Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse features a massive cast of Spider-Men from countless alternate dimensions, many of whom are voiced by famous actors and actresses. Spider-Punk, a British punk rock-inspired variant of Spider-Man played by Oscar-winning actor Daniel Kaluuya, has quickly become a fan favorite, and Kaluuya himself recently revealed that he found the most rebellious member of the Spider-Soceity’s voice by rocking out to playlists on Spotify. Here’s how Daniel Kaluya channeled Spider-Punk by jamming out to Spotify.

Daniel Kaluuya Found His Spideer-Punk Voice By Listening to a Spotify Playlist

Since his debut in 2015’s The Amazing Spider-Man #10, Spider-Punk, aka Hobie Brown, has become one of the most popular alternate versions of Spider-Man ever created. In an interview with GamesRadar, Kaluyya explained that he was given quite a bit of freedom to develop the angst-ridden teenage anarchist voice after he was cast to play Spider-Punk in Across the Spider-Verse. Since he was unfamiliar with who Spider-Punk was, Kaluuya started researching the character and quickly turned to an unlikely source; Spotify.

Knowing that many Spotify users use the app to create and share playlists based on their favorite fictional characters, Kaluuya typed “Spider-Punk” into Spotify’s search engine and quickly came across several playlists put together by fans of the multiverse’s most rocking Spider-Man. Then, as he admits in the interview, Kaluuya sat back and listened to them.

So, I found a couple of playlists and I would just listen to them, be like vibing out, getting the energy. It was interesting to see what fans of the comics felt about him, the purists. I listened to the songs and anything I would engage with, I’d listen to it again.

Daniel Kaluuya, from GamesRadar

Related: All Voice Actors in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: Full Cast Explained

Spotify wasn’t the only thing that influenced Kaluuya while he was bringing Spider-Punk’s voice to life. Having grown up in Camden Town, widely recognized as one of the birthplaces of British punk rock, Kaluuya was familiar with the anti-establishment spirit that Camden is known for and worked to channel that rebellious energy into his performance as Spider-Punk. Across the Spider-Verse‘s trio of directors, Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos, and Justin K. Thompson encouraged Kaluuya to embrace this connection by infusing Hobie’s dialogue with Britsh slang.

Spider-Punk’s relationship with Spotify isn’t limited to Kaluuya. While writing his 2022 Spider-Punk miniseries, comic writer Cody Ziglar made a playlist based on the character and would listen to it while writing each issue. It’s more than likely that Ziglar’s playlist was one of the tracklists that helped Kaluuya find Spider-Puink’s voice, strengthening the connection between Across the Spider-Verse’s Spider-Punk and his comic counterpart.

– This article was updated on June 5th, 2023

About The Author

Drew Kopp has been a writer at Attack of the Fanboy for three months and has covered Sons of the Forest, Pokemon, and developments in the entertainment industry. He has a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing and loves writing about indie games and celebrity gossip. When he isn’t writing, he can be found reading fantasy books or rocking out as Bard in Dungeons & Dragons.