Sony has been developing a number of Spider-Man themed movies, including numerous spin-offs featuring comic book villains. Now it appears Donald Glover will be starring in one such Spider-Man movie as Hypno-Hustler.
This news comes via THR, where they revealed that not only will Donald Glover star as Hypno-Hustler, but he’s also a producer. The movie is said to be “set in Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man universe of Marvel Comics characters,” like Venom and Morbius.
Additionally, they revealed that none other than Eddie Murphy’s son Myles Murphy will be writing the film’s screenplay. Other details, including the film’s title, have yet to be unveiled. However, the obscure comic book villain Hypno-Hustler is said to be the focus.
The character first appeared as far back as 1978. He was created by Bill Mantlo for the No. 24 issue of Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man. The character’s real name was Antoine Delsoin, and he led a band known as the Mercy Killers. He used technologically-advanced instruments to hypnotize his audiences so that they could be robbed.
Obviously this isn’t a very popular villain with fans. Nevertheless, Donald Glover is said to have “sparked to the musical aspect of the character.” He’s also excited by “the fact that he has less Marvel canon baggage, freeing him to greater interpretations.” So, with that in mind, he could be much different than his disco-centric comic book counterpart. Though it’s been said that Glover was also particularly fond of Myles Murphy’s take for the character.
This is certainly an interesting example of how Sony hopes to continue their own shared universe of Marvel characters. With other such projects as Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, Spider-Woman, and El Muerto all in various stages of development – one can only imagine how these films will come together. Fans can stay tuned to ScreenGeek for additional updates as we have them.