Mahershala Ali and Hailee Steinfeld join animated Spider-Man film

Mahershala Ali and Hailee Steinfeld have joined the cast of animated film Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

Ali and Steinfeld will star alongside Dope actor Shameik Moore as Miles Morales, the half-black, half-Latino teen who takes over the web-slinging alter-ego of Spider-Man from protagonist Peter Parker. Parker will be voiced by Jake Johnson, while Ali will play Miles' uncle Aaron and Steinfeld will portray Spider-Gwen.

Liev Schreiber was previously cast as villain Kingpin and Lily Tomlin will voice Aunt May. Brian Tyree Henry and Luna Lauren Velez will also feature in the movie as Morales' parents.

Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman are directing, while fired Solo: A Star Wars Story helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller are producing. Lord also wrote the screenplay.

"We are lucky to have such an amazing cast of funny, genuine creative souls to populate the Spider-verse," Lord and Miller say in a statement. "They have generous minds and great big hearts. And they have very talented throats, which is where their delightful voices come from.

"We can't wait for the world to see Miles Morales on the big screen. He's such a fun and exciting new character, and telling his story through a revolutionary visual style makes for a totally fresh cinematic experience that, if we may say so, is freaking amazing."

The trailer for the film was released on Wednesday (06Jun18) and the film will hit theatres in December (18).

Donald Glover previously voiced Morales in animated Disney series Ultimate Spider-man: Web Warriors. Rapper-turned-actor Ice Cube was also among those rumoured to be in negotiations to play Morales' father, Jefferson Davis.