Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse's Wildest Cameo Has A Long History

This article contains spoilers for "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," so proceed with caution.

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is now in theaters everywhere. The highly anticipated sequel expands the roster of Spider-People that was already jam-packed with a bunch of web-slinging superheroes from a variety of different universes in its predecessor, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." Since the sequel is concerned with the fate of the entire multiverse, there's room for a plethora of new characters, including some surprises. Along with the brief appearance of a couple of beloved animated Spider-Man variations from television's past, as well as a certain PlayStation version of the webhead and an endless array of comic book characters, there's a surprising amount of live-action references. But one stands out above them all.

When Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) first arrives in Nueva York, a futuristic version of New York in the universe occupied by Spider-Man 2099 (aka Miguel O'Hara, voiced by Oscar Isaac), he gets a rundown of the Spider Society that his multiversal friend Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) has recently joined. While taking in the many versions of Spider-Man walking around every corner, Morales is also shown several imprisoned anomalies, which are various villains from other universes who have caused trouble for the Spider Society and are now captured in Nueva York. Among them is Donald Glover as The Prowler. No, it's not a new animated version of the same character voiced by Mahershala Ali in "Into the Spider-Verse." Instead, it's a live-action Donald Glover in The Prowler suit, and it's just another chapter in the long history that the "Community" and "Atlanta" star has with Spider-Man.

Longtime Spider-Man fans will remember the fervor that was sparked back in 2010 when a geeky pop culture blog not unlike this one suggested that Donald Glover (best known for his role on the NBC sitcom "Community" at the time) would be a great candidate to play the new Spider-Man. At the time, Sony Pictures was looking to reboot the Spider-Man franchise, so fan-casting was in a frenzy trying to figure out the best new web-slinger for the big screen. After an online boost by Glover himself, hashtag #Donald4SpiderMan was all over Twitter, and fans were giddy about the possibility (except for the racist clowns who think Peter Parker always has to be white). But Andrew Garfield would go on to get the job in "The Amazing Spider-Man," and though he was good in the role, the franchise ultimately crashed and burned, though it would end up getting some form of redemption thanks to "Spider-Man: No Way Home."

However, the excitement about Glover playing a Black version of Spidey never waned. In fact, the stir over this new version of Spider-Man resulted in an amusing gag on "Community," where Glover briefly appeared in Spider-Man pajamas during the second season premiere. It was this moment that actually inspired Marvel Comics writer Brian Michael Bendis to create the character we know as Miles Morales, a half-Latino, half-black teenage version of Spider-Man from another universe who was introduced in the pages of Marvel Comics in 2011's  "Ultimate Fallout" #4.

Fast forward over a decade, and Miles Morales has become one of the most popular characters in the Marvel Comics superhero roster, and he now has his own film franchise. But Glover's role in the history of Miles Morales and Spider-Man doesn't end there. 

Before we entered the Spider-Verse in 2018, the Spider-Man franchise was rebooted yet again in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Thankfully, the new version of Peter Parker played by Tom Holland didn't get yet another exhaustive origin story recounting the beats that we all know about Uncle Ben, great power, great responsibility, and all that jazz. Instead, the new web-slinger was introduced by way of "Captain America: Civil War" in 2016, as a recruit that Tony Stark had taken note of in Queens, New York. 

Fans went wild at the introduction of Spider-Man in the MCU, so of course Tom Holland got to lead his own Spidey franchise, starting with "Spider-Man: Homecoming." Though the movie didn't need to recount the hero's origins, it still acts as a foundational franchise starter by giving us a Peter Parker who is desperate to impress Tony Stark and the rest of the Avengers by proving himself as a worthy crimefighter. Amidst his stopping bicycle thieves and getting a churro from a nice old lady, he encounters some underground dealing of dangerous futuristic weapons with technology taken from the Chitauri alien weapons left behind in the rubble after the Battle of New York in 2012's "The Avengers."

One of those weapons dealers is portrayed by none other than Donald Glover. But the character he plays isn't just a random, low-level criminal. Glover plays Aaron Davis, and fans of Marvel Comics and "Into the Spider-Verse" know that Davis is none other than the villain called The Prowler. More importantly, Davis is also Miles Morales' uncle, making for quite the familial conundrum. An exchange between Tom Holland's Spider-Man and Glover's Aaron Davis (seen above) even sets the stage for the potential introduction of Miles Morales in the MCU, when the criminal references the fact that he's got a nephew who lives in Queens. 

So what does that mean for Donald Glover's most recent comic book appearance in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" as a live-action version of The Prowler?

"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" was already teasing potential connections to the MCU when one of the trailers in the film's marketing campaign made a direct reference to both the Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield versions of Spider-Man that we've seen on the big screen before. Though those movies weren't part of the MCU before, that all changed when "Spider-Man: No Way Home" brought them into the world of Tom Holland's Spidey. However, cold water was thrown on fans' fire not long after, when co-writer and co-director Kemp Powers responded to questions about potential ties to the MCU:

"The world of Miles Morales and Spider-Verse, it's not tied into the Marvel Cinematic Universe or anything like that. But this is a [Phil] Lord and [Chris] Miller film. We like to have a little bit of fun, we like to be a little bit meta and to acknowledge the world in which we are creating these stories. That's the best way to explain it."

This seems to be merely a technicality though, perhaps one that needs to be dictated clearly in order to avoid any potential lawsuits between Marvel Studios (or rather Disney) and Sony Pictures. Because while there's no mention of the MCU, the implication would seem to be that Donald Glover's version of Aaron Davis does indeed go on to be The Prowler at some point in the MCU. Of course, since there are endless universes in the multiverse, it would stand to reason that there's at least one other universe out there where a different version of Aaron Davis who looks like Donald Glover became The Prowler. But it's clear that this reference is trying to have some fun with what was established in the MCU, even if Tom Holland's Spider-Man never makes an appearance.

Donald Glover's appearance is just one of the many live-action references in "Across the Spider-Verse," which also includes a pop into a familiar location from "Venom," and flashbacks to the pivotal Uncle Ben moments in both "Spider-Man" from 2002, and "The Amazing Spider-Man" in 2012. As for the rest of the Spider-Cameos, fans will have to wait to freeze-frame the movie from their home, because there are simply too many to catch them all. But you can try with many repeat viewings of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," playing in theaters everywhere now.