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- “Okay, let's do this one last time, yeah? For real this time. My name is Miles Morales. I was bitten by a radioactive spider. And for like two days, I've been the one and only Spider-Man. I think you know the rest. I finished my essay. I saved a bunch of people. Got hit by a drone. Met my roommate finally. Slapped a sticker where my Dad's never going to find it. And when I feel alone, like no one understands what I'm going through, I remember my friends who get it. I never thought I'd be able to do any of this stuff. But I can. Anyone can wear the mask. You can wear the mask. If you didn't know that before, I hope you do now. 'Cause I'm Spider-Man. And I'm not the only one. Not by a long shot.”
- ―Miles Morales[src]
Miles Morales is the protagonist of Sony Pictures Animation's 2018 animated feature film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and its 2023 sequel. He is a young teenager and a Brooklyn native. He's a bright kid who's been thrust into a new school and is having a hard time adjusting to this new environment. But he's having an even harder time adjusting to his entirely new and unexpected life as a Spider-Man. With the help of some surprising new friends, Miles learns to unlock the hero inside himself.
Background[]
Personality[]
Miles is a social and assertive teenager who is very popular in his neighborhood of Brooklyn. He is a promising kid with massive potential, who just wants to be normal, but often does amazing things while trying to avoid the spotlight. This is evident by him trying to get himself kicked out of his exclusive boarding school by intentionally failing a science test. He is a nice and friendly teenager, as he enjoys making his friends and family laugh. He also has a habit of making jokes whenever he is in an awkward situation. Miles has a big interest in hip hop and graffiti cultures, constantly stamping his art around Brooklyn as self-expression and an expression of love for his city.
While initially hesitant to become a superhero like Spider-Man, Miles accepted his role as New York's protector after witnessing Peter Parker's death and being inspired by Mary Jane Parker's speech. However, despite already intrinsically knowing his responsibility, Miles found himself struggling to jump into action and controlling his abilities due to fear. It wasn't until his uncle's death and his father's words that he was finally able to take a leap of faith and gain the confidence and mastery of his powers. After defeating the Kingpin and saving the city, Miles began to embrace his role as the new Spider-Man.
Like the other members of the Spider-Gang, Miles can be very stubborn. When he realized the stakes of the other spiders being in his universe, he was extremely determined to keep his universe's Peter Parker's promise to shut down the collider, despite not being fully experienced. He was also unwilling to let Peter B. Parker stay in his universe to shut down the collider, even going far as to stealing the USB and tripping him over, even impressing Peter himself.
Physical appearance[]
Miles Morales is an African-American/Hispanic teenager with a black Spider-Man suit with red lining and a red spider symbol on his suit's chest.
Powers and Abilities[]
- Spider Physiology: Due to being bitten by a genetically altered spider, Miles possesses the proportionate powers of a spider; such as superhuman strength, speed, agility, etc. He can also cling to solid surfaces and has a "spider-sense", which alerts him to danger.
- Superhuman Strength: Possessing the proportionate strength of a spider, Miles can harm opponents that can knock them out such as Kingpin. He was also able to crack a boulder in two by slamming his fist into it.
- Superhuman Speed: Possessing the proportionate speed of a spider, Miles is able to transverse at high amounts of speed while running, as well as traveling while web-swinging.
- Superhuman Agility: Possessing the proportionate agility of a spider, Miles is able to perform acrobatic and gymnastic moves, such as high jumps, somersaults, flips, etc. While running on the sidewalk and into the road, Miles could land on his feet without harm once he was ran over by a car.
- Spider-Sense: Miles possesses precognitive danger senses, as he is able to quickly dodge any form of attacks just after sensing them. It also helps him identify if he is close to someone with similar spider powers.
- Wall-Crawling: Miles is able to stick or grip onto any surface, much like any spider would; by using his fingertips and feet.
- Camouflage: Miles can camouflage himself, making him effectively invisible to the human eye.
- Venom Strike: A form of directed energy that can be conducted through Miles' hands and can be used against an opponent at a distance, by conducting it through a material in which both Miles and his opponent are in contact, managing to knock out Peter Parker himself.
Appearances[]
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse[]
Miles Morales is a teenager with an affinity for spray-painting who lives in Brooklyn, New York, where the city is protected by the beloved vigilante Spider-Man. Miles won a scholastic contest which enrolled him in Brooklyn Visions Academy, though in spite of this, he was reluctant to leave behind his friends and his old school where he was very popular. His reluctance surrounding his new school occasionally put him at odds with his father. After a while, school begins to stress Miles out, which causes him to visit his paternal uncle Aaron Davis. Aaron leads him to an abandoned subway terminal, which serves as a canvas for Miles to freely graffiti and express himself as a way to release stress. While in the subway, Miles is bitten by a genetically-modified spider labeled "42" which he quickly smacks and kills.
During the following day, Miles undergoes a bizarre series of changes, including a growth spurt and the ability to adhere to materials and surfaces. He has an awkward encounter with a girl he has a crush on at his new school who claims to go by "Gwanda" when he accidentally gets his fingers stuck to her hair and she has to shear part of it off. He also finds that he can walk on walls and the ceiling. When he returns to his dorm room, he finds a comic book owned by his roommate which shows the origin of Spider-Man after he is bitten by an irradiated spider and begins to experience similar things to Miles.
Determined to prove to himself that he has not developed the same powers, he revisits the subway terminal where the spider bit him and finds that the spider exhibits bizarre traits even after its death. Surprised and confused, Miles is suddenly drawn to a mysterious subterranean lab where the Kingpin is trying to operate a particle collider to open a wormhole to another universe. There to stop him is Spider-Man, who fights off Kingpin's goons, including the Green Goblin, Tombstone, and Prowler. In the midst of the fight, Spider-Man rescues Miles, who has fallen into the particle collider. Finding that Miles is like him, Spider-Man offers to train him if he sticks around, but Spider-Man is later badly beaten by the Goblin, who collapses part of the collider on the two of them, trapping Spider-Man. Miles goes to rescue Spider-Man, who tells him not to worry because he always gets back up. He then hands Miles a flash drive which can shut down the particle collider and tells him to do that while he distracts the villains. Miles goes to leave, but then witnesses Kingpin brutally kill Spider-Man out of rage at something he said.
Horrified and in shock at what he saw, Miles flees (with Kingpin sending Prowler after him) and returns to his home instead of his dorm room, where he spends in the night. He overhears a news report detailing the death of Spider-Man, whose real name is revealed to be Peter Parker, a 26-year-old grad student married to Mary Jane Parker. News of the death of the beloved Spider-Man spreads throughout New York, and Miles, ridden with guilt, buys a Spider-Man dress-up costume and attends a speech by Mary Jane, where she states that everyone is Spider-Man in the end, which Miles takes to heart, as he has the potential to carry on Peter's legacy.
Later on, Miles attempts to master his new abilities but fails, damaging the flash drive in the process. He visits the grave of Peter Parker, but is approached by a man wearing web-shooters and a Spider-Man suit. After inadvertently electrocuting the man, Miles drags him through the city using his webs until they manage to get to safety in an empty Aaron's apartment. Once he regains consciousness, the man introduces himself as Peter B. Parker, an older, more jaded, and apathetic version of Miles's Spider-Man. Peter explains that he was universe-displaced by the particle collider and exhibits the effect of "glitching," which causes him pain. When Miles reveals that he has a way to destroy the collider with the flash drive, Peter steals the drive from him and leaves, but returns when Miles guilts him into training him as his Spider-Man promised he would.
Peter takes Miles to the advanced technology and research company Alchemax in order to download information about the particle collider, where they are soon found by Dr. Olivia Octavius, whereupon Miles turns invisible, another unique ability of his, and, unable to gain access to Octavius's computer, steals the computer and monitor outright and flees. Octavius captures Peter, revealing herself to be this universe's Doctor Octopus. Peter temporarily battles her off and he escapes into the woods with Miles, where Miles receives an impromptu web-swinging lesson using one of Peter's web-shooters.
While Miles struggles to master the art of web-swinging, Peter fends off attackers. Miles eventually gets a hang of web-swinging and Peter catches up to him, but their escape is interrupted when Peter experiences another "glitch," which Octavius previously explained would continue to happen as long as he was in Miles's universe until he slowly and painfully disintegrated atom by atom. Octavius manages to capture the two of them, but they are quickly rescued by another universe-displaced Spider-Person, who introduces herself as Spider-Woman and reveals herself to be none other than Wanda, whose real name is Gwen Stacy.
Gwen takes Miles and Peter to the house of Aunt May, which both Peter and May find difficult as Peter's Aunt May has already passed away and May's nephew of this universe has recently been killed. May leads the three Spider-People to the late Peter Parker's secret bunker, where they are introduced to the universe displaced Spider-Man Noir, SP//dr, and Spider-Ham. The group decides to put an unwilling Miles's spider abilities to the test, but are disappointed when they find that he has mastered almost none of them, including his unique bioelectric and invisibility abilities. The group then assembles without Miles and formulates a plan to engineer a new flash drive to shut down the collider, with Peter B. Parker volunteering to stay behind to shut down the collider once the others have returned home. Miles is upset by this, stating that he belongs in the universe where they are and that he should be the one to send them all home and shut down the collider so Peter doesn't have to die, but his plan is shot down because he is viewed as an inadequate member of the team, and not yet a competent Spider-Man.
Pressured and alone, Miles leaves the bunker and visits his Uncle Aaron's apartment, only to find it empty. The window is soon opened by the Prowler, however, causing Miles to hide. Prowler searches the apartment but fails to find his target, as Miles turns invisible out of fear. The Prowler receives a phone call from Fisk, whereupon he unmasks and reveals his identity to be Aaron himself, terrifying the invisible Miles, who flees the apartment noisily. This draw Prowler's attention, who gives chase until the pursuit causes a car accident, allowing Miles to get away.
Miles returns to May's house, where he alerts the other Spiders to Prowler's identity. Peter instantly asks Miles if he has been followed, to which he responds that he doesn't know. Unbeknownst to Miles, however, Prowler has assembled several of Kingpin's other goons, including Octavius, Tombstone, and Scorpion and trailed Miles to May's house. The other Spiders and May work together to battle off the intruders while Miles retrieves the newly created flash drive, after which he flees to the roof. He intercepted by Prowler, however, who moves to kill him, but not before Miles can unmask himself. Horrified and ashamed to see that he has been hunting his own nephew, Aaron pulls down Miles' bask down to hide his identity and lets him go, but is quickly shot by an enraged Fisk. Miles panics as his uncle bleeds out and Peter, who witnessed the act, encourages Miles to escape, which he does.
Miles swiftly transports a mortally wounded Aaron to an alleyway, where Aaron apologizes to Miles and encourages him to keep doing what he knows right before dying his nephew's arms. Officer Jefferson Davis soon turns up to the scene and witnessing the figure dressed as Spider-Man kneeling over Aaron's body, assumes the figure to be his brother's killer. Jefferson tries to force the young man, not knowing his identity, to surrender, but Miles turns invisible and runs away. Jefferson then puts out an APB on the new Spider-Man.
Miles returns to his dorm room at the Visions Academy and is approached by the five Spiders, who are preparing to launch their attack on the collider. Miles insists he should be the one to shut down the collider, which Peter refuses. Miles protests this, causing Peter to restrain him. Peter tells Miles that if he can activate his bioelectric ability or invisibility on command then he will let him go, but Miles proves unable to do either. Peter webs Miles up and gags him while the other five Spiders depart for Fisk's building.
While Miles is bound and gagged, his father knocks on the door, wanting to speak to Miles about recent events. Miles is unable to answer, which his father takes to mean that Miles is still upset with him. Jefferson apologizes for the things he had said and done before, and tells Miles that Aaron has been killed. When he receives no reply, Jefferson simply apologizes again and tells Miles that he is proud of him before leaving. Inspired by his father's words, Miles manages to build up enough energy for a bioelectic blast and frees himself from his restraints.
Miles returns to the bunker where May is expecting him. Here, he takes one of Peter's old classic suits and spray paints it black, then uses red spray paint to recolor the lens frames and make his own spider logo and designs. Miles then tests out his abilities in the city and feeling confident that he is ready to become Spider-Man, takes the 'leap of faith' that Peter had described to him earlier. Now a competent Spider-Man, Miles travels to the collider and joins in the fight with the other Spiders.
Miles manages to send all the other Spiders home, with Gwen promising that they would find a way to keep in touch. Miles also encourages Peter to take a leap of faith back in his own universe. Miles then sends Peter home and fights an enraged Wilson Fisk throughout the collider. Fisk eventually manages to beat Miles down, but Jefferson Davis, who has arrived and seen the new Spider-Man fighting Fisk, realizes that Spider-Man is not the enemy, but an ally, and encourages him to fight back and beat Fisk. This gives Miles the strength to perform another bioelectric blast, called a venom blast, and incapacitate Fisk. Miles then manages to shut down the collider and end the battle.
When Fisk is arrested, Jefferson thanks the new Spider-Man for his efforts and wishes him well. Miles, as Spider-Man, goes on to gain the public's approval, becoming New York's new beloved vigilante. Miles also formerly introduces himself to his roommate at the Visions Academy, including showing him his powers. As Miles prepares to go to sleep one night, a small portal opens and he is greeted by Gwen from her universe.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse[]
Sixteen months later, Miles has been protecting Brooklyn as Spider-Man.
One day, during his patrols, Miles comes across a burglar known as the Spot. The Spot revealed to him that he used to be an Alchemax scientist who was transformed into his current form due to the destruction of the Collider in the previous movie. He then also revealed that the radioactive spider that bit him was due to his experiments into Earth-42. Miles escapes from the Spot after the latter accidentally kicks himself into his portals.
Miguel reveals that Miles is the original multiversal anomaly destablising the Spiderverse, since he was never meant to become Spider-Man, and the Peter Parker of his Earth wasn't meant to die, also the radioactive spider that bit Miles was from Earth-42, which meant that that particular Earth never gained its own Spider-Man either.
Relationships[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- He is the first-ever portrayal of Miles Morales in film.
- He shares some similarities with Shinjiro Hayata.
- Both are Teenage Students balancing their superhero careers, although Miles goes to Boarding School rather than High School.
- They are predecessors of well-known heroes (Miles is the predecessor of Spider-Man (Peter Parker) and Shinjiro is the predecessor of Ultraman, His dad, Shin Hayata.)
References[]
External links[]
