Donald Glover makes a cameo inSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and it's one of the film's coolest easter eggs. The animated film marks the big screen debut for Miles Morales, a comic book character created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli back in 2011. Following his debut on the printed page, Miles made the leap to television with roles on animated TV shows likeUltimate Spider-Man and, most recently,Marvel's Spider-Man. It was actually Glover who initially voiced Miles back inUltimate Spider-Man season 3 (aka.Web-Warriors).
But, of course, Glover's history with Miles goes back much further than that. It was Glover's appearance during theCommunity season 2 episode "Anthropology 101" (where his character, Troy Barnes, is shown waking up in Spider-Man pajamas) that helped inspire Miles' comic book look in the first place. Fittingly,Spider-Verse nods to this in a scene that further highlightsanother connection between Glover and the larger Spider-Man franchise.
Related:Miles Morales' Comic Backstory (& What Spider-Verse Changes)
TheSpider-Verse scene in question takes place when Miles (Shameik Moore) goes to visit his Uncle Aaron (Mahershala Ali) at his apartment. Aaron's TV is on when Miles arrives and, though it's hard to catch unless you're looking for it, is playing an animation-blurred version of Glover's Spider-pajamas bit onCommunity.Spider-Verse producer Chris Miller and co-writer/producer Phil Lord technically confirmedGlover's cameo in the film a couple weeks ahead of its theatrical release. Lord in particular noted that the movie's creatives wanted to"tip our hat to Community and the groundswell of support for the Spider-Man of color that came out of that, and we just thought it was a neat little nod".
At the same time, however, Glover'sSpider-Verse cameo is significant for another reason altogether. Glover actually campaigned to play Spider-Man back when Sony was recasting the role in live-action forThe Amazing Spider-Man movies. While the studio eventually cast Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker for the films, Glover would go on to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe instead. He made his MCU debut in 2017'sSpider-Man: Homecoming, where he plays (appropriately enough) the live-action version of "Uncle Aaron" aka. Aaron Davis. Glover's MCU counterpart even mentions that he has a nephew during a conversation with Tom Holland's Peter Parker, thus confirming that Miles is part of the MCU and could appear in a film of his own down the line.
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As great as it would've been if Glover had been cast as a live-action Miles Morales, thing may've actually worked out for the better in the end. WhereasThe Amazing Spider-Man franchise petered out after two movies, Glover's career has only grown by leaps and bounds since then, between his hit TV seriesAtlanta and flourishing music career as Childish Gambino. At the same time, he's continued to be actively involved in the Spider-Man franchise and could potentially go on to reprise his role as Aaron Davis opposite the MCU's Miles Morales in a future movie (depending on what Marvel Studios has in mind for Miles, of course). Either way, Glover'sSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse cameo is a nice little way of acknowledging his shared history with Miles especially.
