Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya is joining the cast of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse as Spider-Punk. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was one of the most highly-acclaimed films of 2018, and it won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film in 2019.
It sounds as though Kaluuya might get to use his own London accent as Hobart ‘Hobie’ Brown, as the character was originally going to be called Spider-UK. In Dan Slott and Olivier Coipel’s comic-books, Brown is a homeless teenager who was transformed by a spider that was irradiated as part of President Norman Osborn’s toxic waste dumping. He becomes the punk-rock inspired Spider-Man, leading the downtrodden people of New York against Osborn’s troops. Spider-Punk manages to kill Osborn during a riot by bashing the President with his guitar.
Other new additions to the cast include Oscar Isaac (who was teased in the first movie) as Spider-Man 2099, Issa Rae as Spider-Woman and Jason Schwartzman as the Spot. They will be joining Shameik Moore, Jake Johnson, and Hailee Steinfeld reprising their roles from the first movie. Phil Lord commented on Twitter that Takuya Yamashiro, the Japanese Spider-Man, has been designed, but we don’t yet know who will be voicing him.
Daniel Kaluuya exploded in terms of Hollywood fame when he starred in Jordan Peele’s horror movie Get Out, for which he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar. He has since worked almost exclusively with Black directors – appearing in Black Panther, Widows, Queen & Slim, and Judas and the Black Messiah (for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar). He reunited with Jordan Peele earlier in 2022, for science fiction movie Nope.
After the release date was pushed back twice, Across the Spider-Verse is currently scheduled for June 2023. Sony Pictures has revealed that the movie will not only feature six universes – each with their own distinct animation style – but also host 240 characters in total.
While we wait for next summer, check out our guide the best animated movies.