Daniel Kaluuya Confirms He’s Working on a Spider-Verse Spinoff

Daniel Kaluuya has confirmed that he is working on a new Spider-Verse spinoff centered on his Spider-Punk character.

Speaking to Deadline at the Red Sea Studio in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the actor behind Get Out and Black Panther shared that he and co-writer Ajon Singh are in the final stages of the first draft of the animated feature, which is being developed at Sony.

“We’re in our process,” Kaluuya said when asked about the film’s development. He declined to give plot details or confirm if other Spider-Verse characters would appear, simply saying, “TBD.”

The idea for a Spider-Punk standalone film was inspired by the enthusiastic fan response to Kaluuya’s portrayal of Hobie Brown in 2023’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Spider-Punk is an alternate version of Spider-Man who will also appear in the upcoming third installment, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

“It’s exciting to be writing something in this space,” Kaluuya said. He praised filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller for their guidance, calling them “great storytellers” and saying they supported the Spider-Punk project.

Kaluuya reflected on the impact of the Spider-Verse films. “Those Spider-Verse films, they speak to me. I was so inspired by them. I think the filmmakers and the animators are some of the best storytellers in the game. So, I want to put myself in environments where I can grow and learn what they know,” he explained.

He also shared a lesson from Lord while working on the project: “Films aren’t about people, they’re about relationships. They also tap into a joy of cinema and storytelling and animation, and I think joy is so hard to do and that’s something I’m aspiring for. They love what they do and that’s what the audience is really feeling.”

Spider-Punk, whose real name is Hobart Brown, first appeared in Marvel Comics and was created by writer Dan Slott and artist Olivier Coipel.

The character is a punk-inspired version of Spider-Man who fights against villains such as President Norman Osborn, V.E.N.O.M., and the Inheritors. In the comics, Hobart was a homeless teen transformed by a radioactive spider. He becomes Spider-Punk and leads New Yorkers against Osborn’s forces, ultimately becoming a hero in his world.

Kaluuya’s Spider-Punk made his film debut in Across the Spider-Verse and is set to return in Beyond the Spider-Verse, with the new spinoff building on that character’s story.

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