Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the highly anticipated sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, just hit theaters last week to rave reviews. While I couldn’t wait to see what Miles and other Spider-Man variants like Gwen Stacy and Peter B. Parker had been up to since the first film, I wasn’t expecting to grow to appreciate the newly introduced variants just as much. Take Spider-Punk, or his true identity Hobie Brown: the anarchist Spider-Man with a penchant for guitar and sticking it to the man was a stand-out among a multitude of different Spideys in the film.
And it looks like I’m not the only one who thinks so – many viewers were charmed by Hobie’s accent, rebellious streak, and those dashing good looks. If you can’t get enough of the Spider-Punk vibes, you’re in luck: Cody Ziglar, the writer behind Spider-Punk (as well as the current Miles Morales: Spider-Man issues) created an official playlist to represent the character.
In an interview with Marvel, Ziglar shared the 35 songs he picked that soundtrack the first five issues of Spider-Punk and as we’d expect for Hobie, they rock. You can listen to the entire playlist — filled with punk classics from bands like the Ramones and the Dead Kennedys — on Spotify. “I don’t have the room to dive into why everyone was chosen,” Ziglar shared, “but the short answer is it felt like the proper pacing for a rollercoaster ride, that ebbs and flows as the action falls and rises.”
Daniel Kaluuya, the talented actor who voices Spider-Punk, shared how music helped him develop his character in an interview with GamesRadar, and given his methodology for finding the right tunes, it’s likely he’s heard this playlist.
“When I started the process, I went to Spotify and typed in the word ‘Spider-Punk.’ I just knew that some fan out there would have made something! So, I found a couple of playlists and I would just listen to them, be like vibing out, getting the energy.”
Born and raised in London’s Camden neighborhood, known for its ties to the punk scene, Kaluuya admitted he didn’t have to try too hard to get into the right mindset. “… I just get it! Just get that resistance and going against the status quo. So, I didn’t need to be as immersed as I was born there, I understand the mindset of these people because I grew up around them and am it.” Nevertheless, doing that music homework helped inform Kaluuya’s performance. The actor wanted Hobie’s voice to have a musical quality to it, and ended up going with a staccato speech pattern that sounds like “rapping, but in a punk style.”
Given Kaluuya’s performance, I’m thinking he found Ziglar’s official playlist or at least one of the better fan-made ones, because some of these don’t quite get the vibes right.
You can catch Spider-Punk in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, in theaters now.