Deadline reports Daniel Kaluuya, who voiced Spider-Punk in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, is writing a spin-off film with Ajon Singh (Primetime) for Sony Pictures Animation. Other details on the project, like its plot or release window, were not given, although Spider-Verse producers Amy Pascal, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller are expected to continue their roles on the picture. It marks the second feature-length Spider-Verse film to go into development, following a movie revolving around the Spider-Women, that’s been gestating since Into the Spider-Verse‘s release in 2018.
Created by Dan Slott and Olivier Coipel for the original Spider-Verse series in 2014, Spider-Punk is the anarchic Earth-138 variant of Hobie Brown (the original Prowler on Earth-616), who fights fascism and performs punk music in a world ruled by the evil President Ozzy Osborn. However, the 2023 film version was (like Kaluuya) British instead of American, and noticeably guarded about his backstory, giving the writers more freedom to create their own take on his character. The character was also animated in a distinct manner, with inconsistent frame rates and textures, raising further questions about what a spin-off would be like.
Given it’s been two years since Across the Spider-Verse‘s release, the news comes as an unexpected surprise for fans of the series, and Hobie’s portrayal. However, Sony confirmed they would no longer be producing live-action Spider-Man spin-off movies after the conclusion of the Venom trilogy, given the dismal reception to Morbius, Madame Web, and Kraven the Hunter, and the apparent switch in focus is a no-brainer, given the second Spider-Verse grossed $690.8 million worldwide. (By comparison, Kraven the Hunter grossed only $62 million globally.)
Kaluuya, who is perhaps best known for his lead roles in Jordan Peele‘s Get Out (which he was nominated for an Oscar for) and Nope, made his directorial debut with the 2023 Netflix feature The Kitchen; he has also written short films and episodes of Skins, the British teen drama series he starred on from 2007 to 2009. Singh is a relatively unknown writer, whose first major credit, Primetime, an A24 film inspired by the life of Chris Hansen, starring Robert Pattinson and Phoebe Bridgers, recently finished filming, and does not currently have a release date at the time of writing. (Incidentally, Kaluuya is producing an adult-aimed Barney movie with A24 and Mattel.)
In the meantime, Kaluuya is set to reprise the role of Spider-Punk in the third main Spider-Verse entry, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, due out in theaters June 25, 2027. Sony also has a live-action Spider-Verse spin-off series in the works, Spider-Noir, featuring Nicolas Cage reprising the role of the 1930s’ Spider-Man Noir, which will premiere on MGM+ and Prime Video sometime next year.
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