Donald Glover is set to join Sony Pictures’ universe of Marvel characters, as the star and producer of a movie based on the Spider-Man villain the Hypno-Hustler. The project is in its earliest stages, with no script or director, but Myles Murphy (the son of Eddie Murphy) is attached to write the screenplay.
The Hypno-Hustler, who first appeared in Marvel comics in 1978, is one of Spider-Man’s more obscure villains, with the ability to hypnotize his victims with his guitar. By day, he’s known as Antoine Desloin, lead singer of a band called the Mercy Killers — they use their music to rob their audiences.
As is the case with all of Sony’s live-action Marvel movies, Spider-Man himself almost certainly won’t be a part of the project. But Glover’s involvement is noteworthy for Spidey fans, as the actor-musician has been a fan-favorite to play the web-slinger ever since a 2010 article by writer Marc Bernardin that pointed out there is no reason why Spider-Man has to be white. Glover eventually appeared in 2017’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” as Aaron Davis, the uncle of Miles Morales — the Black teenager introduced in Marvel comics in 2011 who eventually becomes Spider-Man. Glover also voiced Miles in the 2015 Disney XD series “Ultimate Spider-Man.”
The Hypno-Hustler is the latest personality from Sony’s trove of Spider-Man characters to get a feature film treatment, following 2018’s “Venom,” 2022’s “Morbius,” 2023’s “Kraven the Hunter” and 2024’s “Madame Web.”
Glover will next appear opposite Maya Erskine (“Pen15”) in the Amazon Prime Video series “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” which he co-created and executive produces.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.