The feature was written by Phil Lord, who will also executive produce the project alongside his Lego Movie co-director Chris Miller. (The duo will soon begin production on the Han Solo Star Wars stand-alone, which they are directing).

"What inspired us the most is that anyone can wear the mask. You can be any race, creed or color," said Lord and Miller via a prerecorded video at the presentation.

The pair introduced a clip revealing some early development and exploratory art work, showing Spidey on the streets of New York, with a dark mood in the style of a graphic novel.

The Little Prince writer Bob Persichetti is set to co-direct alongside Peter Ramsey (Rise of the Guardians). Avi Arad and Sony's Amy Pascal will also exec produce, with Christina Steinberg acting as producer.

Morales was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli. He was introduced in 2011 as part of the Ultimate Marvel imprint, where he took on the mantle of Spider-Man after the death of that universe's Peter Parker. Marvel ended the Ultimate imprint in 2015, but Morales was made a character in the mainstream Marvel Universe, beginning with stories under the All-New, All-Different Marvel banner.

The character can be seen in all of his animated glory in Disney XD's animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, where he is voiced by actor Donald Glover, whom fans once campaigned to play Spider-Man on the big screen in the films that would eventually star Andrew Garfield. Sony will soon release Spider-Man: Homecoming, the live-action reboot of the superhero that stars Tom Holland as a high-school-aged Peter Parker. Glover will play a supporting role.

SPA will release the Spider-Man movie on Dec. 21, 2018.