Donald Glover is going deep into the Spider-Verse. The actor and writer will star in and produce a new Sony Pictures film about the obscure Spider-Man villain Hypno-Hustler, a source confirmed to IndieWire.

The movie is being written by Myles Murphy, the son of famed comedian Eddie Murphy. The film will be produced by Sony and set in there universe of Spider-Man-affiliated characters, which also includes the two “Venom” films,” the much-memed “Morbius,” and the upcoming “Kraven the Hunter” and “Madame Web” films.

Even compared to characters like Morbius and Madame Web, Hypno-Hustler is a particularly unconventional choice to build a superhero film around. The character, created by writer Bill Mantlo and artist Frank Springer in a 1978 issue of “Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man,” is a relatively obscure part of the Spider-Man mythos, and a dated product of the ’70s disco craze. The character, whose real name was Antoine Delsoin, lead a band called the Mercy Killers and used hypnosis technology in his instruments to commit crimes.

That said, Sony hasn’t been afraid to pluck little-remembered comic book characters for projects featuring big stars. 2024 will see the release of “El Muerto,” a film based on a character that appeared in a mere two issues of “Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man” back in 2006. The main draw for that film isn’t the superpowered wrestler himself, but the fact that he’s being portrayed on screen by Bad Bunny, one of the biggest music stars in the world, in his first leading role in film.

Sony did not immediately respond to IndieWire’s request for comment.

Glover has an interesting history with the Spider-Man franchise, as the actor was a popular fancast for the character of Miles Morales — Peter Parker’s fellow Spider-Man — back when he was on NBC’s “Community.” He eventually got a chance to play the character, albeit in animated form, on the Disney XD series “Ultimate Spider-Man” in 2015. In 2017, he had a small role in Tom Holland’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” as a character implied to be Miles Morales’ uncle. Shameik Moore ended up voicing Miles in the 2018 movie “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” and its upcoming sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”

Glover is repped by WME and Johnson Shapiro. Murphy is also repped by WME.

News of the Hypno-Hustler film was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

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