‘Spider-Man: Homecoming’: Here’s a Guide to the Stellar Supporting Cast
The cast of “Spider-Man: Homecoming” includes no shortage of famous faces, including two Oscar nominees and two full-on Oscar winners. But anyone paying close attention while watching this weekend’s box office winner might have noticed a number of other familiar faces. In fact, director Jon Watts has packed nearly every small supporting role he could with a niche comedian or former child star on the verge of adulthood.
So below is our guide to the various notable characters that Peter Parker (Tom Holland) encounters over the course of the film, and where else you have seen them before.
Donald Glover
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Aaron Davis, a local criminal who, it’s been said, is canonically the uncle of Miles Morales, who in the comics eventually becomes Spider-Man. (This is a nice nod to a long ago campaign to cast Glover as Spider-Man, which honestly we would still love to see.)
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Okay, Donald Glover is legit famous enough that you probably did recognize the Golden Globe-winning star and creator of “Atlanta” during his supporting appearance in “Homecoming,” But let’s also take this opportunity to remember his prior work as Troy on “Community”:
Not to mention a few brief cameos in “30 Rock” (for which he also wrote as a staff writer).
Tyne Daly
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Anne Marie Hoag, who works for the Department of Damage Control (because so much crazy stuff goes down in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that we need a whole damn department to clean up after it).
Where You’ve Seen Her Before: She was Lacey on “Cagney and Lacey.” The television legend also appeared in 138 episodes of “Judging Amy,” and has won six Emmys.
Laura Harrier
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Liz, Peter Parker’s love interest.
Where You’ve Seen Her Before: “One Life to Live” fans will recognize her as Destiny Evans, but she’ll also be co-starring in the upcoming HBO Films adaptation of “Fahrenheit 451,” alongside Michael B. Jordan.
Bokeem Woodbine
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: “Shocker #2,” AKA one of the Vulture’s henchmen.
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Bokeem Woodbine has had a long career both in film and television, but he became a favorite of ours after his remarkable work during the second season of “Fargo,” a performance that landed him a well-earned Emmy nomination.
Hannibal Buress
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Coach Wilson, one of Peter’s teachers.
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: The hardworking comedian has a healthy stand-up career alongside appearances in shows like “High Maintenance.” Of course, “Broad City” fans will recognize him as Ilana’s off-again/on-again boyfriend from “Broad City.” Adult Swim fans will recognize him from “The Eric Andre Show.” Others may know him as the guy who kindled the Bill Cosby firestorm. No matter what, you’re likely not surprised by how much fun he brings to just a few quick scenes in “Spider-Man.”
Selenis Leyva
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Ms. Warren, one of Peter Parker’s teachers.
Where You’ve Seen Her Before: Gloria Mendoza, a hard-as-nails inmate on Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black.” She looks good out of prison scrubs!
Martin Starr
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Mr. Harrington, Peter Parker’s Academic Decathalon coach.
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Martin Starr’s breakout role was in the seminal “Freaks and Geeks,” but since then he’s also been an invaluable series regular on shows like “Party Down” and “Silicon Valley.” Starr’s deadpan wit really came through in his brief “Homecoming” appearances.
Michael Chernus
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Phineas Mason, aka The Tinkerer.
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Another “Orange is the New Black” alumni — Michael Chernus recurs as Cal, the brother of Piper (Taylor Schilling). He was also a series regular on the WGN America series “Manhattan” and Amazon’s “Patriot.”
Martha Kelly
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: The Washington Monument tour guide narrating the elevator ride.
Where You’ve Seen Her Before: Martha Kelly is one of three series regulars on the oddball FX comedy “Baskets,” for which she was very explicitly cast thanks to Zach Galifianakis’s love of her deadpan delivery — a tone which Watts did a nice job of invoking during the tense Washington Monument sequence.
Michael Mando
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Mac Gargan, who may become the supervillian known as the Scorpion in future films.
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Michael Mando gets cast a fair amount as someone operating outside the law, but his most notable roles include “Orphan Black” and “Better Call Saul,” the latter of which allows him to find depth beyond what you might expect in the character of Nacho, a young man torn between his position in the drug trade and his family. We’d love to see him bring that same level of depth to a comic book bad guy.
Kerry Condon
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Kerry Condon provides the voice of Tony Stark’s artificial intelligence program Friday, who only briefly speaks in the film.
Where You’ve Seen/Heard Her Before: Another “Better Call Saul” connection — Condon has landed a variety of roles over the last several years, but right now she can be seen semi-regularly as Stacey, Mike Ehrmantraut’s daughter-in-law.
Abraham Attah
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Abe, one of Peter’s classmates.
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Still a relative newbie to the acting world, Abraham Attah was unforgettable as the young star of Cary Fukunawa’s “Beasts of No Nation.”
Michael Barbieri
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Charles, another one of Peter’s fellow students.
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Barbieri appeared in Ira Sachs’ Sundance favorite “Little Men,” alongside Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Ehle.
Logan Marshall-Green
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: “Shocker #1,” another of the Vulture’s henchmen.
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Well, not a lot of people actually watched the Cinemax series “Quarry,” but if you did, well, he totally starred in it. Marshall-Green has many TV credits beyond that, but one of the more notable ones is the older brother of Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie) on “The O.C.”
Kenneth Choi
“Spider-Man: Homecoming” Role: Principal Morita, a name choice which is a deliberate reference to Choi’s earlier MCU work as one of Captain America’s World War II compatriots. (Peter’s high school principal is presumably a descendant.)
Where You’ve Seen Him Before: Beyond other Marvel projects, Choi has had a healthy career across film and television. His most recent high profile role was playing Judge Lance Ito in “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.” (He never once danced.)
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