Spider-Man Punk wasn't originally going to appear in Spider-Man: Beyond the Universe

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse featured so many versions of Spider-Man that the new fan-favorite - Punk Spider-Man - almost didn't make the cut.

Chris Miller, writer and producer of the animated film, recently told Entertainment Weekly that executives wanted to remove some of Punk Spider-Man's scenes: "Some people thought, 'Is it possible to simplify it? There are too many characters. Do we really need Punk Spider-Man?' But once we got to know him better with Daniel Kaluuya (the actor who voices Punk Spider-Man), we rewrote the part so it became more important."

Punk Spider-Man, also known as Hobart Brown, first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 3 in 2015 and launched his first solo mini-comic series in 2022, written by Cody Ziglar and illustrated by Justin Mason.

Co-writer and producer Phil Lord explained: "[Punk Spider-Man] had been in and out of the planning for a while, and we weren't sure which elements were going to end with this one and which were going to carry over to the next movie. When we met Daniel Kaluuya, we realized he had to be Hobbie Brown, no matter what the cost. Hobbie had to be in the movie because this mission needed to be part of the story."

Spider-Man: Beyond the Universe was originally scheduled to be released on March 29, 2024, but the film has now been postponed indefinitely because the studio was reported to be working overtime and Hollywood film and television industry workers are currently on strike.