Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Almost Cut a Major Character

Spider-Punk was nearly cut from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

By Adam Barnhardt

One of the most popular characters in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse nearly didn't make their silver screen debut in the picure. According to Spider-Verse 2 co-director Joaquim Dos Santos, there was a version of the film where Spider-Punk wasn't a part of the Spider Society. 

"It's funny as he had to earn his way into the film – he almost got cut out of the movie! There were versions of the Spider-Society he wasn't involved in – but the scenes suffered for him not being in it. It became really elevated when he joined," Dos Santos said in a recent chat with GamesRadar+.

As such, Spider-Punk—real name Hobie Brown—was included in the final cut of the film, and became a breakout hit as a result.

"It was so gratifying for him to be such a hit as when information was leaking out about the movie, many people were asking online where their favorites were, like Spider-Man Noir etc," co-director Kemp Powers added. "We were like all 'come on, you gotta trust us, you'll love the new characters' but the fans came back saying they wouldn't. But hey – look what happened!"

Related:

What is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse about?

Picking up 16 months after 2018's Into the Spider-Verse, the sequel reunites Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore), Brooklyn's Spider-Man of Earth-1610, with the dimension-hopping Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) of Earth-65. When an unstable new nemesis named the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) threatens the collapse of the multiverse over a canon event, Miles finds himself caught in the web of the Spider-Society: an elite crew of Spider-People that includes Spider-Man 2099 Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac), Jessica Drew Spider-Woman (Issa Rae), the Ben Reilly Scarlet Spider (Andy Samberg), LEGO Spider-Man (Nic Noviki), Spider-Man India Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), Spider-Punk Hobie Brown (Daniel Kaluuya), and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson).

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now streaming on Netflix and available for purchase in the following editions:

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