Miles Morales
Spider-Man is a superhero and the third predominant Spider-Man to appear in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, created in 2011 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli, along with input by Marvel's then-editor-in-chief Axel Alonso. Born as a modern reimagining of the popular character, Miles Morales debuted in Ultimate Comics: Fallout #4. From the alternate Ultimate Marvel Universe Earth-1610 before being transported to the main Marvel Universe Earth-616, he was bitten by a model spider specially and genetically engineered by Oscorp Industries biochemist Dr. Conrad Marcus, who used the Oz Formula at the behest of Norman Osborn to create "enhanced spiders" in an attempt to duplicate the abilities of the original Spider-Man of the Earth-1610 Ultimate Universe.
The Afro–Puerto Rican teenage son of a Black American father and an Afro-Puerto Rican mother, Miles Morales is the second Spider-Man to appear in Ultimate Marvel, an imprint with a separate continuity from the mainstream Marvel Universe called the Ultimate Universe, first appearing in Ultimate Fallout #4, following the death of the Ultimate Peter Parker. He was featured in the Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man comic book series, and after Marvel ended the Ultimate imprint in 2015, Miles was transported to the main Marvel Universe, beginning with stories under the All-New, All-Different Marvel branding that debuted that same year, in which he is the third Spider-Man, with Miles' original Earth-616 counterpart, the villainous Ultimatum, introduced in Spider-Men II in 2017.
While established as being Puerto Rican, the race of Rio Morales was previously left ambiguous. Comics writer Cody Ziglar established in the 2024 Miles Morales: Spider-Man Annual that Rio's family were Afro-Puerto Rican themselves, following up on confirmation in a previous interview.
Reaction to the character was mixed. Some, including Spider-Man's co-creator, Stan Lee, approved the creation of a positive role model for children of color. Others expressed displeasure at the replacement of Peter Parker, with The Guardian, Fox News, and Culture Map Houston reporting that some fans viewed the decision as an attempt by Marvel Comics to exhibit political correctness, and that the introduction of a minority Spider-Man was simply a publicity stunt to attract more readers, a charge Alonso denied. Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post called for the character to be judged on the quality of his stories, which garnered positive reviews.
As a result of the character's popularity, Miles Morales has been adapted in numerous media outside comics. The character was not the lead protagonist in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated television series, but was later added to the main cast, as an alternate Spider-Man from another universe voiced by Donald Glover in season three and Ogie Banks in season four, later named Kid Arachnid. Nadji Jeter first voiced the character, later named Spy-D, in the Disney XD animated series Spider-Man, and went on to reprise his role in the Marvel's Spider-Man video game series developed by Insomniac Games, and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. The character is the star of the animated Spider-Verse film franchise produced by Sony Pictures Animation, with Shameik Moore voicing the character in the Academy Award-winning feature film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as its sequels Across the Spider-Verse and Beyond the Spider-Verse, in which Jharrel Jerome voices Miles' Earth-42 counterpart, the villainous Prowler.
Publication history
The concept of an African American Spider-Man was first discussed a few months before the November 2008 election of Barack Obama as President of the United States. Marvel Comics' then-editor-in-chief Axel Alonso describes the catalyst, "When we were planning 'Ultimatum,' we realized that we were standing at the brink of America electing its first African-American President and we acknowledged that maybe it was time to take a good look at one of our icons." This new Spider-Man would replace Parker as Spider-Man only in Ultimate Marvel, an imprint whose storyline is set in a universe separate from the mainstream Marvel universe, in which Marvel's characters were reimagined for a 21st-century audience. The replacement of Ultimate Peter Parker was considered as a possible part of the 2008–09 "Ultimatum" story arc that restructured much of the Ultimate Marvel universe, but those early thoughts were abandoned because the story for that character had not yet been developed. When Marvel's editorial staff decided that the Ultimate universe's Peter Parker would be killed in the 2011 storyline "Death of Spider-Man", the character Miles Morales was created. Although Morales is the first black Spider-Man, he marks the second time a Latino character has taken the Spider-Man identity. Miguel O'Hara, who is of Mexican and Irish descent, was the title character in the 1990s series Spider-Man 2099.Miles Morales was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and Italian artist Sara Pichelli. Bendis's thoughts about the character, and the way he looked in his first appearance, were heavily influenced by African-American actor Donald Glover's appearance in Spider-Man pajamas in "Anthropology 101", the second-season premiere of the television comedy series Community. Bendis said of Glover, "He looked fantastic! I saw him in the costume and thought, 'I would like to read that book.' So I was glad I was writing that book."
In creating the visual look for Miles, Pichelli followed her usual practice of approaching the design by giving thought to the character's personality, including the background that influenced it, and the distinctive traits that he would exhibit, such as the clothing he wears, his body language and expressions. Pichelli also designed Spider-Man's new costume, a mostly black outfit with red webbing and a red spider logo. Pichelli had worked on four issues of Ultimate Spider-Man before she was approached to work on the new title with Miles Morales. Pichelli, who works with a Cintiq 12wx graphic tablet, added more screentones to her illustrations to give what she called "a more 'pop' feeling to the book", which she felt would be fitting to the series.
Morales was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, the then-13-year-old son of an African American father and an Afro-Puerto Rican mother. Axel Alonso has described Miles as an intelligent nerd with an aptitude for science similar to his predecessor, Peter Parker. The character made his debut in the fourth issue of the Ultimate Fallout miniseries, which was released on August 3, 2011. He later starred in the relaunched Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man series, written by Bendis and drawn by Pichelli, in September 2011.
File:7.24.19BrianMichaelBendisByLuigiNovi33.jpg|thumb|Miles' co-creator, writer Brian Michael Bendis, signing copies of Ultimate Spider-Man and Ultimate Fallout #4, in which Miles Morales first appeared, at Midtown Comics in Manhattan
In contrasting Miles with Peter Parker, Bendis has depicted different conflicts and anxieties for the character. Right after acquiring his superhuman abilities from a spider bite at the home of his uncle, Aaron, whom Miles admires but does not initially know is a career criminal, Miles' father, Jefferson, explains to Miles that before Miles was born, Jefferson and Aaron were thieves who spent time in prison, and that while Jefferson reformed when he got older, Aaron has not. According to Bendis, this gives Miles cause to wonder if the traits that lead to criminal behavior are hardwired into his DNA, leading him to question whether he is essentially a good person or not, and what his future holds for him. These issues further haunt Miles after he becomes disillusioned with Aaron, and Aaron dies from an accidental explosion triggered during a battle between the two of them, saying, "You are just like me" to Miles before dying.
In 2012, Morales appeared in the miniseries Spider-Men, in which he encounters the Spider-Man of the mainstream Marvel universe. In June 2013, the character appeared in the climax of Age of Ultron #10, which was also written by Brian Michael Bendis. Though mostly set in the mainstream Marvel universe, or Earth-616 as it is known in dialogue, the story depicts major changes to the space-time continuum as a result of the time travel on the part of characters, resulting in Miles witnessing the coming of the mainstream Marvel Galactus, an entity that consumes planets, to Earth.
Despite its initial press and critical reception, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man was not a huge hit in the direct market. By August 2013, sales on the title had slipped, and sales for the other two Ultimate titles, Ultimate Comics X-Men and Ultimate Comics The Ultimates, had dropped to numbers at which mainstream Marvel titles are canceled. That November, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man ended its run with issue #28, and the other two titles ended along with it, to make way for the miniseries Cataclysm: Ultimate Spider-Man, one of the books in the crossover storyline "Cataclysm", in which the heroes of the Ultimate universe face the threat of the Earth-616 Galactus, and Miles is transported to the mainstream Marvel universe.
Following "Cataclysm", Miles starred in a new title called Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man, again with Bendis as writer, as part of Ultimate Marvel Now, an initiative with which Marvel relaunched the Ultimate Marvel line. Miles Morales was also made a member of the eponymous team in All-New Ultimates, a series written by Michel Fiffe and drawn by Amilcar Pinna. Both series ran for 12 issues. The twelfth and final issue of Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man concluded with a cliffhanger that led directly into the 2015 "Secret Wars" storyline.
Marvel ended the Ultimate Marvel imprint with the "Secret Wars" storyline, in which the Marvel Universe was merged with other alternate universes, including the Ultimate Universe. Following "Secret Wars", Miles was made a character of the mainstream Marvel Universe, and a member of the titular team in All-New, All-Different Avengers. He also headlines his third solo series, titled simply Spider-Man, which debuted February 3, 2016, with Bendis and Pichelli returning as the creative team. Pichelli would be succeeded by Nico Leon and Oscar Bazaldua. Throughout the storyline, Peter Parker expands the scope of his activities globally, while the now-16-year-old Miles continues to patrol New York City, and deals with issues such as confrontations with Parker's rogues gallery, the public's reaction to his ethnicity, and his love life. Each issue was numbered sequentially beginning with issue 1, and ending with issue 21, when the numbering switched to legacy numbering in order to assume an unbroken numbering from 2000's Ultimate Spider-Man #1, with the following issue continuing with issue 234. On November 7, 2017, it was announced that Bendis, having signed an exclusive contract with DC Comics, would be leaving Marvel in early 2018, and Spider-Man canceled with issue #240.
On September 13, 2018, Marvel announced that Saladin Ahmed and Javier Garron would be the writer and artist, respectively on a fourth ongoing solo series, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, the first issue of which was released on December 12, 2018, coinciding with the premiere of the animated feature film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The visual design of that film would reportedly influence a new costume designed by Chase Conley for the character's tenth anniversary in 2021, which included trademark sneakers. This series concluded with issue 42 in September 2022. In December 2022 Marvel debuted the next series, Miles Morales: Spider-Man by writer Cody Ziglar and artist Federico Vicentini.
On July 9, 2020, Marvel announced that an original graphic novel, Miles Morales: Shock Waves, would be released in 2021 in partnership with Scholastic, written by Opposite of Always author Justin A. Reynolds, with art by Pablo Leon.