Sony Pictures just keeps on mining their Spider-Man character rights for new features with the latest being the 1970s Hypno-Hustler.
The Hollywood Reporter is stating that Atlanta creator and star Donald Glover has signed on to star and produce a feature film centering on the 1970s villain character. Scripting chores for the film are being handled by newcomer Myles Murphy.
As if the somewhat goofy name isn’t a tip-off, the character was created in 1978, first appearing in Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #24. Leader of the band the Mercy Killers, the Hypno-Hustler used specifically designed music to hypnotize audiences in order to rob them. Fortunately, Peter Parker, aka Spider-Man, attended one of their concerts and was able to put a stop to their crime spree. Outside of that first appearance, the Hypno-Hustler has been primarily regulated to small cameo appearances. As the character was clearly inspired by the then-current disco craze, history and comics fans have not been too kind in their evaluation of the Hypno-Hustler over the years, making him the frequent butt of jokes.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Glover sparked to the musical aspect of the character and the fact that he has less Marvel canon baggage, freeing him to broader interpretations. The project could be anything from a disco period piece to a re-imagined modern hip-hop version or even a cyberpunk future play.”
Presumably the film will be part of the studio’s burgeoning franchise of interconnected films based on the rights to the numerous Spider-Man related characters that the studio owns. Previously, Sony has released two films featuring the anti-hero Venom and the tragic villain Morbius and have other features centering on characters such as Kraven the Hunter, Madame Web, El Muerto and more.
