Why John From Mr. & Mrs. Smith Looks So Familiar

Remakes are always challenging, and when the project in question is Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's 2005 action comedy "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," the viewer knows to expect a lot from the lead actors. Prime Video's 2024 "Mr.& Mrs. Smith" series puts a twist to the original movie, in which Pitt and Jolie's characters are both assassins who work for opposing shadowy organizations. This time, the two are working together, but the tension comes from the fact that the marriage is a cover and the two are virtually unknown to each other — at least, at first. 

Maya Erskine ("Obi-Wan Kenobi," "PEN15") inherits the role of Jane Smith from Jolie, and the part of John Smith is in equally capable hands. Series co-creator Donald Glover portrays the male half of the Smith duo, and he plays the role with plenty of experience under his belt. Here's a quick look at some of the movies and shows viewers may know him from.

"Community" features an all-star cast of great actors performing juicy characters who are all connected by a highly eccentric study group at Greendale Community College. Donald Glover's role in the show is Troy Barnes, a former star athlete who might not be the most intelligent person out there, but who has a good heart and hidden depths to spare. 

The show is notorious for the behind-the-scenes drama that had Chevy Chase written off after clashing with Harmon and others. Glover also left "Community" during Season 5 in the wake of the show's assorted behind-the-scenes troubles. While the turbulence surrounding the show no doubt provided a pretty handy exit opportunity, the actor explained at the 2016 Television Critics Association summer tour (via Deadline) that a major reason for stepping away from the sitcom was his belief that all things should come to an end. "I just like endings," Glover explained. "I think everything should have death clauses in them like humans have death clauses."

"Community" might have been Donald Glover's big break as an actor, but "Atlanta" truly establishes what he can do with a project. Though the critically lauded series is rooted in reality, it also has a constant undercurrent of fantasy and deep absurdity. Glover's Earnest "Earn" Marks is a deconstruction of a classic preppy, smarter-than-thou central character. Instead of being the straight man to the more bombastic Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles (Brian Tyree Henry), Earn is a character with a capital C in his own right. He's a university dropout whose lack of confidence and tendency to make awful decisions clash with his traditional protagonist qualities. 

As the star, creator, and co-executive producer of the comedy-drama, Glover has won numerous accolades for his work on "Atlanta," and managed to create an eccentric, profound show that gives every main character a chance to shine. It's probably not a coincidence that all four leads — Glover, Henry, Zazie Beetz, and LaKeith Stanfield — have experienced a meteoric rise to fame since the show premiered in 2016. 

Glover doesn't take "Atlanta" lightly. After all, he once told GQ that he actually cried when the ambitious, globetrotting Season 3 received pushback from fans. Nevertheless, he told Variety that the actual concept behind the show is fairly simple. "We just wanted to make a Black fairytale," he said. "I remember sitting in the writers' room and being like, 'What do we write about?' We just wanted to do short stories. Something I would want to watch."

"Solo: A Star Wars Story" may be one of the less-beloved entries in the classic sci-fi franchise, but Donald Glover's take on iconic smuggler Lando Calrissian is nothing short of impressive. He channels Billy Dee Williams' original take on the character while infusing the role with his own vision, providing the movie with an extremely charming space rogue who's easily able to give Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) a run for his money. A Lando-themed spinoff movie, unsurprisingly, is on the table — and for his part, Glover is interested in returning in the role should the stars of the galaxy far, far away align. 

"Lando is charm incarnate," Glover said in an interview with GQ. "He's kind of a maverick, which I don't think there's a lot of anymore. It's hard to be the smooth talker nowadays. Where's the line? That's also where the danger is. How close can you get without tripping over it? I would love to play Lando again. It's a fun time, being him. It just has to be the right way to do it. Time is precious."

Donald Glover has been a part of the Spider-Man buzz for roughly as long as both he and Miles Morales have been in the spotlight. He voiced the character in the "Ultimate Spider-Man" animated series, and in another timeline, might have been the natural choice to play him in a live-action project, as well. However, the role has eluded him — and with the Marvel Cinematic Universe focusing on a young Peter Parker (Tom Holland) as its Spider-Man, Glover's not exactly the most likely choice to portray Miles, who's traditionally younger than Peter. 

Not to worry, though. Jon Watts ended up helming "Spider-Man: Homecoming," and knew about the long-running hype train behind Glover playing Miles. As such, he cast the actor as Aaron Davis, Miles' criminal uncle who actually name-drops his esteemed nephew in the movie. 

Though Aaron's role in "Spider-Man: Homecoming" is fairly small, it has kept Glover connected to the Spider-Verse. Mahershala Ali voices Aaron in the animated "Spider-Verse" films, but Glover turns up as his MCU version of the character in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," complete with a neat live-action version of the character's Prowler costume. 

Apart from the aforementioned roles, the list of Donald Glover's credits and accolades is long and impressive. There's the not-insignificant matter of his music career as Childish Gambino, the artist name he's used to release several albums and numerous impressive music videos, including 2018's thought-provoking viral hit, "This Is America." He has numerous writing, producing, and even directing credits. He's done stand-up. He's voiced various animated characters, up to and including the main character Simba in the 2019 CGI remake of Disney's "Lion King." Oh, and he's acted in numerous projects, from playing Sandy on "Girls" and Andre in "Magic Mike XXL" to appearing as Rich Purnell in "Lost in Mars" and starring opposite Rihanna in the comedy-drama, "Guava Island." 

Glover's career spans multiple forms of entertainment and may seem eclectic, but this may be explained by his somewhat eccentric career role model. "Willy Wonka. That's the world I like," he told Interview Magazine. "You have your factory, you make something, put it out, and then close shop to the public for a while." 

"Community" showrunner Dan Harmon had an even more colorful description of the star's multi-platform success. "If I were Donald Glover, I would try eating the moon, because we're not so sure he can't until he tries, since everything he tries he succeeds at," he told The Hollywood Reporter.