Across the Spider-Verse Director Explains Why Daniel Kaluuya Was Cast as Spider-Punk
Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
The box office success that has now been celebrated by critics Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse introduces all sorts of exciting variants of the friendly neighborhood web-slinger, with Hobart “Hobie” Brown aka Spider-Punk being one of the most exciting. Voiced by the Oscar winner and Exit Daniel Kaluuya, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Co-director Joaquim Dos Santos has explained colliders the thought behind casting the British actor, allowing him to bring his actual accent to the screen for a change.
“I think Daniel Kaluuya is one of our great actors of our generation. To be honest I was surprised. You know, when I think of Daniel Kaluuya, I remember that he speaks with an American accent. We looked at those interviews with him and it was just him doing that on a talk show and we compared that to the imagery of Spider-Punk when it was being developed and just saw it as a stagnant image of Spider -Punk was transferred to his voice. it jumped off the side. So, yeah, I could hear the guy talking all day. I’ll probably understand two words out of five he says, but I’ll listen to it all day.”
Spider-Punk, an Earth-138 version of Spider-Man, gains his powers after being bitten by a irradiated spider and fights the good fight against an oppressive, authoritarian government. Inspired by the punk rock movement and committed to anti-establishment anarchy, spider-punk plays a small but important role in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. His radical mindset gradually carries over to Miles Morales, leading him to rebel against Spider Society, try to save loved ones, and break canon.
Spider-Punk has become a Fast & Firm fan favorite
Despite being a much lesser-known version of Spider-Man, Spider-Punk has quickly become a fan favorite. And that’s thanks in large part to Daniel Kaluuya and his performance. Certainly the ingenuity in Spider-Punk’s design helped make it stand out. His color scheme is constantly changing, while various elements of his clothing move at different frame rates to create the illusion that he was pieced together from various punk rock flyers, but it’s Kaluuya’s effortless appeal that makes his rebellious nature so infectious.
Kaluuya plays alongside a large ensemble Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse These include Shameik Moore as Miles Morales aka Spider-Man, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy aka Spider-Woman, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker aka Spider-Man, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099 and Issa Rae as Jessica Drew aka Spider-Woman, Karan Soni as Pavitr Prabhakar aka Spider-Man India, Andy Samberg as Ben Reilly aka Scarlet Spider and Scott pilgrim vs the world Jason Schwartzman stars as Jonathan Ohnn aka The Spot.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse throws Miles Morales back into the madness of the multiverse, where he encounters a team of spider-men tasked with protecting his very existence. However, when the heroes clash over how to deal with a new threat, Miles faces off against the other spiders.
Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson from a screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and David Callaham. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now available in cinemas. The third and final outing Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-VerseRelease is scheduled for March 29, 2024.
