Sometimes dreams come true…kind of. Donald Glover (Community), the actor and mega-star hip-hop artist, who happens to be a life-long comicbook fan, began petitioning (literally) for the part of Peter Parker during preproduction for The Amazing Spider-man. It became an internet sensation on social media and incited a lot of dialogue about who Spider-Man truly is.
Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis took account of all the discussion and decided to do something that would change Marvel’s mythology for years to come. In 2011, Marvel Comics launched a storyline, in their Ultimate Spider-Man series, that killed Peter Parker and replaced Spider-Man with a new hero under the tights. Miles Morales, a black and hispanic thirteen year-old boy who is bitten by another genetically engineered spider, which endows him with his own set of spider-powers. Peter Parker eventually came back, but Morales has stuck around both in the comics and in popular culture, slowly making his way into official Marvel canon.
In the upcoming season of Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors, they have a storyline where Peter Parker interacts with Miles Morales. Disney went directly to the source of his inspiration and brought aboard Glover to voice the young Spider-Man for the episode. In a recent interview with USA Today, Glover explained his passion for the character and how he is approaching voicing Spider-man.
“That’s the great part about the Spider-Man costume: He can be anybody, Spider-Man could be a girl. Spider-Man could be an old man. You don’t know. So I just tried to be as me as possible, because you’re always just going to bring it back to yourself when you watch the show…I never liked Superman that much, because I was like, ‘Yo, this dude can’t die. It’s too easy…Batman is pretty fly. He’s a close second, just because he doesn’t really have powers. He’s just a justice-driven vigilante…Spider-Man is the best because you just don’t know who he is, and he’s funny and he’s poor. I understand Spider-Man a lot on that level. He’s just trying to make it.”
Spider-man’s masked face does make him relatable to a multitude of backgrounds, in a way that other superheros probably can’t. It’s hard to physically project yourself as Superman and very few have the resources and wealth to truly relate to Bruce Wayne. However, Peter Parker…or Miles Morales, are just “ordinary” scrawny kids putting on a mask and doing the best they can do. Glover nailed the universal appeal of the superhero to millions of fans over the years. This isn’t the feature film role he covets, but wilder things have happened in the past…
Check out Glover’s performance as Morales in the upcoming episode, which will air next year.
Ultimate Spider-man: Web Warriors new season begins on August 31st on Disney XD.
Are you excited to see Glover voice Spidey? Let us know on the comment boards, and !
Source: USA Today, Superherohype Photo Credits: Marvel/Disney XD, WENN.com, tlmolly86@deviantart