Credit: Sony Pictures/Marvel StudiosDespite having an impressive rogues gallery to choose from, Marvel Studios has a reputation for messing up a villain’s debut. Fortunately, they at least recognized this with one beloved Spider-Man baddie.
While the Marvel Cinematic Universe is recognized for its bevy of popular superheroes, its list of villains is a bit less impressive. Sure, there are the likes of Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and Thanos (Josh Brolin), but a majority of the villains are largely forgettable. Seriously, can you name the main villains in Thor: The Dark World (2013), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), or Doctor Strange (2016)? Even the villain in Iron Man (2008) was largely forgettable.
However, this is rarely the case with Spider-Man. Whether your preferred Web-Slinger is Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, or Tom Holland, you know you are about to get some awesome bad guys. This was proven in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), when audiences saw the best of the worst team up to take on the live-action Spider-Men.
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This holds true in the animated films as well. Both Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) have villains that are simultaneously fun, intimidating, and sympathetic. If a movie can get you to empathize with Kingpin, that’s saying something.
However, the Spider-Man movies aren’t perfect. There is one character who deserved better. And even though he was only a cameo in both appearances, it cannot be denied that Donald Glover deserved better.
Marvel Studios Calls Out Mistake With The Prowler
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When Tom Holland finally got his own Spider-Man movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, his main adversary was Adrian Toomes, AKA The Vulture (Michael Keaton). However, this wasn’t the only villain in Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017). Donald Glover appeared as Aaron Davis, the identity of The Prowler in Ultimate Marvel comics.
While their interaction is brief, Peter Parker does perform a scan to get more information on Davis, learning that the career criminal goes by The Prowler and that he is 33 years old. However, the information shows his birthdate as April 15, 1984, meaning he is actually 32 in the movie.
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As Marvel fans are wont to do, they jumped on this and called Marvel Studios out for the inaccuracy. Marvel finally acknowledged this in a recent episode of Loki (2022-present), where Miss Minutes addresses the anomaly, saying, “Well, hello! Peter Parker asks the ‘Karen’ AI to run a facial recognition scan on the buyer he saw under the bridge during Liz’s party.
Miss Minutes continues, “Karen identifies ‘Aaron Davis, age 33’ -but calls up a file that says his birth date is April 15, 1984 -which would make him only 32. Mmm-hmm, with data entry, y’all can never tell which input was right!”
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This may seem like a small mistake for Marvel to draw attention to, especially with other criticisms being levied at the company, but it’s still nice to see them acknowledge when they messed up. Hopefully, this means we’ll soon get more of Donald Glover in the MCU.
Will We See Donald Glover in the MCU Again?
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Despite only having brief cameos in two Spider-Man movies, Donald Glover has still made an impression on Spider-Fans everywhere. The award-winning actor/musician/comedian was a popular choice to play Spider-Man early on in his career, and getting to see him appear in Homecoming and Across the Spider-Verse was a real treat.
It is increasingly unlikely that we’ll see Glover appear as a main villain in any Spider-Man films in the future, but it would still be cool to see him operate as an ally or henchman to a more prominent villain. It could also be an exciting way to bring Miles Morales into the MCU since Aaron Davis is canonically his uncle. No matter how it’s done, more Donald Glover couldn’t possibly hurt the movie.
Do you want to see Donald Glover return as The Prowler? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!