Yet more Spider-Man versions have been revealed in toys for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. We’ve got a good look at Spider-Punk thanks a new action figure, as well as information about him that was previously unknown.
Specifically, that he’s apparently British, in a pair of Reddit posts, you can see the front packaging for the toy, a standard figure that comes with his signature guitar, and in the other, the writing on the back. “Spider-Punk is a British punk rock Spider-Man with a wicked electric guitar,” reads the description.
This is fascinating, as previously Spider-Punk was American. Dan Slott and Olivier Coipel created him for the Spider-Verse comics storyline, where Hobart Brown, otherwise known as the Prowler, is Spider-Man in another universe. He plays punk shows and hates authority, specifically Norman Osborn, who’s become president of the United States. What’s curious is that making him British puts him more in line with Coipel’s vision, as he wanted this particular Spidey to hail from the United Kingdom before it was decided he’d be America.
All things are possible in the multiverse, and perhaps it was decided that the animated movie would acknowledge the British proponent of his conception. That’d make this adaptation yet more distinct from its source material.
Ultimately, who knows. This could just as much be a misprint on the packaging or something too. We don’t know what Spider-Man actor will step up to take on Spider-Punk. Commenters on Reddit suggest Tom Holland, who plays the main webslinger in the MCU Spider-Man movies. The irony!
Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson are directing the superhero movie, the first in a two-part epic follow-up to the 2018 original. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse arrives in theatres June 2, 2023.