When Marvel and Sony announced their groundbreaking deal to bring Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, rumors started swirling regarding which Spider-Man character would be featured in the MCU. There was a strong grassroots movement in favor of the studio using Miles Morales, a young teenager who is half African-American and half Puerto Rican. The studio eventually went the traditional route and cast Tom Holland as Peter Parker, who won rave reviews for his debut in Captain America: Civil War. But it seems fans may still see Miles Morales on the big screen after all. A new rumor claims that Miles Morales will be the focus of Sony's Spider-Man Animated Movie, which will hit theaters on December 21, 2018.

This report from Heroic Hollywood has not been confirmed, but the site claims a big clue was dropped by Sony's Tom Rothman during last year's CinemaCon, where he revealed the animated project will "exist independently" from the live action movies. This means the animated project will have no ties to the MCU. Still, fans have been waiting quite some time for Miles Morales to make his big screen debut, and now it seems finally set to happen.

Miles Morales is a fairly recent addition to the Marvel comics universe, debuting in Ultimate Fallout #4 in August 2011. The character was created by Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli, who was born and raised in Brooklyn by an African-American father and a Puerto Rican mother. This 13-year-old character was reportedly inspired by current U.S. President Barack Obama and actor Donald Glover, who went on to voice the character in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated TV series. Miles is described as an intelligent nerd with a knack for science, but we don't know how closely this animated movie will stick to the comics.

No story details have been confirmed for this untitled Spider-Man animated project, which will be directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Sony recently set a December 21, 2018 release date for this project, which comes just seven months after their highly-anticipated Han Solo: A Star Wars Story spinoff hits theaters on May 25, 2018. No voice cast members are confirmed quite yet, but hopefully more details will surface soon.

It's possible that Phil Lord and Chris Miller could bring Donald Glover in to voice Miles Morales for this movie, although we still don't even know for sure if Miles Morales will be featured in this movie or not. With its release still more than two years away, there is plenty of time for this project to develop. We'll be sure to keep you posted with more updates on whether or not the story will center on Miles Morales.