It's become clear since its release that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was not an easy movie to make. Like its predecessor, 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it's a visual masterpiece featuring the sort of eye-popping moments which are unprecedented in the animation realm.
Changes were being made six weeks before the sequel swung into theaters last summer and, in an interview with Collider, directors Justin K. Thompson, Kemp Powers, and Joaquim Dos Santos, confirmed Donald Glover's Prowler cameo was among them.
"There were several things in those previews that we hadn't really sorted out yet, like you guys probably remember the Donald Glover cameo - he hadn't agreed to do it yet," Powers explains. "So in the preview, we had, like, a South Park-style cardboard cutout of Donald Glover. He was like, 'Hi, I'm Donald Glover,' and he was just like a flappy head, and everyone was cracking up."
"I'm like, 'Is anyone gonna call Donald Glover and see if he's gonna do this cameo?' We recorded him just a few weeks before the film came out, so it was kind of crazy because it was like, the film still wasn't quite all there, but it was there. That was a story we knew we were trying to tell, so I started feeling pretty good about it then."
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse featured other live-action cameos, though those made use of archival footage from movies like Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Venom.
Plans to bring Spider-Man 2099 into the Spider-Verse were made clear in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's post-credits scene. However, the filmmakers shared their surprise at the response to Miguel O'Hara, particularly in regard to his so-called "thirst trap" status.
Here's the full exchange between Thompson and Dos Santos when they were asked what the biggest shock in terms of fan reaction was:
Dos Santos: Miguel's butt. [Laughs]
Thompson: I’ve got to push back on that. I actually feel a little offended because I put myself in charge of making Miguel the thirst trap.
Dos Santos: That is true.
Thompson: From day one, I said, “I'm on butt duty. I wanna make sure his butt is as tight as possible. I want close-ups. I wanna get the camera there, and I want him to turn. I want his back to the camera when we first introduce him, so you can really appreciate it.” So, no, I was not surprised.
Dos Santos: Alright, well, you took it in stride, but I was very surprised.
Thompson: I was surprised by how far it went, though.
Dos Santos: I will say, we did struggle with having a character as physically robust as Miguel. That was a thing because I think Phil [Lord], especially, has sort of an aversion to, like, overly muscular characters. We were like, “This Spider-Person is different. He's not like the gymnast, he's like the bodybuilder. He's got to be big.”
Thompson: I think Phil must have been picked on by bodybuilders at some point because, like, we had to convince him it's okay for him to have muscles.
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is currently undated after originally being set for a March 2024 release. Miguel may be considered a hottie in the eyes of some, but he's also emerged as the franchise's main antagonist as Miles Morales sets out to save his father's life.
As for Glover, the hope among fans is that he might play Prowler in a future Spider-Man movie produced by Marvel Studios.