Every pop culture reference in Tom Hardy's new album
Every pop culture reference in Tom Hardy's new album
Aashna Mon, August 31, 2026 at 11:26 AM UTC
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"Venom: The Last Dance" UK Premiere - Arrivals ©Getty
Actor Tom Hardy has adopted his musical alter ego and rap alias, Frankie Pulitzer, and dropped his first 15-track collaborative rap album, Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer, with the underground hip-hop supergroup Czarface (made up of Wu-Tang Clan's Inspectah Deck and duo 7L & Esoteric).
While the Peaky Blinders' actor has never publicly confirmed his Frankie Pulitzer musical alter ego, Hardy has been secretly collaborating with Czarface as the anonymous rapper under this moniker since 2021.
Czarface Meets Frankie Pulitzer not only brings Tom Hardy together with the underground group for his first studio album but is packed with cinematic, comic-book and literary references. In addition to guest verses from rap heavyweights like Method Man and Busta Rhymes, Hardy's latest album leans into his famous acting background, turning it into a pop-culture scavenger hunt packed with references to comic book characters like the Green Goblin & Thor and popular movies like Misery, Titanic and Dog Day Afternoon.
Here's every pop culture reference in Tom Hardy's album.
Tom Hardy's new album is packed with pop culture references
It's only befitting that the MobLand actor channeled The Dark Knight Rises supervillain Bane in one of his songs, a surprising treat for fans. For his track 6, “Grim-Visaged War,” Tom Hardy recites the famous Richard III monologue in his Bane voice, paying homage to his popular character.
Hardy's collaboration with Method Man on the track ''Mad Technology'' saw him name-drop two of Stephen King's adaptations, Cujo and Misery. The reference even extended with a crude jab at Kathy Bates, the leading star of the latter adaptation:
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''You sh*t-for-brain no-name lame, that bites like Cujo...I’d rather m*sturb*te to Kathy Bates than hear you flow...And you know that Misery, it loves company.''
Hardy capped off the track with a random shoutout to Marvel superhero and the Greek God of Thunder Thor and Shameik Moore, who voices Miles Morales in the Spider-Verse films and also appeared in Dope.
Tom Hardy's collab with Busta Rhymes on the track “Raw Forever'' is jam-packed with many pop culture references, including Martin Scorsese’s 1999 film Bringing Out the Dead, his Spider-Man: No Way Home costar Willem Dafoe and his Green Goblin character in the films, Marvel's newest supervillain Doctor Doom (who will be portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday), Sidney Lumet's 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon and DC Comics hero Sergeant Rock.
Check out the lyrics below:
''I’m Bringing Out the Dead like a paramedic out the Cage, directed by Marty...I be somewhat of a scientist like Willem Dafoe...So vile, exhale the smoke cloud, blow trial Dog Day Afternoon...Doctor Doom how I’m the Victor the Scripture...''
Lastly, Tom Hardy's verse in Gnawing at My Rhyme Like a Poisonous Rat packs a reference to James Cameron's 1997 cult-classic film Titanic as he references one of Leonardo DiCaprio's popular scenes as Jack:
''Yo, you act amused like DiCaprio scratching his pencils...To capture your figure you love the attention that’s all clear.''
Now that Tom Hardy has traded the film set for a recording booth, fans are excited to see what his rap debut has in store.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
