Warning: The following post contains Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse spoilers
Unsurprisingly,Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versefeatured many different variations of everyone’s favorite friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. With that in mind, one of the most surprising - and for some fans, most exciting - characters to appear wasn’t even a Spider-Man variant; it was Donald Glover as Prowler.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Versecontinues the story ofSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseand focuses on Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy as they struggle with what it means to be Spider-Man (or Spider-Gwen). After being introduced to the Spider-Society, Gwen begins helping them correct anomalies across different universes. One of her missions has her cross paths again with Miles, who becomes more involved with the Spider-Society than its leader Miguel O’Hara intended. Miles and Gwen swing through multiple different universes during the movie as they attempt to do what they think is right. Although they end up on the same page regarding how involved the Spider-Society should be in Spider-People’s lives and choices, they wind up in entirely different universes.
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Fans expected cameos from many different Spider-People - due toSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verserumorsand international promotional material - and suspected they might even be treated to appearances by some of their favorite Spider-Man-adjacent characters. One character who very few - if any - fans expected to see was Glover’s Aaron Davis, a.k.a.the Prowler. Not only did Glover have lines in the movie, but he was also featured in a Prowler suit; unfortunately, the fact that Glover’s cameo was relatively short and he was in an orange-tinted jail cell made it so fans didn’t get a clear look at the suit. An Instagram post by costume designerTrayce Gigi Fieldshowed Field and Glover posing together - most importantly, it showed Glover in his Prowler suit from the waist up.
Glover hasn’t appeared in a Spider-Man movie since his brief cameo inSpider-Man: Homecomingin 2017. Though the credits and a deleted scene confirmed that his identity was Aaron Davis, neither he nor his nephew Miles has made much of a splash in the MCU. Though his appearance inSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verseis only one of many fun cameos, his inclusion does pose some interesting questions aboutProwler and Miles Morales' places in the MCU.
When last they left him,audiences saw Tom Holland’s Spider-Manstriking out on his own, his identity as Peter Parker forgotten by those who love and hate him. As fans saw at the end ofSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the absence of a Peter Parker tends to lead to the rise of Miles Morales as either a hero or a villain. Even though Spider-Man is still alive and active in the MCU, the fact that Glover was shown in a Prowler suit suggests that the Morales/Davis family may be just as active.
While the details of the MCU’s fourthSpider-Manmovie are largely unknown, this movie could follow Sony Animation’s movies and Playstation’sSpider-Mangames by having Miles and Peter team up against a common enemy. At the very least, it’s confirmation that, somewhere in the multiverse, Miles Morales' uncle has been making trouble.
