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| “ | When you see a girl, put your hand on her shoulder, and say... "Hey". | „ |
| ~ Aaron Davis to Miles. |
| “ | Hello, Mr. Fisk. I've got the security tapes from the tunnel right here. If the kid's out there, I'll find him. [takes off mask] You know me, sir; I don't ever quit. | „ |
| ~ Prowler talking to Kingpin and unknowingly revealing himself to Miles. |
Aaron Davis, also known as the Prowler, one of the two secondary antagonists (alongside Doctor Octopus), turned anti-villain, of the 2018 Academy Award winning animated superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. He was Jefferson Davis's brother and Miles Morales' uncle who secretly operated as an enforcer for the Kingpin until the events of the film.
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' 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. It should also be noted that Prowler had no issues murdering children, assuring his boss that he would find the new Spider-Man who saw them and kill him, expressing no reluctance in pursuing him. However, after finding out that the new Spider-Man was actually his nephew, he refuses to kill Miles which results in his death. In his final moments, he apologizes to Miles for trying to kill him, failing to be a proper role model for his nephew 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.
Biography
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 by taking him to an abandoned subway to spray paint on a wall. While admiring the art, he reveals to Miles about how Jefferson and him always used to do graffiti and tags before Jefferson became a cop. Aaron then gets a message from his phone which tells him that he is needed 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 and manages to keep the hero from deactivating the super-collider. 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 his pursuer after a subway train nearly runs him over. Prowler gets on his motorcycle and pursues Miles, who had fortunately hidden himself, causing Prowler to drive in the wrong direction.
Conflict with the Other Spider-Men and Death
After Miles had failed in becoming strong enough to help the Spider-People return to their own dimensions, he tries to contact his father but then instead goes to Aaron's apartment to leave him a note about him leaving. Then to Miles' horror, Prowler enters the apartment. The Prowler immediately grows suspicious and investigates the apartment, nearly catching Miles hiding behind the tv, with only the latter's invisibility saving him in time. Before he can continue, Prowler answers a call from Fisk before he takes his mask off, revealing himself to be Aaron, which shocks Miles to learn that Aaron was a supervillain, that his father was right about him, and that his own uncle was the assassin attempting to kill him. As Miles clumsily tries to escape, Prowler instantly become aware to Miles' presence and pursues him, chasing him through an alley and through the streets on his motorcycle. Miles eventually manages to escape through a traffic accident but Prowler watches the new Spider-Man leave (not knowing that he was his nephew).
Kingpin sends Prowler, Doctor Octopus, Tombstone, and Scorpion to Aunt May's house to kill all the Spider-People there. After a huge battle that destroys the house, Prowler jumps through the window and prepares to attack Miles with only one of the Spider-People saving him, kicking Prowler out of the wall. Miles gets the USB (which will send all the Spider-People back to their dimensions) with Prowler ambushing him once again. After a brief chase, Prowler corners and prepares to kill him until Miles willingly takes his Spider-Man mask off, causing a horrified Aaron take his mask off. Kingpin sees this hesitation and orders Prowler to go through with the kill. Realizing that he can't go through with killing his own nephew and working for Kingpin anymore, he refuses to kill Miles, backing away and raising his hands in the air in a show of peace. Unfortunately, Aaron is caught off-guard when Kingpin shoots 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, he holds Miles' hand who is grief-stricken as Aaron gives in to his wounds and dies. Jefferson and the police arrive to arrest the new Spider-Man but he flees, leaving a horrified Jefferson to find the dead body of his brother, leading him to think that Spider-Man killed Aaron, and sends out a warrant for Spider-Man.
Legacy
Later, Jefferson tries to apologize for his mistakes that he made to Miles and believes that he will not talk to him (not knowing that Miles is all webbed up to his chair). However, Miles finally embraces his powers and becomes the new Spider-Man through the words of inspiration of his parents, uncle and Peter B. Parker. He then helps return the Spider-People to their dimensions, defeats Kingpin using the shoulder-touch technique 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 works at.
Quotes
| “ | Give me that thing! Don't be stupid, kid. Hand it over, now! | „ |
| ~ Prowler attacking and chasing Miles. |
| “ | Prowler: Nowhere left to run. [Prepares to kill, but then Miles takes off his mask] ...Miles? Miles Morales: Uncle Aaron... Aaron Davis: [Prowler takes off his mask] Oh, no, no, no, no, no. | „ |
| ~ Prowler realizing he was about to murder his own nephew. |
| “ | Aaron Davis: ...Miles... Miles Morales: ...Uncle Aaron. This is my fault. Aaron Davis: 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.
- His costume also is very different seeing as that this version wears the Hobie Brown costume while in the Ultimate comics, he wore a different costume.
- 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.
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