“Don’t enlist before knowing what war you are fighting “

My man was spitting hard truths …

I think one of the best parts is how Hobie calls Peter's daughter a anarchist cause depending on which canon Peter B is part of, his little girl is technically not supposed to exist. But she DOES due to Peter B meeting Miles.

It makes me so happy that they respected Hobie as a character to properly write and animate him as an embodiment of Punk as an ideology, not just as an aesthetic.

"I don't believe in consistency."

That's not just a statement, Hobie actually lives it, too. Pay close attention to him: his art style, his color scheme, his general look, it always seems to constantly change between shots. Even the framerate at which he moves constantly changes: sometimes he's animated every 2 frames, sometimes every frame, sometimes every 3 frames, sometimes his clothes are animated at a higher framerate than one part of his body, and that part is animated at a higher framerate than another part of his body.

What an amazing character he is

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.

Something interesting I noticed is that Hobie even says, “What, you think I’m gonna show you my secret identity,” in the first place at all. He literally introduces himself as Hobie, Hobie Brown. The point he cuts himself off with the ‘secret identity’ bit is right when he starts to explain his story about why he is spider-man. His ‘secret’ is why, why he is spider-man, and why he is a part of the society.

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 to 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.

There's something very pointed about a video essay on a literal Punk character where especial focus is put on the importance of art and communication, having its audio selectively gutted for "copyright claims."

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.

“Calling yourself a Hero makes you a self-mythologizing narcissistic Autocrat”

Miguel: “We are the good guys.”

God you talking about Hobie's deception is also such a great example of how being deceptive shouldn't just be a trait for villainous characters. I wish more modern works took advantage of all the ways deception can be shown and used in stories, and hopefully Hobie inspires other writers to see deception in a new light

I hate the AM, I Hate the PM,
- PM can also stand for Prime Minister

A thing that I only noticed when "rewatching the movie" through this video is that Hobie already knew about Miguel's laser cages when he gave Miles the "palms, not fingertips" pointer. He gives Miles what will go on to be a literally life-saving bit of advice in such an ego-bruising way that he can be certain that Miles will remember it when it matters (and remains at Miles' side as a reminder of his advice until the moment it becomes relevant) before IMMEDIATELY dipping once he knows Miles can handle Miguel.

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.

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.

As an anarchist, I was genuinely surprised by Hobie's portrayal in a piece of corpo media. When we're not being shown as villains, we're either naive, ineffectual, or insignificant.

My favorite part of this movie is that prior to Hobie showing up, Miles is fully prepared to be jealous because he thinks there's some kind of love triangle going on. But when Hobie shows up, it takes almost no time for Miles to "get it". He understands why everyone's talking about this guy, and can't help but be enamored as well. He no longer sees Hobie as a threat, but as the sort of person he wants to become. And Hobie wastes no time falling into that big brother role himself.

And don't forget that Hobbie said the 4 most powerful words in the whole movie. When Miles starting showing anger when everyone was closing in on him, Hobbie said "There you go." Then Jessica Drew said "Hobbie your not helping" and Hobbie said "good". Sends chills down my spine every time I see it.

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 😂

Also, Hobie says about the baby “kid’s an anarchist”

I’m of the opinion that someone will realize that the baby is living proof the cannon CAN be disrupted by outside forces without causing holes in the multiverse. Peter says that it was specifically Miles that inspired him to have the kid, and I dunno about you but that seems like a pretty major disruption. Once someone connects those dots, the spider society’s rules all fall apart and it becomes clear that something in their understanding is missing. And it seems like Hobie might understand its significance, even if he doesn’t quite get the full picture