The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, now playing in theaters.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is packed to the gills with scene-stealing characters, but it's hard to deny its breakout darling. Spider-Punk -- aka Hobie Brown -- begins the film as a member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society, only to break with the group out of sympathy for their treatment of Miles Morales. He's a member of Spider-Gwen's team assembled at the end of the movie to save Miles, which means he'll be returning in 2024's Beyond the Spider-Verse to complete the trilogy.
That raises the tantalizing question of his possible arrival in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which suddenly looks a lot more possible thanks to the new fans he's gained from Across the Spider-Verse. He even has a hook from the comics that would fit perfectly into what the burgeoning mega-franchise has planned. The Spider-Geddon story saw him face and defeat Kang the Conqueror. If the MCU plans to add him, it's an ideal way to do so.
Spider-Geddon Was Spider-Punk's Moment to Shine
Hobie first appeared in 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 #10 (Dan Stott, Olivier Coipel, Wade von Grawbadger, Justin Ponsor, and Chris Eliopoulos), as a part of the Spider-Verse crossover event that helped inspire the animated movies. His reality -- Earth-138 -- witnesses Norman Osborn become president of a world destroyed by capitalistic corporations. Hobie gains his powers from a spider irradiated by toxic waste, then uses them to organize a "Spider Army" of malcontents to overthrow the ruling regime.
With his multiversal credentials firmly established, Spider-Punk has since engaged in a number of cross-reality events, including the Spider-Geddon miniseries in 2018. Edge of Spider-Geddon #1 (Jed MacKay, Gerardo Sandoval, Brian Reber, Cory Petit) pits him against "Kang the Conglomerator" a variant from a possible future who tries to kidnap Spider-Punk from the present. Hobie and his friends send him packing.
Spider-Punk's Battle with Kang Is Ideal For the MCU
Kang, of course, is the MCU's Big Bad for the immediate future, leading up to Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars slated for release in 2025 and 2026 as of this writing. The multiverse has served as a major focus for the franchise since its creation in Loki Season 1, Episode 6, "For All Time. Always." And while the Spider-Verse movies are only loosely connected to the MCU, their very subject matter makes it absurdly easy to slide any desired characters between one franchise and the other.
With the enthusiastic response to Spider-Punk in Across the Spider-Verse, it's almost a no-brainer to use his Kang story as an entry into the MCU. It instantly ties him into the franchise's central storyline, and with the multiverse well-established, he doesn't need much time to get new fans up to speed. Any Kang variant could conceivably work as a stand-in, and the Spider-Geddon story can integrate with the MCU's larger multiverse plot almost without thinking.
To top it all off, Daniel Kaluuya, who voices Hobie, already has a prominent role in the MCU as W'Kabi in Black Panther. Hobie makes an easy W'Kabi variant as well, matching numerous other Spider-variants such as Spider-Gwen (Gwen Stacy) and Spider-Man UK (Brian Braddock). He could easily step in as a live-action Hobie without missing a beat, and given the likely multiversal insanity of a project like Secret Wars, Spider-Punk would feel right at home. Taking on Kang is almost a bonus at this stage. There's no reason to expect the MCU will add him, at least as of this writing. But considering all of the upsides -- with very few drawbacks -- leaving him out of the mega-franchise would be turning away a near-certain slam dunk.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters.