Talking about “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” ahead of the film’s home video release on disc shortly, writer-producer Phil Lord says Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya’s memorable Spider-Punk character was nearly cut from the film.
This Summer’s animated film boasts hundreds of Spider-Man variations – some blink and you’ll miss them, whilst others are major players in the storyline.
One of the majors is Hobie Brown/Spider-Punk voiced by Kaluuya. Part rock star, part mentor, former runway model and all anarchist, the character is pure energy with a different animation style and unpredictable energy.
He’s become something of a fan favorite in some circles, but according to Lord in a newly published interview with EW, it wasn’t until they secured the actor that they locked down the character’s inclusion:
“He was in and out of the picture for a little while because we weren’t sure which elements we were going to stick in this part and which were going to migrate to the next movie. When we met Daniel Kaluuya, we realized that he had to be Hobie Brown, no matter the cost. And Hobie had to be in the movie because that personality needed to be part of the story.”
Fellow producer Chris Miller adds that once they got to know Daniel, they rewrote the part so it became more necessary to the story – the role now serving as a “chaotic foil to the more strait-laced Miguel O’Hara (Oscar Isaac)”.
The directors also gave the animators video footage of Kaluuya in the recording booth so as to incorporate the actor’s facial expressions and mannerisms for inspiration.
The character was also demanding technologically as different parts of Hobie’s body are animated at a different frame rates which meant Sony Imageworks had to invent multiple different software programs and tools to pull it off.
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is available now on digital and on 4K UHD and Blu-Ray from September 5th.
