Did You Know This About…Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino

Spoiler phrases: “comic book” and “Cheetos”

In recent years, Donald Glover has made his mark in various sectors of the entertainment industry. A writer. An actor. A musician. Is there anything this guy can’t do?

Our team members at ScreenHeads have put together some of his more interesting facts. Take a look and see if you know any already!

He got his stage name from a name generator

Ever wondered where the name Childish Gambino came from? Don’t expect it to have any deep meaning. Glover got the name from a Wu-Tang Name Generator that he found online.

From there, he rapped under the name and it has become globally known thanks to hits such as “Redbone” and “This is America”.

Influenced the appearance of Spider-Man’s Miles Morales

Glover, believe it or not, has had a profound effect on the comic book world. In 2010 when Sony producers were looking for their next Peter Parker to star in The Amazing Spider-Man, an internet campaign was spawned calling for Glover to be cast in the role. Of course, Andrew Garfield was cast eventually.

However, when Peter Parker was killed off in the Ultimate Spider-Man comic books, he was replaced with Miles Morales. The new web-slinger was half-black/half-hispanic teenager whose appearance was heavily influenced by Donald Glover. Brian Michael Bendis, writer of this line of comic books, has spoken of Glover’s influence on the character numerous times.

Ironically, Glover went on to voice the character in an animated show. He also played the live-action version of Morales’ uncle, Aaron Davis, in Spider-Man: Homecoming.

Related Article: Did You Know This About…Cate Blanchett

His first action figure was a Lando Calrissian

Is this destined or what? Glover has mentioned that his first action figure as a child was that of a Lando Calrissian from the Star Wars universe.

How serendipitous then that he would go on to play a younger version of the character in Solo: A Star Wars Story, in which he turned out an iconic performance.

Didn’t need to learn his songs for The Lion King remake

Glover has mentioned how he had grown up watching the original animated Lion King when he was a kid. It is said that he knew the film so well that when it came to recording his role as the Adult Simba for the live-action version, he didn’t need anyone to teach him his songs.

His reasoning was purely that he didn’t need anyone to teach him the songs that he had come to know so well since he was a youngster.

The Lion King also marked Glover’s first theatrical voice role.

Often features Flamin’ Hot Cheetos in his work

“Blink and you’ll miss it” or “blink and he’ll eat it”? Call it a salute to a favourite snack food or some kind of advertising gimmick, but you’ll notice that Glover will try and work Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into his projects. Notably, this is done in show that the above image belongs to, Atlanta.

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Think we missed some extra big factors about the star? Were you surprised by some of these facts? Let us know in the comment section below!

Donald Glover’s Atlanta is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.