Donald Glover Joins the Superhero Ranks, Will Star and Produce 'Hypno-Hustler' Spider-Man Spinoff Film for Sony

by Darian Scalamoni

    Fans have speculated for years about the role that Donald Glover played within Spider-Man: Homecoming as Miles Morales' uncle Aaron Davis aka The Prowler from the comic books. We saw that same character in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse voiced by Oscar-winner, Mahershala Ali. Many have been hopeful that we may see Glover return to that role, but it appears that Sony has other plans for the multi-hyphenate.

    According to The Hollywood Reporter, Glover (Atlanta, Solo: A Star Wars Story) will star as the niche Spider-Man villain, Hypno-Hustler in a currently untitled pic from Sony Pictures. Myles Murphy, the son of legendary comedian, Eddie Murphy, will write the script for the studio. Glover has also signed on to produce the film which follows Antoine Delsoin, the leader of a band called the Mercy Killers who uses his instruments to hypnotize audience members to rob them of their possessions. The character is one of the more obscure characters within the rogue's gallery of Spider-Man villains, however, its one that has been perfectly cast with the casting of Glover. Comics artist Bill Mantlo created the character and is also responsible for bringing Rocket Raccoon to life for Marvel as well. 

    Sources say that the musical aspect of the character made Hypno-Hustler appealing to Glover, who is a musician himself having won 5 Grammy Awards for his achievement in music. The report from THR details that Glover make take the character into his own creative liberties within different genres of music and is said to be a massive fan of the pitch given from Murphy. Additionally, Glover has won two Emmy Awards for Directing and Starring as Earnest "Earn" Marks in the FX comedy series, Atlanta. Glover most recently wrapped the series after 4 seasons and will head to Amazon next to star in his version of Mr. and Mrs. Smith for Prime Video alongside PEN15 star, Maya Erskine.

    Hypno-Hustler joins the ranks of Sony's Spider-Man projects based on villains across their catalogue of characters. Tom Hardy's Venom franchise is through two films already and recently announced a third to be directed by Kelly Marcel, while Jared Leto's Morbius was the laughingstock of 2022 for movie theaters. Sony will next bring Kraven the Hunter to life with Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing the titular character as well as El Muerto which will star another international entertainment superstar, Bad Bunny.