Donald Glover's 10 Best Movies And TV Shows

The best Donald Glover movies and TV shows highlight the Community and Atlanta star’s incredible talents not only as a performer but as a director and screenwriter too. Born in California in 1983, Donald Glover is an incredibly multi-talented individual. Not only is he just as known for his work behind the camera as in front iof it, but he also has a successful career as a stand-up comedian and musician (under the stage name Childish Gambino).

Donald Glover’s acting career began a few years after he started work as a writer on NBC’s 30 Rock. Following appearing in a handful of episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien in 2005, Glover appeared in several 30 Rock episodes in various roles. However, it was 2009 that proved to be the pivotal year for his acting career, as this saw him appear as Troy in the Dan Harmon sitcomCommunity. Since then he’s risen to prominence and is currently one of the most respected names in the entertainment industry, and the best Donald Glover movies and TV shows make it easy to see why.

10 Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

Donald Glover Plays Aaron Davis

2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming marked the first MCU feature-film focusing entirely on Tom Holland’s Peter Parker, and was a resounding success. However, it also ranks among the best Donald Glover movies thanks to the Community and Atlanta stars brief appearance as Aaron Davis, the criminal also known as The Prowler (a role he also reprised for a cameo in 2023’s Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse).

Donald Glover’s appearance may have been incredibly fleeting, almost to the point that it’s a “blink and you’ll miss it” role, but that doesn’t stop it from being memorable. He played a vital role in creating a sense that the world of the MCU’s Spider-Man was already fleshed out by the time the titular hero first appeared in Captain America: Civil War. There’s also continued demand for Glover to play a live-action Prowler in a more prominent capacity, highlighting just how suitable for the role he truly is.

9 Magic Mike XXL (2015)

Donald Glover Plays Andre

2015’s Magic Mike XXL is the sequel to 2012’s Magic Mike, the comedy-drama about male erotic dancers headlined by Channing Tatum. Magic Mike XXL saw several new cast members added to the wide ensemble roster, including Donald Glover. Donald Glover plays Andre in Magic Mike XXL. The role is relatively minor, though Donald Glover does still manage to be responsible for some of the best Magic Mike XXL quotes.

Like a few of Donald Glover’s best movies in which he appeared purely as an actor without having any hand in the story or production, Magic Mike XXL stands out due to his ability to elevate the ensemble cast. While far from the absolute best Donald Glover movie, Magic Mike XXL is still highly recommended viewing for fans of his work seeking to delve into his wider filmography outside the likes of Community and Atlanta.

8 The Martian (2015)

Donald Glover Plays Rich Purnell

2015’s The Martian was directed by renowned director Ridley Scott, known for megahits like Gladiator, Alien, and Blade Runner. Scott is arguably the most esteemed director Donald Glover has worked with so far, making it of little surprise that The Martian isone of the best movies of his career so far. While it’s a strong all-around venture, Donald Glover’s screentime as JPL aerodynamicist is relatively limited compared to his other films, meaning it doesn’t rank quite as high when comparing his various performances.

However, while Donald Glover has a relatively minor role in The Martian, he manages to make every minute of his screen time count. He manages to stand out in an ensemble cast that also includes the likes of Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, Sean Bean, and Sebastian Stan to name a few. The fact that he isn’t overshadowed by his fellow cast members is a testament to Glover’s presence on screen, and serves as the perfect example of his ability to elevate any ensemble cast he’s part of.

7 Guava Island (2019)

Donald Glover Plays Deni Maroon

2019’s Guava Island is an incredibly unique film among the best Donald Glover movies, and mixes his talents as a musician incredibly intimately with his creative abilities as a storyteller and performing skills as an actor. The musical movie stars Glover as Deni Marron, a Cuban musician who sets out to throw an incredible festival for his local community. Glover is joined by Rihanna, Letitia Wright, and Nonso Anozie in the cast, and despite the short runtime of 51 minutes, Guava Island is an incredibly charming and memorable viewing experience that isn’t soon forgotten.

There are several other reasons Guava Island is noteworthy among the best Donald Glover movies and TV shows, however. Firstly, Glover conceived the story with his brother, Stephen Glover (who also wrote the screenplay). Donald Glover also managed to make the movie available for 18 hours on Amazon Prime Video for non-subscribers and streamed it on both the Coachella YouTube page and Twitch account to coincide with performance at the event under his musical alter-ego Childish Gambino.

6 Mystery Team (2009)

Donald Glover Plays Jason Rogers

Mystery Team was directed by Dan Eckman, but it was Donal Glover who co-wrote screenplay and conceived the story alongside him (as well as DC Pierson, Dominic Dierkes, and producer Meggie McFadden). The 2009 comedy marks Donald Glover’s first appearance in a feature-length film, and was also the big screen debut of fellow cast members Aubrey Plaza, Ellie Kemper, Neil Casey, Ben Schwarz, and Bobby Moynihan, all of whom have gone on to have highly successful careers in their own right.

Donald Glover leads the cast of Mystery Team as Jason Rogers, who, as a child, self-styled himself as the “Master of Disguise”. Jason and his friends formed the titular Mystery Team as children to solve local mysteries like missing toys. However, by the time they reach high school age, they decide to solve a more serious crime - a double homicide. Mystery Teaam is absolutely hilarious and has all the hallmarks of the best Donald Glover TV shows and movies in which he was a member of the creative team. What’s more, his performance more than matches many of his more well-known roles like Troy in Community or Earn in Atlanta.

5 The Lion King (2019)

Donald Glover Plays Simba

Live-action remakes of classic animated films have been a key venture for Disney since the 2010s, and one of the most positively received was 2019’s The Lion King, which revitalized the 1994 classic with cutting-edge CGI and photorealistic animals. Not only does The Lion King rank highly among the best Donald Glover movies because of the strength of the film overall, but also because of his prominence in the cast. Donald Glover takes the lead in The Lion Kingas Simba, the titular monarch of the lions of Pride Rock.

Simba was voiced by Matthew Broderick in the 1994 original, but Donald Glover’s Simba is an altogether different spin on the character. While keeping much of the lighthearted charm of the wayward king of the lions, Donald Glover managed to bring a gravitas to Simba that Broderick’s performance, in many ways, lacked. What’s more, The Lion King is one of the few feature-length voice acting roles of Donald Glover’s career, and so also stands as a noteworthy example of how wide his range of talents are.

4 Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)

Donald Glover Plays Lando Calrissian

The 2018 Star Wars movie Solo: A Star Wars Story was divisive among the incredibly passionate fanbase of the franchise. However, while director Ron Howard’s A New Hope prequel focusing on a young Han Solo didn’t appeal to every viewer or critic, the same can’t be said when it comes to Donald Glover’s performance as a young Lando Calrissian.

Donald Glover managed to capture everything that made the smuggler and gambler so great when played by Billy Dee Williams in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, while also adding his own flavor to the role. Of particular note was Donald’s chemistry with Phoebe Waller-Bridge - an especially impressive feat given that Waller-Bridge was voice-acting as Lando’s droid companion (and implied romantic interest) L3-37. Glover’s performance was one of the few aspects of Solo: A Star Wars Story that received near-universal praise, making it worthy of being counted among the best movies of his career.

3 Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024-Present)

Donald Glover Plays John Smith

Like many of the best Donald Glover TV shows, the actor also served as a key creative force behind the 2024 spy series Mr. & Mrs. Smith. Loosely inspired by the 2005 movie of the same name and the novel by Simon Kinberg, the Amazon Prime original sees Glover starring as Michael, an ordinary man who finds himself enlisted as a spy alongside Alana (Maya Erskine). Once hired, the pair masquerade as a married couple - though they soon find their feelings for one another become more than an act.

Like many of Donald Glover’s TV shows, Mr. & Mrs. Smith has been received incredibly well by critics, currently sitting with a 91% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. Not only was the performance of Donald Glover the source of near-universal praise, but the hilarious script and innovative interpretation of the source material - which, of course, Donald Glover played a key part in - has also been highlighted as a key strength.

2 Community (2019-2015)

Donald Glover Plays Troy Barnes

Many viewers were first introduced to Donald Glover thanks to his hilarious performance as Troy in Dan Harmon’s quirky sitcom Community. While Glover didn’t appear in every season of the show (leaving in season 5), he remains one of the most memorable Community characters, with many fans hoping Glove will return for the long-teased Community movie.

Community received numerous awards and accolades during its run, winning a Critics Choice Award, a PrimeTime Emmy, and a Satellite award, among others. Donald Glover appeared in a total of 89 Community episodes and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Oustanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series due to his hilarious performance, as well as a Satellite Award in a comparable category. While it’s one of the few projects that saw him exclusively appear as an actor, Community is inarguably one of the best Donald Glover TV shows to date.

1 Atlanta (2016-2022)

Donald Glover Plays Earnest “Earn” Marks

The comedy-drama Atlanta is more than deserving of its place as the best Donald Glover TV not just because of his performance as Earn, but also because he created the series and served as the showrunner. Glover’s success is due to his skills as a creative as much as his strength as a performer, and none of his projects blend these two aspects of his talent like Atlanta - and the many accolades and awards the FX series has accrued stand as a testament to this.

Among the dozens of awards and nominations Atlanta has received for season 1 alone are a Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy, and Best Actor in the same category for Glover. Season 1 of Atlanta also received a PrimeTime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor and Outstanding Director for Glover (and a nomination for Outstanding Comedy Series), and Television Critics Association Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy and Individual Achievement in Comedy for Glover once again. The accolades continued for season 2 and beyond, making it clear that Atlanta is undisputedly the best Donald Glover movie or TV show.

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