Amongst the hundreds of Spider-Man characters that appear in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, none stand out as much as Spider-Punk. Real name Hobie Brown, the animated character is voiced by Daniel Kaluuya and quickly became a fan of many upon the film’s release over the weekend. Though the film stars Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), and Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) in lead roles, Spider-Punk arguably played one of the largest roles in the movie.
According to Spider-Verse co-director Justin Thompson, the stark contrast between Spider-Punk and Morales made it for a natural fit to feature the characters together more often than not.
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“The Spider Society was this huge thing that Miles had built up in his head,” Thompson said in a recent interview with Variety. “Other than just being cool and awesome, Punk was there to try to remind Miles: Don’t put all your value and all your faith in all of this artifice here. Don’t give in to all these people making these rules. Even visually, he’s an anarchist — he doesn’t stay situated in one style.”
Technically speaking, Spider-Punk is nothing short of a marvel in the movie as the filmmakers experiment with moving his clothing at a separate frame rate from the character’s body.
“The inspiration came from old punk rock posters of the ’70s and ’80s,” co-director Joaquim Dos Santos added. “You take a picture, you Xerox it, draw over it, Xerox that, staple that to a thing, pull it down, Xerox that. That was the vibe there. It’s a hard thing to pull off, but if you were to try to gussy it up, you lose the spirit of who that character is. The character should not work.”
Miles Morales returns to the big screen with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse now playing in theaters after premiering on June 2nd. Miles (Shamiek Moore) reunites with fellow heroes Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) for another web-swinging adventure through the multiverse, finding himself at odds with the Spider-Society led by Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac). Other new heroes include Spider-Woman Jessica Drew (Issa Rae), Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya), and Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni), while new villain the Spot (Jason Schwartzman) also enters the fray. The sequel to Sony Pictures’ hit 2018 film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson, and written by the team of Chris Miller, Phil Lord, and Dave Callaham.
