Spider-Verse star Daniel Kaluuya addresses film's love triangle: 'Hobie's got Gwen's back'

Watch: Daniel Kaluuya addresses the Spider-Verse love triangle

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse introduces fans to a fun new iteration of the famous web-slinger named Hobie Brown, aka Spider-Punk, who is particularly close with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld), and for actor Daniel Kaluuya their bond is a key part of the story, he tells with Yahoo UK.

Hobie hails from a different universe to Gwen but they share an unmistakable connection that was forged through their time in team of Spider-people protecting the multiverse, and that bond rivals Gwen's budding romance with Miles Morales (Shameik Moore).

Read more: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse recap

Miles, for his part, is coming to accept his growing feelings for Gwen, and when they are back in each other's lives everyone teases Miles about Gwen's bond with Hobie, thus creating an intriguing love triangle in the animated film.

Kaluuya believes Hobie only joined the Spider-Man collective for Gwen because the group represents something he can't stand: the establishment. But it's his need to be there for Gwen that drives his decision, the actor says, "I think he's just got her back right, I think that's why he's there [with the other Spider-people] because I was literally thinking 'why’s he there?' and it's because she's there.

"So it's kind of like ‘cool I've got your back’, but he probably knows that she's part of a thing that she doesn't really align with, but she's into it.

"But he knows that again, like Miles, she follows her gut and has real feelings and is a person of herself, so I think he’s just got Gwen’s back."

Spider-Punk, as one might expect from his name, is against any form of rules, which makes it difficult for him to stand by and watch as Miles is forced to question what is right or wrong when the team's leader Miguel O'Hara (Oscar Isaac) says he has to let one of his loved ones die or completely unravel the multiverse.

Read more: Hailee Steinfeld and Shameik Moore explain 'Across the Spider-Verse'

Being love rivals aside, Hobie is more inclined to back Miles on the matter Kaluuya says: "I think Hobie is really aligned with what he stands for, which is resistance.

"And then he just sees that even though there is community that is seemingly heroes empowering people, they can still form an establishment that eradicates the individual.

"I think this film explores that and Miles is doing what he feels is right, and I think Hobie can see that and kind of respects him for that.

"It's just the age-old debate, right? Which is why I think this film resonates, is just having like a classic narrative and having it in such a fresh innovative way."

Daniel Kaluuya would make a Spider-Punk live-action film if fans asked for it

Kaluuya put a lot of emphasis on what matters to the fans when it came to finding his superhero's voice, so much so that when he first took on the role of Spider-Punk he listened to fan-made playlists dedicated to the character to understand how they saw him rather than choose to base him on any punk rock icons of the past.

Read more: Spider-Man 4: Potential release date, cast, plot for Tom Holland's next MCU movie

"I read the comics and actually I did listen to a couple of Spider-Punk playlists on Spotify just to listen to what the fans felt he was like, and what kind of energy he thought he was like," he explains.

"I'm from where the character’s from, Camden Town, so I understand that energy, like that resistance, not really messing with the status quo so I just wanted to bring that energy to it."

For the actor it is also up to the fans whether he would consider portraying Spider-Punk in live-action in the future, as he said of the hypothetical: "God knows, he’s only just got on his feet, you know what I mean? Like, let’s see what the fans think. If they ask for it then they ask for it."

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Part One is out in cinemas and on IMAX now. Watch a trailer below.