Marvel has only gotten bigger as time has gone on. From its noble beginnings with comics to the movies that were produced, to the establishment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and then the expansion of it on Disney+, superheroes have never been more a part of mainstream culture than they are now. But for a long time, there was one Marvel superhero that I knew before any of them, and that was Spider-Man.
Spider-Man is a superhero that I was very familiar with because he was my dad’s favorite superhero. As someone who grew up in Alphabet City, he always loved Spider-Man because he was a simple hero – a kid from New York City who was just trying to do his best as a hero and use his powers for good. And of course, I loved Spider-Man too because he did. However, both of our lives were changed when we watched Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and we found a new version of Spider-Man to love even more – Miles Morales.
In partnership with AMC Theatres and in anticipation of the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – tickets are on sale now – I’m going to talk about my five favorite things about Miles Morales, and how over the last few years, he’s truly become one of my favorite superheroes of all time.
His Sweet Nature
From the moment we first meet Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, you can tell he’s a sweet kid. While he does feel some resentment over his family putting him into a new school and taking him from his friends, it’s clear that he loves his father and mother and is just trying his best to make them proud while also succeeding in his life.
But really, we see that more as time goes on, showing just how kind he really is, and how his goals don’t just align with his own wants and dreams, but also with those around him. When Peter Parker from a different universe starts to mentor him, all he wants is to learn how to be the best version of Spider-Man that there is. Even when he is struggling to control his powers, he tries to push through it not just for himself, but so that he can be a good hero for everyone else around him.
That kind of sweet nature is hard to come by in the superhero world, where everyone always feels as if they have some sort of agenda that they want to expose to the world. Having a sweet kid like Miles is what we all truly need.
His Different Powers
So what do you think of when you think of Spider-Man in any iteration prior to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse? Obviously, we all know he can swing from skyscraper to skyscraper with his webs. He can climb walls. He has incredible speed and dexterity and a crazy amount of strength. All of those are related to Miles as well.
But Miles is also different from Peter Parker in a few ways. While they do share several similar powers, Miles has two additional ones that really make him stand out – his Venom Blast and his camouflage ability. The Venom Blast is something where he is able to direct a bio-electric charge towards his enemies in order to stun them, which we saw in the movie, and he is also able to turn invisible on command – once he learns how to do that, that is.
It is insane for a Spider-Man to be able to do that, but Miles is able to and more. While it took him some time to learn those powers in order to succeed in the movie, his powers are even more crazy in the video games. Let me tell you, I played all of Spider-Man: Miles Morales and the things that this boy can do with his Venom Blast is outstanding.
He has a very particular moveset, which makes him stand out from any other version of Spider-Man out there – and makes him that much cooler.
His Humor
Granted, I feel like every Spider-Man has some sort of quippy nature that we just all automatically fall in love with the moment we get to know the person, but Miles Morales’ sense of humor is so funny – and I think it’s because he reminds me of my dad in many ways when he was younger.
All the stories he would share about awkward social interactions when he was a kid was how I felt when I watched Miles. A little awkward but trying, and then failing miserably when he attempted to ask out Gwen. Or when he starts to sign while on the ceiling of an enemy’s lair – every single time I watch that, I instantly think, “that is me or my dad in that situation, completely.”
He’s just hilarious, in so many ways, especially in the movie, but even in both the 2018 Spider-Man PlayStation game, and its spinoff surrounding Miles Morales, simply called Spider-Man: Miles Morales, he shares his humor in many different ways.
His Ancestry
This might sound silly, but I genuinely love Miles Morales for his ancestry – and that’s because I’m Puerto Rican.
For so many years, it was really rare of me to find a Latino superhero that I really connected with. They certainly existed, such as Mexican superheroes in Marvel, but I never really became a huge fan of any of them because I never felt like I was seen or heard. But with Miles Morales, I feel all of that and more.
He is proudly Afro-Latino, and as someone who has a father who is also Afro-Latino, I can see how much he loves Miles. I understand that if Miles was around when my father was a kid, way back in the 1960s, he would have adored this character even more than probably the more known version of Spider-Man, Peter Parker. Because it’s him on screen. It’s him represented finally in a superhero movie.
And I can’t help but think of all the other little Puerto Rican or African American or both children out there who feel seen by Miles. If my father, who is 61 now, feels this close of a connection, I can only imagine what children nowadays feel. And as someone who hasn’t had the chance to experience accurate representation of Puerto-Ricans in any Marvel cinematic product before Spider-Verse, Miles is a refreshing character – and I truly could not imagine loving someone better.
His Relatability
I think the thing with Spider-Man is that all of us love his relatability. No matter what version, you can’t help but adore Spider-Man because at the end of the day, all any version wants to do is save people and do the right thing. But with Miles Morales, he’s the epitome of relatability.
He’s this young kid who is suddenly saddled with a ton of responsibilities in trying to learn how to properly control his powers. Not only that, but he has to juggle trying to keep his secret safe from his family, and also finds out that his uncle is the very person that his father has been chasing down, the Prowler – that’s a lot for someone to handle, and what makes it worse is that it’s all at a young age.
Truly, even if Miles is going through so much over the top stuff, it’s the smaller things that make him so relatable. Trying to fit in at a new school, to make his family proud, to feel confidence within himself – those are all things that many people have experienced. And I think the reason why so many people love that “leap of faith” scene in Spider-Verse (besides it being absolutely breathtaking) is that it symbolizes all of us.
Sometimes, we are so scared of what might happen in situations that we are unsure of that we refuse to do anything – and then we sit there, wondering what could have been. So instead, we take that leap of faith, and hope that no matter what happens, we will succeed. Miles is all of us when he does that, finally having that confidence to do well. And I can’t help but love that about him.
I’ve been waiting years for this sequel to come out, and you can bet that I am going to be in that theater, the day Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse releases with my father – because I can’t wait to see how Miles’ journey continues. If you’re as excited about Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse as I am, you can buy tickets now. And you can learn a bit more about the movie from AMC Theatres CinemaCon blog post.