Prowler (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse)

"When you see a girl, put your hand on her shoulder, and say Hey."

- Aaron Davis

Aaron Davis, also known as the Prowler, is one of the secondary antagonists (along with Doctor Octopus) of the hit 2018 animated superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. He is Jefferson Davis's brother and Miles Morales' uncle who secretly operates as an enforcer for the Kingpin.

He was voiced by Mahershala Ali, who also played Cottonmouth in Marvel's Luke Cage and Vector in Alita: Battle Angel.

Personality
As Aaron Davis (Miles Morales's uncle), he appears to be caring, laid-back, and cool to Miles and even though he is estranged from his brother, Jefferson, the brothers appear to care for each other.

As Prowler, he is seen as terrifying and is one of the most dangerous villains in the movie, possibly more than Kingpin. However, after finding out that the new Spider-Man is his nephew, he refuses to kill him which results in his death. He apologizes to Miles and encourages him to keep going before dying.

Appearance
As Prowler, he wears purple costume and mask with a cape and gauntlets with gadgets. As Aaron Davis, he is bald, with a beard.

Past
Not much is known about Aaron Davis's past except that he is Jefferson's brother. When they were young, they used to tag buildings until at some point, the brothers became estranged with Jefferson becoming a cop and Aaron secretly becomes "The Prowler" and started working for Kingpin.

Hanging Out with Miles
Aaron Davis is first seen where after his nephew, Miles Morales, meets a girl named "Gwanda", he asks him for advice on how to talk to her. Aaron advises him into trying the Casanova style and claiming it to be "proved science". He then encourages Miles to pursue his passion for graffiti. He takes him to a subway station where he can draw and while they are leaving, Miles gets bitten by a radioactive spider which gives him his powers.

Battle with Spider-Man and Pursuit of Miles
Later, Miles is unable to call Aaron, who claims to be away on some business. He stumbles upon a lab where Spider-Man and Green Goblin are fighting during the Kingpin's first test on the super-collider. Prowler is sent by Kingpin to assist Green Goblin in fighting Spider-Man. However, after Green Goblin's attempt to kill Spider-Man fails, it causes the super-collider to kill Green Goblin and injure Spider-Man in the process. After Kingpin kills Spider-Man, Miles out of shock causes himself to be exposed which has Kingpin send Prowler to kill him. Miles manages to escape from him after a subway train nearly runs him over.

Conflict with the Other Spider-Men and Death
After Miles decides to help all the Spider-People return to their own dimensions, he tries to contact his father but then instead goes to his Aaron's apartment to leave him a note about him leaving. The Prowler enters his apartment which causes Miles to become invisible to hide from. The Prowler takes his mask off revealing himself to be Aaron which shocks Miles to learn that his uncle is a supervillain working for the Kingpin and to believe that his father was right about Aaron. He tries to escape but Prowler pursues him. Miles manages to escape through a traffic accident but Prowler watches his nephew leave (not knowing that he is a new Spider-Man).

Kingpin sends Prowler, Doctor Octopus, Scorpion and Tombstone to Aunt May's house to kill all the Spider-People there. After a huge battle that destroys the house, Miles escapes with the USB (which will send all the Spider-People back to their dimensions) with Prowler pursuing him once again. Prowler corners him and starts strangling him until Miles willingly takes his Spider-Man mask off which shocks Prowler who also takes his mask off. Realizing that he can't go through with killing Miles and working for Kingpin anymore, he refuses to kill Miles. This causes Kingpin to shoot him in the back. Miles takes his uncle into an alleyway where Aaron apologizes for everything and tells Miles that he is the best and to keep going until he dies in his nephew's arms. Jefferson and the police arrive to arrest this Spider-Man but he flees. This causes Jefferson to think that this Spider-Man killed his brother.

Legacy
Later, Jefferson tries to apologize for his mistakes that he made to Miles and believes that he won't talk to him (not knowing that Miles is all webbed up to his chair). However, Miles helps return the Spider-People to their dimensions, defeats Kingpin using the shoulder-touch technqiue Aaron taught him (giving Kingpin an electric venomous blast in the process), clears his name, and becomes the new Spider-Man. In addition, Miles and Jefferson spray paint a memorial to Aaron at the police station Jefferson work at.

Quotes
"Hello, Mr. Fisk. I've got the security tapes from the tunnel right here. If the kid's out there, I'll find him."

- Prowler to Kingpin vowing to find the new Spider-Man.

"Give me that thing! Don't be stupid, kid. Hand it over, now--"

- Prowler attacking and chasing Miles.

"Nowhere left to run."

- Prowler trapping Miles.

"...Miles... (Miles: ...Uncle Aaron. This is all my fault.) No Miles. I'm sorry. I wanted you to look up to me. I let you down, man, I let you down. You're the best of all of us, Miles. You're on your way. Just... keep going... just keep going."

- Aaron's last words to Miles as he encourages him to keep going before he succumbs to his wounds.

Trivia

 * Prowler's appearance is heavily based on his Ultimate incarnation, however, his character is widely different, given that he very genuinely cares for his nephew.
 * His death also varies from the comics as well; in the Ultimate comics, Prowler dies from his greed and cursing Spider-Man, while this version dies after redeeming himself after finding out that the new Spider-Man is his nephew.
 * The Into the Spider-Verse incarnation is the second cinematic portrayal of the Aaron Davis/Prowler, the first being the Marvel Cinematic Universe version.
 * So far, the Prowler along with the Green Goblin are the only villains in the film to actually die (considering that Doctor Octopus' fate is unknown), at very least onscreen.