Every Big Cameo in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Explained, From Donald Glover's Prowler to J.K. Simmons

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is packed with cameos from big name actors, and one of them completely blew my mind. Below I go through everyone who cameos in the film and how deeply layered some of those Easter eggs actually are.

This is not a rundown of every Spider-Man who appears in the film. Instead, I am focusing on the actors and appearances that go beyond the suits and the things from the comics.

The Spot's portal trip opens with what I think is a nod to 1960s Spider-Man comics

A lot of the big cameos happen during a scene in which the Spot travels across the multiverse using the portals on his body. Lots of things here tie in with the overarching Spider-Verse, and even the moments that seem simple turn out to be very complex. As he swims through a black and white void, he first sticks his head into a very old fashioned animated world.

When the plot leaks for the film came out, they described this as a 1930s style reality. I think it is more likely a nod to the 1960s comics. Spider-Man debuted in 1962, and the art style of that era is similar to what we see here, with pop art and the dotted effect those comics used for their colours.

In this universe, the Spot pops his head out and frightens a woman who smacks him over the head. In the background you can see the Flatiron, which is where the Daily Bugle was located in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man films.

J.K. Simmons's J. Jonah Jameson returns in the Lego universe

Speaking of the Daily Bugle, the Spot then travels into the Lego universe, where he destroys the Bugle's sign. I love how this universe is actually smaller than the others, because everything in it is made of Lego. He disappears, but we go back there later on, and that is when we get a vocal cameo from J.K. Simmons.

J. Jonah Jameson is back, popping up throughout the movie as you hear him going off on radio shows and TV stations. I love how J.K. Simmons plays him across the entire Spider-Verse, and when you think about it, "there's absolutely no one else who could play the media mogul."

In the background of the office there is a Doc Ock still at large newspaper stuck up on the wall. This is a nod to the newspaper from Spider-Man 2, when Doc Ock was wrecking Manhattan. It is a really good continuity detail, and a Lego version of it was actually made for the set, so it is very cool to see it here.

Mrs. Chen makes a live action cameo in the Venom universe

The Spot then travels into the Venom universe, and we actually get the designation of this Earth. In the comics, it is a universe where Spider-Man mutated into a monster, but for the movies it is clearly centred around Eddie Brock.

Well, I say that, but we all know who everything really revolves around here. That is Mrs. Chen, who makes a live action cameo working in her store. She does not seem shocked at all to see the Spot dropping in. She has, of course, already seen Eddie's parasite eat someone, so "I doubt anything surprises her anymore."

The prison cells hide the PS4 Spider-Man and an Atari Green Goblin

The scene I loved most in the movie was the one where we see all the prisoners locked up in their cells. It has so many different characters, including the Spider-Man from the PlayStation 4 game. I was not sure whether Yuri Lowenthal, who voices that character, dropped any lines here. He did appear at the premiere for the film, so I am guessing that he did, but I said at the time that I would need to double check on a second viewing. Any excuse to go back to this movie works for me.

Beside the PS4 version is a little green man locked up, and this is actually the Green Goblin from the old Atari 2600. There is also a rhino, a real rhino, and a couple of others. The big one, though, is a cell that makes Miles take a real pause.

Donald Glover's live action Prowler closes a loop that started on Community

In that cell is a live action Prowler, played by none other than Donald Glover. Glover has big ties to the franchise that go well beyond his appearance in the MCU's Spider-Man: Homecoming. Back when The Amazing Spider-Man reboot was being talked about, there were rumours that the studio might take things in a different direction and cast a black actor in the role. Spider-Man 3 released in 2007, and just five years later a full reboot was on the way, so there was a lot of talk that they would need to do something different so audiences did not feel they were getting the same thing again.

According to the rumours, Glover was eager for the role, and to spark some interest he wore a Spider-Man costume on Community, in the episode Anthropology 101. Brian Michael Bendis happened to see it. At the time he was writing his seminal Ultimate Spider-Man run, a reimagining of the character that reworked and modernised many of his classic stories. Bendis was trying to find a way to bring in a new version of Spider-Man, and he created Miles after being inspired by Glover on the show.

Things built from there. Glover went on to voice Miles in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon, and there were thoughts that he might eventually play the role, but he got too old to play a high schooler. Marvel still wanted to give him a nod, so he was cast as Miles's uncle Aaron in Spider-Man: Homecoming, where he brings up his nephew Miles at one point. That foreshadowed him playing the Prowler eventually, and it came true here as we catch him in the costume.

To go even deeper, a live action Glover has popped up in the Spider-Verse before. In the first film, Aaron has the Community episode on screen when Miles is at his home. So we had Uncle Aaron looking at the scene that inspired his nephew's creation, played by the man who voiced Miles and played Aaron in the MCU. I really did not think live action would work alongside this animation, but then I saw it here. "Yeah, get me that live action Miles movie."

Josh Keaton returns as the Spectacular Spider-Man

Some of the voices have their own cool attachments too. At one point we get the Spectacular Spider-Man, voiced by Josh Keaton, the same actor who played him in the animated series. It is very cool that he was brought across here.

Originally, it was thought he would play Spider-Man in the animated What If zombies episode, because a cast list dropped with his name on it. That turned out not to be the case: he was actually voicing Steve Rogers, and Hudson Thames voiced Spider-Man. That makes it all the nicer that Across the Spider-Verse pays tribute to him.

Alfred Molina, Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire appear as Spider-Man's canon events

There is also a moment where we hear Alfred Molina's voice saying, "Hello, Peter." With Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire having returned for No Way Home, we were always going to get them in some form as well. They do not do anything new, but we do see archive clips of the pair from big moments in their films: Andrew's Peter seeing Captain Stacy die in The Amazing Spider-Man films, and Uncle Ben's death scene in the Raimi universe.

Both are major moments for Spider-Man, and they become the defining part of these heroes' existence. That is what this movie is about too, and I love how that idea is layered through every aspect of the film. You have defining moments as part of the plot, but also defining figures appearing in it: the actors and iterations who helped establish Spider-Man as the major character he is in pop culture. These cameos are his canon events as well.

It is great seeing all these actors get some love in what is my favourite Spider-Man film of all time. I tried to point out every vocal and live action cameo I could hear, but I was blown away and not paying attention the whole time.

Did you spot any other cameos in Across the Spider-Verse that I missed?