Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Animated “Spider-Man” Movie Adds Mahershala Ali, “Atlanta” Star to Voice Cast (Exclusive)

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Phil Lord and Chris Miller may no longer be working on the untitled Han Solo movie, but their untitled animated Spider-Man movie is moving right along, as newly-crowned Oscar winner Mahershala Ali and Atlanta star Brian Tyree Henry have joined the voice cast, the Tracking Board has exclusively learned.

Back in April, Sony Pictures Animation tapped Shameik Moore (The Get Down) to voice Miles Morales, aka Spider-Man, while Liev Schreiber agreed to bring his recognizable baritone to the villain of the film, whose identity has been kept under wraps.

Insiders tell the Tracking Board that Henry will voice Miles’ detective father, Jefferson Davis, while Ali will voice the larger role of Miles’ uncle, Aaron Davis, who loves his nephew but operates on the wrong side of the law. I wonder what Spider-Man will have to say about that…

Bob Persichetti (The Little Prince) and Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians) will co-direct the animated Spider-Man movie, which Lord wrote, uh, solo, and will produce with Miller. As much as it sucks that those guys aren’t working on Han Solo anymore, it’s good that they have another high-profile project to focus their creative energy on.

Originally created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, Miles Morales is a half-black, half-Latino teenager who adopts the mantle of Spider-Man after Peter Parker dies. He’s a popular character within the Marvel community, and fans of the Spidey comics have long called for his inclusion in feature films.

Ali won an Oscar for his soulful supporting performance in Moonlight, which also won Best Picture. Coming off a banner year that also included turns in Hidden Figures, Kicks and Free State of Jones, Ali recently wrapped Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel and he’ll soon be seen in the acclaimed Sundance film Roxanne Roxanne. As previously reported, he’s also circling J.C. Chandor’s Triple Frontier, which is coming back together at Netflix.

Since playing Paper Boi on FX’s Golden Globe-winning comedy series Atlanta, Henry’s feature career has blown up. Not only does he co-star alongside Atlanta‘s Lakeith Stanfield in the Sundance-winning drama Crown Heights, but he recently wrapped the Matthew McConaughey film White Boy Rick, and he was just cast in Steve McQueen’s Widows as well as Drew Pearce’s directorial debut Hotel Artemis. Henry’s additional TV credits include Vice Principals, Boardwalk Empire and This Is Us.

Ali is represented by WME, Anonymous Content and attorney Shelby Weiser, while Henry is repped by CAA, JWS Entertainment and attorney Darren M. Trattner.

 Jeff Sneider | Editor in Chief