Donald Glover Shares Secret Behind Spider-Man: Homecoming’s Miles Morales Nod

The Marvel Cinematic Universe rolled out its first solo Spider-Man film last month, and the venture was a fast hit. Tom Holland reprised his role as Peter Parker with ease, and others like Donald Glover made their MCU debuts with the film. And now the Atlanta star is revealing a secret behind his character’s Ultimate Spider-Man Easter egg.

During a chat with The Hollywood Reporter, Glover explained how he became involved with Spider-Man: Homecoming. The actor said he was approached directly by director Jon Watts to play Aaron Davis, but there’s a catch. If Glover had turned down the role, Marvel Studios was not going to include Miles Morales’ uncle period.

Glover said that Watts told him the following about the role: “If you don’t do [the part], we aren’t going to [include] it.”

If you are not familiar with Glover’s role and its relationship to Miles Morales, it is a simple connection. Fans will know Miles because of his tenure as Spider-Man in Marvel’s Ultimate Universe. Morales took up Peter’s mantle in that universe and has since suited up in the main Marvel Comics continuity. In the canon, Aaron Davis is the uncle of Miles, and the villain is indirectly responsible for giving his nephew powers. The Prowler stole a formula that recreated the one which made Spider-Man, and Miles was bitten by one of the spiders during a family visit.

Spider-Man: Homecoming makes a direct nod to this connection towards the latter half of the film. Peter suits up to interrogate Aaron about some weapons he wanted to buy from the Vulture. The villain says he’s not a fan of the flashy tech he saw since he has a “nephew” in the neighborhood.

Of course, the aside got fans wondering if the MCU will ever bring Miles out into the forefront. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige did tell ComicBook the film was definitely nodding to Miles. There are however no plans to suit the fan-favorite character up just yet, but the franchise has opened a door to the possibility. For now, fans can only see how the universe shapes up in the coming years, and they hope Glover will come along for the ride.