When a DEEP Character Pretends to be SHALLOW... (Hobie Brown)

Looking back, when Hobie takes off his mask and Miles says "How are you even cooler under your mask?" and Hobie replys "I was this cool the whole time", it's a funny line but also speaks the differences in how Hobie and Miles view themselves in regards to the Spiderman persona. Miles still idolizes what being Spiderman means and is trying to live up to that standard. He feels more confident and cool as Spiderman than he does as Miles. To Hobie, there is no split or divide between who Hobie is and who Spiderman is; they are both forces for the people. He's fully embraced fighting for a better world with and without the mask. He's just that cool the whole time.

I think my favorite thing about Hobie is that he doesn't talk down to Miles. Gwen and Peter B. mean well, but they(mostly Gwen) try to let him down easy by sugarcoating things or omitting details. Miguel never even gives Miles a chance and tries to decide what right and wrong should be for him. By contrast, Hobie simply gives Miles the puzzle pieces and stands off to the side, keeping an eye on the situation but trsuting he'll put them together when the time is right.

Not for nothing, but Hobie's entire aesthetic is paper, but layers and layers of paper.

I think it's kinda funny how Hobie has so much character to him that someone can make an analysis 6x longer than his actual screentime 😂

I LOVE how Hobie repeatedly tries to physically block Miles from meeting Miguel. Like, not making the decision for him but showing how he feels about the situation.

Across the Spider-verse was around 140 minutes long and they didn't let a single moment go to waste

Something I'd like to add is just how much he's protecting Miles from the start. His initial line advising Miles on how to use better his powers might seem like he's belittling him in Miles' eyes, but its him genuinely helping. Also, when he says 'I don't follow rules, neither does he', Hobbie KNOWS the spider society isn't gonna accept Miles and is trying to protect him from it. And this shows more when they're talking before meeting Miguel. He questions why Miles is so bent on joining the spider society, getting the answer that Miles just wants a watch to visit his friends, that he only wants a sense of community. Hobbie understands that and, once again, trying to protect Miles from a place that will never treat him like an equal, he tells him to do his own watch, all the while crafting one of his own, straight up telling Miles that he shouldn't be joining a war he doesn't even understand for something he could find other ways of achieving. And even further, during this conversation, he asks about Miles' home situation, about his universe's condition and other things relating to his personal everyday well-being. It sounds like he's being sarcastic/making fun of him to Miles, but its just Hobbie checking to see how safe Miles is and if he's in a situation like Gwen's and if he'll need a place to stay or someone to look out for him and help him.

Hobie was a much needed breath of fresh air. From my experience, anarchist characters are frequently portrayed as being either useless contrarians, hypocrites, or outright villains, usually the result of moderate-leaning writers too scared that their audience might start to question the status quo or make their protagonists look bad for enforcing it

I love that all of Hobie’s lines can be taken a different way depending on how you perceive him! On first watch when you’re defensive against him his line that’s goes like “Bet you have a nice set up at home, nice parents?” kinda just seems like him trying to get a rise out of Miles and maybe bully him for being a momma’s boy. On second watch, where you now know Hobie’s true intentions of helping Miles and taking down the Spider Society, that line reads so different and so much more complex! Hobie is asking Miles if he has a good home to go back to. Gwen has been crashing at Hobie’s dimension not cuz he’s cool but because she doesn’t have a safe home to go back to and Hobie has offered her one. He was prepared to offer that same help to Miles. A lot of Hobie’s actions on second watch just drive home how much he’s really a caring guy, fighting against the establishment for his fellow person.

What I love most about Hobie, is that even though he’s disappointed with Gwen for being so close to the spider society, he doesn’t just go “you’re on your own”. Dude cares about Gwen, and stays around her to lessen the influence Miguel and the other spiders have on her. He was truly looking out for his drummer. The biggest example of this, is that he knew Miles coming to the HQ was a sign that the whole lid was about to be blown off. Their treatment of Miles was going to force Gwen to choose between him or the spider society. So, Hobie knowing who Gwen was as a drummer, knows that Gwen is in fact in love with the boy from 1610. If his intuition is right, she would choose him, and get sent home by Miguel. Hobie is like the protective older brother that knows you are hanging out with the wrong crowd and eventually it will all come crashing down. So, Hobie crafts a backup plan for his friend. In essence, he ensures that when everything falls apart for Gwen she would end up on the right path. So he had the watch prepared for her and set for E-1610. Miles. So she could repair their relationship. He is the example of a steadfast friend that disagrees with your life choices, respects your agency, but does what they can to lessen the negative influences on you. Then when you’re in need of a friend, they answer the call to lift you up. Wonderful messaging from the writing team.

I think it's incredible seeing not only how Hobie's existence has such a massive impact on the plot, but even Hobie's color palette shows when Miles is or isn't heading in the right direction. Look at 14:49, when Hobie sees that Miles thought for himself, Hobie is all lit up with color, but as soon as Miles gets hyped to join the society again, Hobie immediately fades to black and white. Genius

My favourite thing he does is visibly scavenge parts while literally saying to Miles "build your own watch." He's actually not even hiding his intentions, he just plays them up as quirky banter and a faux-rebellion while he means every word of it. Truly refuge in audacity. Also, it has to be monumentally sad for him to pledge his life to a fight against fascim and such, believing himself to be alone, and when he finds out about the multiverse, and the untold people just like him, they're all kowtowing to yet another fascist. And he doesn't take it laying down. He can do the same as Miguel can, but better. He reverse-engineered and replicated the watches, and he too has people by his side, but won over with kindness and inspiration, not just conformity and fear. He truly is PUNK AF.

I love the subtle hint to Hobie's character that comes off when the mask comes off. He asks Gwen how much she's told him about this place. She makes it clear that she hasn't told him much; he's not /supposed/ to know about this. So, what does Hobie immediately do? He fills the gaps in Miles's knowledge. Miles thinks this is a Spider-Man utopia, and Hobie tells him to look more critically, planting the seeds of ideas Miles shouldn't have. When he keeps doing this and is told, "You're not helping," he replies, "Good," a close-up on his unmasked face. It's SUCH good, efficient characterization.

I just realized the the writers are fucking brilliant. You said the line about Hobie 'being mischievous' and I realized that putting people off-kilter with banter is one of Spider-Man's MAIN TACTICS. And that's EXACTLY what Hobie is doing, only he's applied the combat technique to CLASS WARFARE, acting a fool so the hierarchy of spider-persons can't gauge his power or guess his next move. Absolutely fantastic!

It's also worth noting that all those things you point out about Hobie? Those are what make *Spider-Man*. He's funny, he's friendly, he *Cares*. Spider-Man never stands by and does nothing, even if he knows he'd get hurt. Miguel? Miguel isn't funny. He isn't friendly. He doesn't care about people the way Spider-Man should. And not only does he absolutely stand by while someone gets hurt, he encourages other Spider-people to do so too. Miguel is as much a Spider-Man as Doc Oc was. He's got the powers, he's got the suit, but he hasn't got the heart. Hobie is All heart. And he wields it like a weapon. Because Fascists don't want you to care.

I think what's funny about Miles feeling threatened by Hobie is that the reasons Gwen is at Hobie's home is because she doesn't have one, Gwen broke rules just to go see Miles, and Gwen literally doesn't stop talking about how cool Miles is so much so that everyone already knows him as Gwen's bestfriend who she is definitely is in love with. Its also funny because Gwen does the same thing. Gwen and Miles are both scared that the other one is thinking about other people.

I also love how Hobie also Visually refuses to conform. Each world each spidy-person comes from has a unique artistic flare. But in the spider society, everyone kinda blends in. Even Gwen, who's soft painter's palette style doesn't really shift and change as it does when she's home. But Hobie? Reguardless where he is, he's a walking collage. Even in the same scene, his entire colour palette can just shift and change. It's significant.

When hobie says ‘I don’t believe in consistency.’ I think he means he’s perfectly okay with using deception as you are free to lie if you want or do contradicting actions.

The first well written anarchist character I’ve seen in a Hollywood movie. I’m really glad people who don’t know much about the ideology can appreciate him as a character too.

A big reason for Hobie to know how Miles' power works is because Hobie Brown is the original Prowler in the comics, and Miles' power seems to have some connections to the Prowler through his uncle and destiny in an alternate universe. Hobie is so close to Miles because he basically is Miles. He is also a Spider-Man who wasn't supposed to be Spider-Man, and has a history of taking Peter Parker's place.