All the Best Celebrity Cameos You Might Have Missed in “Across the Spider-Verse”

Oscar Isaac voices Miguel O’Hara, canonically known as Spider-Man 2099 from Earth-928. As the head of the interdimensional Spider-Gang, Miguel is in charge of the Super-Collider, a particle accelerator designed to bridge the gap between dimensions. As with all Spider-Men, Miguel has a dark past that has left him strong-headed and resentful. In addition to heading the superhero multiverse, he acts as a main antagonist in the film.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, producers Philip Lord and Chris Miller revealed that Isaac only agreed to voice Miguel on the condition that they did not make his character boring. In an attempt to flesh out his backstory, they took inspiration from Isaac’s real-life experiences.

“One of the things we talked about with Oscar was like, we know people in our lives that are hardliners, right?” Lord said. “And what makes them a hardliner is, they’re mostly traumatized. And the only way out is through a kind of orthodoxy. Because you can’t tolerate dissent, because dissent is to question whether your pain is legitimate or not. Oscar is from an exile community of Cubans, and that’s a lot of how people feel. And we were like, well, let’s expose the beginnings of that trauma, and so you’re sort of rooting for Miguel to find some other way. Because this was not working for him.”

Issa Rae voices Jessica Drew, aka the Spider-Woman to Miguel O’Hara’s Spider-Man. As Miguel’s right-hand woman, she has no problem leading a team of Spider-People in their multidimensional efforts to govern the Spider-Verse. As a mom-to-be, though, she must consider the future of her child, especially when it comes to deciding whether or not to help Miles and Gwen.

Andy Samberg voices Ben Reilly, a clone of Peter Parker who was later inducted into Miguel’s Spider-Society. In the film, Ben provides comic relief as he loudly laments his tragic past and makes failed attempts to track down Miles alongside the other Spider-People.

Jason Schwartzman voices The Spot, the film’s primary villain. Originally a scientist by the name of Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, The Spot used to work for Dr. Ock in her lab. At one point, he explains that Miles hit him with a bagel while he and Peter B. Parker were trying to escape the lab in the first Spider-Verse film.

Unfortunately for The Spot, he was also present when Miles blew up the Super-Collider at the end of the first film, which gave him the power to open multidimensional portals. This overwhelming ability eventually got him fired from Alchemax. As a result, he decided to become Spider-Man’s nemesis and enact revenge.

During the film, he’s introduced as a somewhat clumsy villain who poses little threat to Miles or his friends. Before long, though, he learns to harness his powers for evil and manages to supercharge himself. As a major threat to the multiverse, The Spot quickly becomes one of Miles’s greatest enemies. Though we don’t see him make any attempt to enact his full revenge in the movie, Miguel makes it clear that The Spot is destined to kill Miles’s father, a fate the young Spider-Man scrambles to prevent.

The original “Into the Spider-Verse” crew makes a comeback in flashbacks and memories that come to Miles as he grapples with what to do with his life. Peni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), Spider-Ham (John Mulaney), and Spider-Man Noir (Nicolas Cage) all share their words of wisdom. While their cameos are brief, the nod to the original film did not go unrecognized by fans.

Perhaps the biggest cameo in the film is a live-action appearance by Donald Glover, who plays The Prowler in Tom Holland‘s “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” In “Across the Spider-Verse,” Glover’s character has been captured by the Spider-Society and is waiting to be dropped into the Super-Collider and sent back to his original dimension.

When Miles visits Spider-Man HQ, he’s treated to the sight of hundreds – possibly even thousands – of Spider-People. During one particularly emotional scene, Miguel explains to Miles that all Spider-People have a shared tragic backstory. As he says this, footage of Garfield’s Spider-Man witnessing the death of Captain George Stacy plays in the background.

Similarly, a different shot in the film shows footage of Tobey Maguire‘s Spider-Man mourning the loss of Uncle Ben in the 2002 “Spider-Man” movie.

As Gwen becomes more integrated into the Spider-Verse, she picks up a few unique friends, including Hobie Brown, aka Spider-Punk. As an anarchist, Spider-Punk is a free spirit and openly breaks the rules in the Spider-Society. Inspired by British punk rockers of the ’70s, he can harness the volts of his guitar and use them as a sonic weapon. He is also Gwen’s friend, and it’s implied that Miles is jealous she has been spending time with the rock-‘n’-roll superhero.

One of the most beloved cameos in the film occurs when The Spot is learning to control his powers and accidentally pops into Mrs. Chen’s convenience store in the “Venom” universe. Mrs. Chen, played by Peggy Lu, is unfazed when the villain appears in her store and gives him a disapproving look as he steals a pack of gum.

“The Bear” star Ayo Edebiri also makes an appearance as one of Gwen’s bandmates, Glory, in her original dimension. Though she has few lines, we wouldn’t mind a spinoff about their band, the Mary Janes.

No Spider-Man universe is off limits in “Across the Spider-Verse.” This is proven when Miles accidentally opens up the Lego Spider-Man universe, revealing the return of J.K. Simmons as J Jonah Jameson, editor in chief at The Daily Bugle. Simmons also famously portrayed Jameson in the 2002 “Spider-Man” film starring Tobey Maguire, in which he demands pictures of Spider-Man from the friendly neighborhood photographer himself.

Mahershala Ali has a surprising comeback in “Across the Spider-Verse.” Ali originally portrayed Uncle Aaron, aka The Prowler, in the first Spider-Verse film. In the sequel, his voice appears in flashbacks as Miles recalls his last words. Later, he returns as an evil Uncle Aaron from an alternate dimension who’s working to help another version of Miles – who’s operating as The Prowler – take over the multiverse.

In the film, Danielle Perez plays Charlotte Webber, aka Sun-Spider, a superhero who uses a wheelchair. Though her appearance on screen is brief, she’s quick to help Miles and his friends, leaving a memorable impression on viewers.

Off screen, Perez is a comedian, actor, and writer. Like her character, she also uses a wheelchair, and she uses her platform to promote disability visibility and positive conversations around mental health.

As Bob Marley’s son and a singer-songwriter in his own right, Ziggy Marley’s voice is hard to miss when he first speaks as Lenny, the owner of the bodega The Spot tries to rob at the beginning of the film. A no-nonsense New Yorker, Lenny attempts to take on The Spot on his own, coming after him with a bat before Miles intervenes and gets him out of the shop.