Hobie (Spider-Punk) likely helped Miles because he can appreciate the drive to want to write your own story and stand up against an oppressive regime.
Spider-Punk has certainly become one of the most popular characters from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
However, this characters’ motivation to support Miles runs much deeper than simply standing up to Miguel.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Why did Hobie help Miles?
One character that has become an instant fan-favorite among the more than 240 characters in the new Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse movie – is Spider-Punk.
Spider-Punk or Hobart ‘Hobie’ Brown is a crucial part of Miles’s arc in this movie, and he just keeps the Spider-Verse interesting, in general. He is also one of the only characters that is in Miles’s corner from the get-go.
The directors of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Justin K. Thompson, Joaquim Dos Santos and Kemp Powers, have explained that they decided to include Spider-Punk in the film because they wanted someone to support Miles on his journey to write his own story.
From everything that we know about Hobie’s character, he decides to help Miles because he has always been an anarchist who rejected social norms and authority and he likely saw this same drive to ‘create your own destiny’ in Miles.
This is probably his main motivation to support Miles, besides the fact that he disagrees with Miguel’s leadership.
Spider-Punk’s origin story
Although Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse does not delve too deeply into Spider-Punk’s history, the character truly lives up to his name.
Even before Hobie gained his special powers, he was always a free spirit and lived as a teenage squatter on Earth-138.
However, once Hobie was imbued with his powers, he put his core beliefs into action and created anarchist groups of rebels who stood up against a totalitarian regime.
He was never part of the Spider-Society in the original comics, but he joined groups like the Spider-Army when he could get behind their causes (like he did with Gwen’s group).
Which powers does Spider-Punk have?
Hobie has all of the same base powers that the other Spider-Verse variants do, including the strength, reflexes, increased speed and endurance.
However, (although this has not been showcased in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse just yet) he also has the special ability to use the ‘Power of Punk Rock’.
What Hobie represents in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Hobie is certainly an essential part of Miles’s journey throughout Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, because he is the first one to tell Miles the truth about the Spider-Society. Furthermore, he acts as the catalyst for Miles’s rebellion.
He also functions as yet another deterrent in the relationship between Gwen and Miles, which will likely come up again in the future.