Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an excellent film in virtually everybody’s opinion, whether they are critics or fans.
The film has a 96% Rotten Tomatoes rating and, in its second weekend, has garnered almost $400 million at the box office. The second installment of a trilogy, the film’s $120.5 across North America in its debut weekend makes it the film with the second-highest domestic debut this year.
If you have seen the film, we are sure Donald Glover’s cameo appearance in that Spider headquarters scene elicited some oooohhhs and ahhhs in your theater. We felt that way, too. It was a pleasant experience, especially since we were not expecting it to happen.
One of the film’s directors, Kemp Powers, told The Hollywood Reporter that Glover’s cameo appearance was not part of their original plan. He said, "You have to understand that these things happen very spontaneously" which suggests to us that Glover’s inclusion was something they decided upon deep into the film’s production.
In Across the Spider-Verse, Glover played an alternate universe version of Miles Morales’s uncle Aaron Davis/Prowler who was imprisoned at Spider headquarters in Nueva York.
This was not the first time the acclaimed actor, singer, and comedian would star in a Spider-Man film as the character. In 2017, he starred as the character, although a small-time criminal, in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
That appearance was also a brief cameo, which is a shame given the charm and humor that Glover oozes on screen and the joy a full feature would have brought to fans of the animated film series.
In Across the Spider-Verse, Shameik Moore once again embodies Miles Morales. The sequel also sees the return of Hailee Steinfeld, Mahershala Ali, Jake Johnson, Lauren Velez, and Brian Tyree Henry all of whom reprise their roles from the first film. Daniel Kaluuya, Issa Rae, Jason Schwartzman, and Jharrel Jerome join in new roles.
Glover is set to join Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, though. However, it won’t be as Aaron Davis. Instead, he will take on the role of the Hypno-Hustler, a Spider-Man villain who can hypnotize people with his music. Even though the character sounds less satisfying than Aaron Davis, we can understand the choice given Glover’s background.
By the way, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, one of the most highly-anticipated games of the year, is slated for an October 20 release.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is still slinging from theater to theater worldwide.
