"Across the Spider-Verse: is it the greatest cameo of all time?

Luca Fontana

16.6.2023

Translation: machine translated

Think you know the best cameo in a superhero movie? I bet you don't. Because not many people know the story I'm about to tell you.

**Warning spoiler.**This article is about the actual content of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Watch the films first before reading it.

Cameos have a long tradition in Marvel films. We'll never forget Samuel L. Jackson's appearance in Iron Man. In a short post-credits scene, Jackson announced to the main character that he had entered a universe larger than the one he was aware of, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Recently, he made an appearance in Sony's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. This one is admittedly considerably shorter, but it's all the more awesome for it. Ultimately, the story behind it is much bigger than many people realise. It's the live-action variant of the Prowler played by Donald Glover:

Not spectacular? Perhaps. What makes it so special, though, is that it completes a significant circle. For without the American actor Donald Glover, the fictional character Miles Morales, as we know him, would not exist.

Why is Donald Glover playing the role of the Prowler here?

Those who still remember Marvel and Sony's 2017 co-production Spider-Man: Homecoming will know: this isn't the first time Glover has appeared in a Spider-Man movie. Indeed, we've already seen him in the scene where the Spider-Man played by Tom Holland questions a petty thug about the whereabouts of alien weapons: the "A Poor Interrogation" scene:

The petty thug is played by Glover. Although unimpressed by Spider-Man's threats, he still agrees to help him. Because the crook doesn't want his nephew growing up in a neighbourhood where such dangerous weapons are circulating.

His nephew. It's a big deal. As soon as the film was released, fans speculated about the identity of the nephew. In doing so, they wanted to draw conclusions about the identity of Glover's little thugs. But it wasn't until months later, when Sony released a deleted scene in the Blu-Ray extras, that fans got confirmation. The nephew's name is:

Miles.

Fans were ecstatic. After all, this means that not only Peter Parker, but also Miles Morales exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Even if we'll never see it. And while Glover plays Miles' uncle, we also know his name: Aaron Davis. That means Glover could one day become the villain Prowler, if the MCU follows the rough history of the Ultimate Comics published in 2012. Not bad. Indeed, in the comics, the Prowler is not only Miles Morales' uncle, but also his nemesis when Miles is bitten by a spider and becomes the new Spider-Man.

So Glover's appearance as a live-action Prowler in Across the Spider-Verse could mean that's exactly what happened in the interim. Maybe even in the MCU. Maybe in another universe. It doesn't really matter. Indeed, the joke isn't that Glover has already landed two guest appearances. What's funnier is that Glover's real connection with Spider-Man goes back even further.

In fact, in 2010.

But what's so special about Donald Glover's cameo?

Even before Andrew Garfield was cast as the new Peter Parker in the Spider-Man reboot The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012, Marc Bernardin, one of The Hollywood Reporter's film editors at the time, wrote:

Bernardin has found defenders. Fans have thrown several names of young actors of colour into Spider-Man's hat for potential casting. One of them brought the crowds together: Donald Glover. Glover, who on the one hand had proved his talent as the writer of the 2000s sitcom 30 Rock. Glover, who was on the other hand a fan favourite in the midst of the rise of the hit series Community, which launched in 2009.

It wasn't long before his name became synonymous with one of the first major social media movements on the internet. The resulting hashtag even ranked for a short time in 2010 in the top 3 Twitter hashtags in the United States: #donald4spiderman.

The movement didn't stop there.

The movement did not go unnoticed, especially not by Glover. On the one hand, he would have loved to play Spider-Man. On the other hand, he was so excited by the trend that he indulged in a gag with the creators of Community: they filmed a short scene in which Troy, the character played by Glover, was wearing Spider-Man pyjamas.

They had no idea what they were unleashing.

How Glover influences the birth of a new Spider-Man

Glover certainly never became Spider-Man. At least, not in a live-action film. Had he not been too old for Homecoming in 2017, he might have been the choice. But what he couldn't do in film, he did in the world of comics and cartoons. Indeed, when comic book writer and artist Brian Michael Bendis saw the scene in Community, he would have been so excited by the ideae of a man of colour wearing the Spider-Man costume that he immediately set to work creating a new comic book hero, with Donald Glover on his mind.

That was the birth of Miles Morales.

When the Spider-Man played by Miles Morales made his cartoon debut that same year in Ultimate Spider-Man, it was quickly decided who would lend him his voice. Yes: Donald Glover.

You see: when Glover faces young Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, it's not just a guest appearance or a gag. It's a circle that started forming over a decade ago, and is finally closing.

Luca Fontana

Senior Editor

Luca.Fontana@digitecgalaxus.ch

I'm an outdoorsy guy and enjoy sports that push me to the limit – now that’s what I call comfort zone! But I'm also about curling up in an armchair with books about ugly intrigue and sinister kingkillers. Being an avid cinema-goer, I’ve been known to rave about film scores for hours on end. I’ve always wanted to say: «I am Groot.» more

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