Daniel Kaluuya recently teased his upcoming Spider-Punk animated feature, revealing where he and cowriter Ajon Singh are in their development alongside Sony Pictures.
The actor confirmed he and Singh are in the “finishing stages” of a first draft of the script for the project, in a recent interview with Deadline, and explained: “We’re in our process.” That said, Kaluuya was tight-lipped when it came to plot details, with his only response about whether the film would be a standalone project or if other characters from the Spider-Verse would appear being “TBD.”
Kaluuya, who garnered an Oscar nomination for his role in Get Out, also revealed that the “intense” response to his character Spider-Punk in the 2023 film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse laid the groundwork for this project. “It’s exciting to be writing something in this space,” he said in the interview.
He added: “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.”
Kaluuya also noted that Spider-Verse writers Phil Lord — who Kaluuya called a “great storyteller” alongside cowriter Christopher Miller during the interview — previously gave him a crucial note in an early treatment of the film that shaped his perspective: “films aren’t about people, they’re about relationships.”
“They also tap into a joy of cinema and storytelling and animation,” he added of the filmmaking duo. “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.”
Kaluuya is set to reprise his role as Hobart “Hobie” Brown aka Spider-Punk in 2027’s Beyond the Spider-Verse, but it appears he will also do so in this new film, whenever it hits theaters in the near future.
Spider-Punk first appeared in Marvel comics in 2015 as a homeless teenager who becomes a hero to the citizens of New York in his own universe, sporting the same powers as Peter Parker but with a deep affinity for punk rock. This grungy Spider-Man is the leader of an underground resistance against Norman Osborn's authoritarian rule, and he's not completely sold on the idea of the Spider Society.
It's a busy time for Spider-Man generally. Production on Tom Holland’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day is underway (as everyone in Glasgow, Scotland knows), with a July 31, 2026 release date. Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse arrives a year later, on June 18, 2027. There’s also Spider-Noir, a live-action Prime Video series starring Nicolas Cage, due out next year.
Lex Briscuso is a film and television critic and a freelance entertainment writer for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @nikonamerica.
