Donald Glover joins the cast of Spider-Man: Homecoming... as fans speculate he's the new Miles Morales

By Lulu Berton

Published: 17:54 EST, 14 June 2016 | Updated: 18:17 EST, 14 June 2016

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He was the fan favourite to play Spider-Man in Sony's 2012 reboot of the franchise.

But having missed out on the role to Andrew Garfield, Donald Glover is now joining the cast of Spider-Man: Homecoming.

It is not yet clear which role Glover will play in the Jon Watts-directed superhero movie.

However the casting announcement by The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday led to social-media speculation that he could play the half-black, half-Hispanic Spider-Man, Miles Morales.

It's happening: Donald Glover is joining the cast of Spider-Man: Homecoming, the Jon Watts-directed superhero movie for Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios, it was announced on Tuesday

The talented young actor was at the center of a social media campaign when the studio was rebooting Spider-Man six years ago, as many felt he would be an ideal candidate to play the title role in his third major onscreen iteration.

The vocal grassroots campaign that followed went viral, with fans using the hashtag #Donald4SpiderMan.

The part eventually went to Garfield, although Donald voiced Morales.

Mixed-race Spider-Man: The 32-year old actor's potential role is being kept top-secret, leading to social-media speculation that he could play the half-black, half-Hispanic Spider-Man, Miles Morales. Here Donald is seen in Toronto last year

The stakes are high for Spider-Man: Homecoming, which is due to begin production later this month and swing into theater on July 7, 2017.

Donald joins a cast that includes Tom Holland as the titular super-hero Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May, Michael Keaton as a villain, and Zendaya as the female lead.

Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr., will be returning for another tour of duty as a superhero.

Many fans kept the campaign going and have been very vocal about their preference to have Morales, not Parker, behind the mask to add some diversity to the genre.

Morales for Spider-man: A lot of fans are still very vocal about their preference to have Morales, not Parker, behind the mask to add some diversity to the genre

Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige last year said that there was possibility of one day exploring that storyline on the big screen.

He said: 'Like all of our movies we look at the comics, both from 50-plus years ago right up to today, for inspiration. Something that is new and fresh and cool like Miles is from the current day may be used for potential material in the future.'

The multi-hyphenate Donald has been a cast member on Community and costarred on films like The Martian, Magic Mike XXL, and The Lazarus Effect.

Handpicked at age 21 by Tina Fey to work as a writer on 30 Rock, Donald is also a hip hop artist who records under the name of Childish Gambino.

Multi-talented: Handpicked at age 21 by Tina Fey to work as a writer on 30 Rock, Donald is also a hip hop artist who records under the name of Childish Gambino. Here the actor/musician is pictured at a music show in the UK last summer