabble with the undead. Does it feel like you got to cross over to that other side, of being the monster now?
Chandler Riggs: A little bit. Yeah, a little bit. It was interesting to try to explore, because there wasn’t much time to do it, to try to figure it out. Like, Okay, how much control does Peter have there? How much conscious is Peter in there? You know what I mean? So it was a fun thing to try to pull off, in the performance when you can only see a glimpse of my eye, but it was so cool to get to put on all the makeup and all that stuff. It was awesome.
Tessa Smith: Congratulations and hopefully we get to see this in a feature length format. Chandler, you would return right?
Chandler Riggs: Of course. I would hope so.
Andy Chen: I can’t imagine anybody else in the role, for sure.
NEXT: THEM: THE SCARE Cast Talks Terrifying Season 2
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. She is also a Freelance Writer. Tessa has been in the Entertainment writing business for ten years and is a member of several Critics Associations including the Critics Choice Association and the Greater Western New York Film Critics Association.