Under the mask, Hobie Brown is the anarchic Spider-Punk, and he's been one of the biggest breakout characters in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, but who exactly is he?
Voiced by Black Panther actor Daniel Kaluuya, Spider-Punk was a necessary character in the sequel for Miles Morales' journey as he was "the antithesis of all these authority figures in Miles' way." And after seeing the movies, one can see this was true in some big ways.
What's impressive about his surge in popularity from the animated sequel is that, unlike Miguel O'Hara, who has had decades of exposure in the comics since the 90s, Spider-Punk is a relatively new character, created in 2014.
Who is Hobie Brown?
Warning - the rest of this article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Hobie Brown can be summed up with one line from Across the Spider-Verse: "I hate the AM, I hate the PM." He's an anarchist, spitting in the face of authority and rocking out while he does it.
On Earth-138, Hobie Brown is the radioactive suicide machine known as Spider-Man, more commonly known as Spider-Punk. In the comics, he's an American rebel fighting against the totalitarian regime of President Norman Osborn, but in the film, Hobie is a proper Brit instead.
This change can be linked to the comics, as his design was originally intended for Spider-UK. Additionally, unmasked Hobie appears to be a few years older than his comic counterpart or is, at the very least, far more mature.
Hobie does give Miles (and the audience) the traditional rundown of his backstory, which matches closely to the comics. He "[plays] shows" and "[antagonizes] fascists," along with "staging armed permitted political action/performing art pieces!"
He also mentioned how he was "briefly" a runway model (in costume), something that comic book Hobie never was, but his attitude and beliefs certainly made him stand out among the other Spider-People.
What Powers Does Spider-Punk Have?
In the comics, Spider-Punk has all the same powers as the original Spider-Man, including his own web shooters. The same appears to be the case in Across the Spider-Verse, but one thing sets him apart from the rest of the Spider-People is his guitar.
In the comics and the film, Hobie uses his guitar to create ear-piercing sound waves, which help him break through the energy barrier at Pavitr's Alchemax. Of course, the biggest use of his guitar in the comics was defeating President Osborn and his army of Symbiote-infused riot police.
After he used soundwaves to weaken the Symbiotes and Osborn, seeing his opening, Hobie slammed his guitar onto Osborn's neck and cleaved his head off. It's unlikely Sony will allow Hobie to go that far in the threequel, but fans will surely see more use of his guitar to fight both Spot and Miguel's Spider-Society.
Will Hobie Brown Appear in Beyond the Spider-Verse?
The ending of Across the Spider-Verse has Gwen Stacy gathering her own Spider-Band to save Miles, which includes: Peter B. Parker & Mayday Parker, Spider-Man Noir, Peni Parker, Spider-Ham, Pavitr Prabhakar, Spider-Byte, and, of course, Hobie Brown. So, there's already no doubt he'll appear in Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
The real question is, what will his involvement be in the story of the threequel? In the film, Miles is initially jealous of Hobie and his vague relationship with Gwen. However, it's quickly shown that he supports Miles and his rebellious attitude toward the Spider-Society, even backing him up during his intervention.
But most importantly, when Miguel imprisoned Miles, Hobie reminded Miles how he could escape the cage using his palms and venom strike. So, ironically, despite Miles' initial jealousy of Spider-Punk, he might be the only one he'll truly trust in Gwen's Spider-Band.
Will Hobie Brown Appear in the MCU?
Sony Pictures producer Amy Pascal revealed that there are plans to bring Miles Morales into live-action. Still, whether it means it will be the same Miles from the Spider-Verse trilogy, a new introduction in the MCU, or his own franchise in Sony's Spider-Man Universe is anyone's guess. But would Spider-Punk have a chance to appear in the MCU?
The only logical spots for him to show up in a Marvel Studios production would be either Kang Dynasty or Secret Wars, which will no doubt be full of Multiversal cameos. However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and Sony worked together to align their ideas of the Multiverse and the use of MCU references.
So, there's a small chance that Spider-Punk could at least make a live-action cameo in the Multiversal event films.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is currently playing in theaters.
