One of the many mysteries swirling around Spider-Man: Homecoming is the identity of Donald Glover's character, who was announced as joining the cast exactly one year ago today. Rumors immediately started to fly that he was playing Miles Morales, the character he voices in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series, which he had been lobbying hard to play in a live-action movie. Today a summary of a new Spider-Man: Homecoming novel has been released, which reveals who Donald Glover is really playing, while also shedding new light on the beginning of this story. If you don't want to know how Spider-Man: Homecoming begins, there will be SPOILERS below, so read on at your own risk.

Reddit user "Alex_Helix" posted a detailed summary of a Spider-Man: Homecoming novelization, although it is mentioned at the very beginning that this novel only covers the first act of the movie. This Redditor didn't say much about whether or not this novel is already available for purchase or not, but it includes details that we have already seen in previous trailers, such as the ATM robbery and the scene where Peter returns home in full costume, only to find his friend Ned Leeds (Ned Leeds) in his room waiting for him. There are plenty of new details, though, including a description of the scene where Donald Glover's character Alex is introduced.

If this description is accurate, then Donald Glover's Alex is a local criminal who meets up with both of the Shocker characters, Herman Schultz (Bokeem Woodbine) and Jackson "Montana" Brice (Logan Marshall-Green), to buy Chitauri weapons from them. However, Spider-Man breaks up the sale, with Schultz subduing Peter with his Shocker gauntlets, allowing them to flee in a van, with Spidey giving chase, leaving Alex behind. This character doesn't surface in the rest of the novel, but since this book only covers the movie's first act, it's possible that he may surface again. It isn't clear in this description if the Chitauri weapon was left behind after Spider-Man surfaced, so perhaps Alex was able to get away with a free Chitauri weapon?

This novelization summary also includes a number of other interesting details, including that, the day after Ned Leeds found out Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Ned overhears Liz Allan (Laura Harrier) and Betty Brandt (Angourie Rice) talking about how attractive Spider-Man is. Ned then "blurts out" that Peter knows Spider-Man, through his new "internship" at Stark Industries, which has forced him to quit the academic decathlon team that Ned, Liz, Betty and Peter's rival Flash Thompson (Tony Revolori) are all on. Flash then challenges Peter to prove that he knows Spidey, by bringing him by Liz's party that night. The novelization mentions that Peter is changing into his Spider-Man outfit at Liz's party when he sees an explosion, which leads into the scene with Alex. There was a brief shot at the end of a recent Spider-Man: Homecoming sneak peek where Spidey is seen swinging into a backyard and skimming over a pool, in what looked to be a party scene, so it's possible that could have been Liz's party.

This summary also confirms that the Tony Stark-created Damage Control is what puts Adrian Toomes' clean-up company out of business, and that Toomes convinces his men Schultz and Brice not to surrender the Chitauri weapons they found at the Battle of New York in The Avengers, because he has new plans for these alien artifacts. The novelization also confirms that the students' trip to Washington D.C. was for the academic decathlon nationals, with Peter re-joining the team so he can also track Herman Schultz's whereabouts. With Spider-Man: Homecoming opening on July 7, hopefully we'll have more details about Donald Glover's Alex and the rest of these characters soon.