Donald Glover's Spider-Man: Homecoming Cameo Hints at an Ominous Fate For Peter Parker

Spoilers for Spider-Man: Homecoming below!

After months of speculation, we finally, officially know who Donald Glover plays in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and the revelation will likely leave fans of the comics with their own spidey senses tingling. Not only could Glover's character mean there's potentially a second Spider-Man floating around somewhere in NYC, but it may also mean that the current iteration of everyone's favorite web-slinger — Tom Holland's Peter Parker — is not long for this world. See, while we're happy to see Glover join the Marvel Cinematic Universe in any capacity, his cameo does hint at the introduction of Miles Morales, who eventually takes over for Spider-Man in the comic books after the death of Peter Parker. To be fair, Sony has already confirmed that a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming is on the way, meaning there will be plenty of Holland on our screens in the coming years. But does this mean the franchise will end with Peter's death?

The Atlanta actor pops up in his brief (and highly enjoyable) cameo as a pretty chill, small-time criminal named Aaron Davis. In the Ultimate Spider-Man series (which is set in an alternate universe where Peter dies after a fight with the Green Goblin), Aaron Davis is a career criminal and burglar known as the Prowler. Oh, and he's also the uncle of Miles, the Brooklyn teen who gets bitten by the same kind of genetically engineered spider that gave his predecessor his powers (which was accidentally stolen by Aaron from Oscorp), who eventually starts swinging through NYC himself. Though Miles and Aaron are initially close, their relationship takes a nosedive when the young superhero discovers his uncle's double life as a serious criminal and their bond deteriorates.

This, of course, is not at all featured in Homecoming. In fact, the movie just barely acknowledges the existence of Miles with a throwaway line that Glover delivers so nonchalantly it might sail over your head altogether.

In the film, we meet Aaron as he's attempting to close a deal with some members of Vulture's crew who are hocking weapons made from alien tech they discovered amid the detritus of the Battle of New York. Spider-Man shows up and derails the meeting, and later interrogates Aaron in a parking garage about his connection to Vulture. Aaron claims he's not looking to hurt anyone or have alien weaponry like that on the streets, because his nephew lives nearby.

As far as Marvel Easter eggs go, this is definitely one of the cooler ones. It's not only a wink to fans of Ultimate Spider-Man, but also to the people who campaigned for Glover to play Miles/Spider-Man back when the Andrew Garfield-lead reboot was first announced (Glover did end up voicing Miles in two episodes of the animated Ultimate Spider-Man series in 2015). He might not have joined the MCU as the character people were hoping for, but his arrival is exciting nonetheless. As for Miles? Well, we're probably not going to see him for quite some time, so Peter Parker can rest easy in his spidey suit.