Donald Glover Joins Spider-Man: Homecoming
It’s a victory for the internet. Eons ago – okay, in 2010 – the online community rallied behind the following idea: to get Donald Glover cast as Spider-Man. Sure, he was eventually beat out by Andrew Garfield (and by beat out, I mean Glover never had a realistic chance), but now a wrong has been corrected. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Glover is in talks to join next year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.
He joins a growing list of impressive actors for the next Spidey flick that includes Tom Holland expanding the role of Peter Parker from his initial appearance in Captain America: Civil War. Also on board, Robert Downey Jr., Marissa Tomei, Kenneth Choi (an experienced MCU alumnus), and Michael Keaton. It’s the start of another solid cast for a Marvel movie.
By bringing Donald Glover on board, it now raises the following question: who is he going to play? Marvel is keeping any details of Glover’s character a secret, but you have to assume it’s going to be larger than his Community co-star Danny Pudi’s small cameo in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. For fans, there is only one choice for Glover: Miles Morales.
For those unfamiliar with the character, Morales took over the mantle of Spider-Man following Peter Parker’s death. Miles got his powers from an Oscorp-engineered spider containing Parker’s blood. He took over Spidey’s Ultimate Comic line and has become a fan favorite ever since. Following the events of Secret Wars, where the Ultimate Universe was eliminated, Miles and Parker became united, sharing the Spider-Man responsibilities (although Morales sticks to New York City, while Parker acts on a more global level).
Morales also appeared in the cartoon Ultimate Spider-Man on Disney XD, where he was voiced by… you guessed it… Donald Glover!!! There is no better choice for the role. It would also be real fan service for Marvel to give Glover the spot and have him team up with Holland’s Peter Parker. Additionally, Phil Lord and Chris Miller (21 Jump Street, The Lego Movie) are in the process of putting together an animated Spider-Man movie with Morales rumored to be the main character. Glover already voiced the character once, so let him do it for the big screen… following his debut as Miles Morales in Homecoming that is.
Sure, we’ve only seen Miles Morales as a teenager. Still, do we really need a bunch of teenage web-slingers flying around New York City? Morales is a relatively new character to Marvel, so the MCU can take liberties with him. Similar to Helmut Zemo in Civil War (when will he earn his Baron moniker?), Morales can be an older individual who is also dealing with new powers. Perhaps he can even be an Oscorp test subject with the company trying to duplicate Spider-Man’s powers. It doesn’t matter how Marvel brings him into the cinematic fold; Miles Morales is a character that should join up with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Clearly, Marvel has a plan here. They had to be aware of the fanfare that would come with signing Donald Glover up for Spider-Man: Homecoming. If he’s not going to play Miles Morales, then he needs to be a character of some stature. If he’s a background character, or just a cameo, the internet will rise up like it’s 2010!