Once again, Sony is putting together a Spider-Verse spinoff, and they’ve tapped Donald Glover to finally make his big superhero debut. When last we saw Glover in a Marvel movie, he teased us by playing Aaron Davis in Spider-Man: Homecoming. Comic fans know that not only is he Miles Morales’ uncle, but he’s also the Ultimate Universe’s Prowler. A Prowler solo movie that could eventually lead to Miles’ live-action debut? Yes, please. Sadly that’s not what we’re getting.
Who is the Hypno-Hustler, anyway? Sony dug deep into the Spider-Mythos (don’t you love how you can slap Spider- at the front of anything to make it sound more interesting? Ah, the good ol’ Spider-Hyphen) for this one. As you might suspect, he is full-blown disco, which makes sense for a character created in 1978 with a heaping helping of Blacksploitation thrown in for good measure.
If you’ve never heard of him, don’t worry—hardly anyone else has, either. That’s likely the point, and it’s almost guaranteed to be a straight comedy given the character’s ridiculous nature. Still, it’s an opportunity for profits, especially if Sony can break its streak of terrible movies.
PETER PARKER: THE SPECTACULAR SPIDER-MAN #24
The first time readers spotted the Hypno-Hustler was in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #24. Not to be confused with Futurama’s Hypno-Toad (now there’s an origin story we all need), Antoine Desloin was the lead singer of a ‘70s funk band, Mercy Killers. Instead of focusing their talents on succeeding in the music industry or making scientific advancements, Marvel went the racial stereotype route; Hypno-Hustler and the Mercy Killers were there to rob the place. They use their musical technology to hypnotize the audience and steal their valuables. Then Spider-Man shows up, kicks the crap out of them, and saves the day.
To no one’s surprise, this has been a hot comic since the movie was announced. Raw copies are selling especially well, and one advertised as “very fine/near mint” brought $62.07. There haven’t been any graded copies sold online since a 9.6 went for $66 on October 2.
WHY, SONY? WHY?
Glover’s Hypno-Hustler will join the ranks of Madame Web, El Muerto, and Kraven the Hunter, all of whom have been given the green light for feature films, not to mention Silk's Amazon Prime series. Let’s face it, after the Venom and Morbius movies, there’s not much credibility left under the Sony banner. Now, we’re getting the Hypno-Hustler when we could have had, well, anything else.
I hate to judge based strictly on the character’s name…but it’s so hard not to. Sony is literally scraping the bottom of the Spider-Verse barrel, and I doubt the most devout of fans got too excited over the news. With Sony’s track record for disappointing movies as of late, it’s difficult to be optimistic about Hypno-Hustler, but I pledge to be cautiously optimistic and at least watch the movie before making a final call.
