Sony Pictures plans Spider-Man spin-off film Hypno-Hustler with Donald Glover

Sony Pictures is adding yet another Spider-Man spin-off to its release calendar, expanding on the universe built by movies like Venom and Morbius. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Donald Glover (Community, Solo: A Star Wars Story) is set to star in, and produce, a feature based on little-known Spider-Man villain, Hypno-Hustler. In addition, Myles Murphy, the son of actor and comedian Eddie Murphy, is on board the project as a writer.

Hypno-Hustler, also known as Antoine Delsoin, is a jive-talking disco singer who uses his equipment to hypnotise people and steal from them. Eventually, Antoine met three women who could amplify his hypnosis powers through singing. He hypnotised them into joining him, and dubbed them the Mercy Killers.

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The Hollywood Reporter notes that Glover was drawn to the “musical aspect of the character and the fact that he has less Marvel canon baggage, freeing him to greater interpretations.” The possibilities range from a disco period piece to a re-imagined modern hip-hop version or even a cyberpunk future play. This complements Glover’s strengths as his singer/rapper alter ego — Childish Gambino.

Glover is no stranger to Spider-Man. In 2010, his fans lobbied for the star to don the web-slinger’s iconic suit as the first Spider-Man of colour. Glover even endorsed the campaign himself, helping the hashtag #Donald4Spiderman trend on Twitter. Subsequently, Glover went on to voice Miles Morales in the Disney XD series Ultimate Spider-Man in 2015. He also appeared in a brief cameo in Spider-Man: Homecoming, where a deleted scene alluded to him being Miles Morales’ uncle.

Sony has more films in development based on heroes and villains with ties to Spider-Man. These films include Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, Spider-Woman, and El Muerto.

This article was first published in Geek Culture.