Donald Glover – who has had a longstanding connection to the character of Spider-Man – is attached to produce and star in a Sony movie centered around the Spider-Man villain Hypno-Hustler. The project is in the early stages of development, according to Deadline.
Sony are currently expanding their roster of Spider-Man villain movies, which began with Venom, went off the rails with Morbius, but will hopefully be back on track with Kraven the Hunter (starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Madame Web (starring Dakota Johnson), and El Muerto (starring Bad Bunny).
Donald Glover made it clear that he loves the character of Spider-Man while he was starring in cult hit comedy series Community. A fan campaign began to cast him in the Amazing Spider-Man movies, and Glover joined in – making it clear that he wanted the role that eventually went to Andrew Garfield.
Glover would go onto voice Miles Morales in Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man and played Miles’ uncle Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Surprisingly, this new character seems unrelated to the one he played in the MCU, even though there has been some crossover between the main MCU and its Sony offshoot before (eg. between Tom Hardy’s Venom and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, as well as Michael Keaton’s Vulture appearing in Morbius).
The villain Hypno-Hustler was introduced in comics in 1978 and is known for fronting a band called the Mercy Killers. He uses hypnotic equipment to steal from the audience at his shows. Glover also releases music under the name Childish Gambino, so this could potentially be a chance for him to perform music as a Spider-Man villain. Daniel Kaluuya is playing Spider-Punk in Across the Spider-Verse, so musical Spider-Man characters seem to be something of a theme.
Glover has just wrapped his groundbreaking comedy series Atlanta, which he created, wrote, directed and starred in. He will reportedly be a part of the Community movie, which should be filmed during 2023.
While we wait to find out more about Hypno-Hustler, check out our guide to the best Spider-Man villains.