Donald Glover Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse Appearance Is Crazier Than You Thought
Donald Glover’s brief appearance in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was an all-time great cameo, but surprisingly, the directors planned the cameo before Glover even agreed to do it. Directors Justin K. Thompson, Kemp Powers, and Joaquim Dos Santos told Collider that Glover’s cameo was shot just weeks before the film hit theaters.
Powers explained, “There were several things in those previews that we hadn’t really sorted out yet, like you guys probably remember the Donald Glover cameo — he hadn’t agreed to do it yet.” Even more amazing is that they had a hilarious alternate version of Glover in the previews, with Powers adding, “In the preview, we had, like, a South Park-style cardboard cutout of Donald Glover.”
We Finally Got To See Donald Glover As The Prowler
Thankfully, Donald Glover agreed to do the appearance, and the last-minute addition got an audible reaction from audiences in theaters everywhere. Glover appeared as an alternate universe version of Miles Morales’ uncle, Aaron Davis, aka the Prowler. The Prowler played a significant role in both of the Spider-Verse films, voiced by Mahershala Ali, but it was definitely cool to see Glover fully suited up in Prowler gear.
Donald Glover’s Spider-Man Ties Date Back To Community
For those who don’t know, Donald Glover was the subject of a long fan campaign to be cast as Miles Morales, or even Peter Parker, in a live-action film. This was back in his days on Community, but the actor is now a little old to play the teenage superhero. However, Glover did voice Miles in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series in 2015.
He Played Aaron Davis In The MCU
But Donald Glover as Prowler was in the ether far before his Across the Spider-Verse appearance. Glover appeared as Aaron Davis in the MCU, making a very brief appearance in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man: Homecoming. There hasn’t been any forward momentum on Miles making an MCU appearance yet, so seeing Glover in Prowler gear was definitely a treat for fans who were hoping his MCU debut in the costume would come sooner.
Of course, there’s always a chance that the MCU could introduce Miles Morales in the future, and we could see Donald Glover’s Aaron Davis play a bigger role. Until then, his Prowler cameo in Across the Spider-Verse was definitely fan service done right. It’ll be cool to see what cameos they can sneak into the upcoming Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.
Donald Glover Is Making A Spider-Man Spinoff
Unfortunately, there’s no official word on when Spider-Man will be returning to the MCU, so it could be a while before we see Donald Glover as the live-action Aaron Davis again. However, Glover is brewing up his own Spider-Man-related film about the villain Hypno-Hustler. Glover is attached to both produce and star in the film, which will be part of Sony’s Spider-Man line-up of films.
Sony is also working on a Kraven the Hunter film, which is much further along in development. Hopefully, Donald Glover’s Hypno-Hustler film won’t be affected by the poor performance of recent Sony efforts like Madame Web and Morbius. If there’s someone who could bring some good creative energy back to Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, Glover is the one to do it.
Watch Donald Glover In Mr. And Mrs. Smith
With both Hypno-Hustler in the works and the potential for more MCU Spider-Man films, Donald Glover definitely isn’t done with the Spider-Man franchise anytime soon. In the meantime, you can check out his most recent project, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The series is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
