Daniel Kaluuya is known to comic book fans for portraying W'Kabi in Black Panther, but he'll get to explore a whole new side of the Multiverse in this summer's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
In the highly anticipated sequel, the actor is playing Hobie Brown, a.k.a. Spider-Punk. Originally the design for Spider-UK, the character was later given this new moniker and lost his British roots. However, given how important punk has been to the UK's music scene, it makes sense to revisit those original plans for the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse follow-up.
Talking to Empire Online, Kaluuya revealed his excitement to join the animated franchise.
"I was gassed. I turned to Lord, Miller and Kemp and said, ‘Thank you for letting me be a part of it, because this is cool as f***,'" he recalls. "I’m a voice in Spider-Verse with a wicked character that sounds exactly like me, from where I’m from. Come on! You go to the younger people in your family and flex: ‘I’m getting on, but don’t forget!’"
"I’m Camden born and bred, and this character is from Camden which is very much associated with the punk movement, so I think they wanted to lean into what they have for free with me," Kaluuya continued. "They were like, ‘What do they speak like?’ and I said, ‘Like me!’"
"I think it gives it that authenticity, like me saying, ‘Man like Pav! [Indian Spider-Man Pavitr Prabhakar] Big steppa!’ I felt really respected."
We can't wait to see what Kaluuya does with the character and he's clearly psyched about bringing Hobie to life here. We've only caught a brief glimpse of this wall-crawler in action, but his powers definitely lend themselves to this franchise's unique animation style.
Miles Morales returns for the next chapter of the Oscar-winning Spider-Verse saga, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. After reuniting with Gwen Stacy, Brooklyn's full-time, friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man is catapulted across the Multiverse, where he encounters a team of Spider-People charged with protecting its very existence.
But when the heroes clash on how to handle a new threat, Miles finds himself pitted against the other Spiders and must redefine what it means to be a hero so he can save the people he loves most.
The movie also stars Shameik Moore, Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, Issa Rae, Karan Soni, Jason Schwartzman, Brian Tyree Henry, Luna Lauren Velez, Greta Lee, Rachel Dratch, Jorma Taccone, Shea Whigham, and Oscar Isaac.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is set to be released in theaters on June 2, 2023.