After a year and a half since the first look teaser came out in December 2021, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse has finally been released in theaters. And to no one’s surprise, it’s one of the best movies to come out this year. Not only that, but it’s one of, if not the best-animated movies of all time right next to Into The Spider-Verse. But everyone going into this movie is expecting that. I’m not saying anything new. I want to take this time to talk about how this movie further solidifies that Miles has been and always will be Spider-Man. No matter what.

Ever since the character’s creation back in 2011, there has been a loud minority preaching about how Miles isn’t really Spider-Man. This mentality had grown after Into the Spider-Verse came out in 2018. People were furious that Miles took up the mantle both in the original comic run and in the movie to be Peter’s successor after he dies. Long story short, they believe that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and Miles Morales isn’t, for reasons (mostly racist) that don’t make any sense. Miguel O’Hara, or Spider-Man 2099, is the perfect allegory for this entire mentality. In the movie, it’s revealed to the audience that the spider that Miles got his powers from during Into The Spider-Verse was never supposed to bite him. It wasn’t originally from his Earth; that being Earth 1610. The spider came from Earth 42, hence why it had the number 42 on it. Miguel is the person to tell Miles this during an intense chase scene where he’s trying to stop Miles from saving his father. And the thing that stuck out to me during this entire sequence was the way Miguel tries to invalidate Miles being Spider-Man. He repeatedly calls Miles an anomaly. While lunging for Miles and violently slamming him onto a moving train he calls Miles a mistake. He blames the death of Earth 1610’s Peter Parker on Miles, saying “If you hadn’t been bit, your Peter Parker would’ve lived. Instead, he died, saving you!” Then he tells Miles, “You don’t belong here. You never did.” 

On the ride home after seeing the movie, I didn’t know why I couldn’t stop thinking about that last line and Miguel saying that Miles was a mistake. Then I realized that it’s what people who don’t like Miles say about him all the time. They constantly try to invalidate Miles as Spider-Man because they don’t like seeing an Afro-Latino Spider-Man in comics and mainstream media. They feel like he doesn’t and never did belong there. But this is where Miles shines the best in my opinion, both in the movie and in real life when it comes to people invalidating him as Spider-Man. Through it all Miles as a character is still able to overcome the hate that comes his way and is not only made into a better hero, but a better character. Just in the past couple of years alone, Miles was the main character of 2 of the best animated and comic book movies of all time, he’s had so many amazing books come out, my favorites being written by Jason Reynolds, and he’s gotten his own video game made by Insomniac, the studio responsible for making Marvel’s Spider-Man. Likewise in the movie, Miles manages to outsmart not only Miguel, but hundreds of other spider-people going after him in order to try and save his father, proving that he is and always will be worthy of being Spider-Man. That’s one of the reasons why I love Miles so much. He doesn’t feel like he has to prove he’s Spider-Man because he knows that he is. No one can take that from him. Anyone, no matter their race, gender, or sexuality, can wear the mask. The only thing that matters is that you help people who need it and do what is right. 

Now, while I compared Miguel and his actions to many of the Miles haters in the world, that doesn’t mean I think he’s racist in any regard. But what he’s saying has very heavy racial undertones that are very hard to miss if you look close enough. I love Miles Morales. He’s my favorite superhero of all time and the first superhero I could actually relate to. Across The Spider-Verse just made me love him even more and I can’t wait to see how this story concludes in Beyond The Spider-Verse. Miles Morales is and always will be Spider-Man. And no one, not Miguel or any toxic fans, can ever take that away from him. 

What do you Blerd out about?

Video games, animation, Marvel movies,

Blerd Community Post Submitted by:
Andrew Blakey