Superhero Origins: Miles Morales

The Origins of Miles Morales

Heroes may die, battles may end, but legacies are forever. Welcome to WatchMojo.com and today we’re exploring the origins of Miles Morales.

Miles originally hails from Earth 1610, the alternate version of the Marvel Universe seen in the now-defunct “Ultimate” line of Marvel Comics. The idea behind the Ultimate Universe was simple: present new, updated versions of Marvel’s most important characters that were younger, cooler, and not bogged down by a half-century of continuity to confuse new readers. For fourteen years and 200 issues, the Ultimate Universe’s Peter Parker navigated the worlds of super-heroics and high school before tragically dying in his final battle with the Green Goblin.

But Peter was far from the Ultimate Universe’s only spider-empowered teenager, and before long a new web-slinger could be seen fighting crime in the streets of Manhattan. This new Spider-Man was Miles Morales, a mixed-race teenager from Brooklyn blessed with similar spider-abilities.

This came about thanks to Miles’s uncle, Aaron Davis, who moonlit as a master criminal called The Prowler. When Aaron broke into the abandoned Oscorp complex, a specimen from the same batch of genetically altered spiders that gave Peter his abilities snuck into his bag. Later during a visit to Uncle Aaron’s apartment, this spider bit Miles, granting him abilities similar to Peter’s, but with a few added bonuses.

In addition to the strength, agility, spider-sense and wall-crawling that Spider-Man is known for, Miles also gained two additional abilities: the power to camouflage himself and his clothes and become invisible for brief periods of time and a “venom blast” that can incapacitate foes, even causing any superhuman abilities they possess to short-circuit.

Following the death of Peter Parker, Miles realized that a Spider-Man-shaped hole had been left in New York and set out to continue Peter’s mission of using his powers for good, taking to the streets with a spiffy new costume and a pair of genuine web shooters supplied by Nick Fury and Peter’s female clone Jessica (long story, don’t ask).

But the Ultimate Universe couldn’t contain Miles for long. Miles first came face-to-face with his mainline Marvel Universe counterpart in the first genuine crossover between the Ultimate Universe and the regular Marvel U when the two teamed up to battle Mysterio. As it turned out, the Ultimate Universe’s Mysterio was, in reality, the regular Marvel Universe Mysterio, projecting his consciousness into a remote-controlled body from across the dimensional divide.

The two Spider-Men parted ways, but would soon meet again when the Spiders of many universes teamed up to battle The Inheritors, a race of energy vampires that fed on the energies of those touched by the mystical Spider-Totem.

Miles’ adventures in his home universe continued as the young hero grew into his own as a crimefighter. At one point following the death of his mother, he even took part in the sacred Spider-Man tradition of swearing off crime fighting with a dramatic “no more!” before returning a year later. Miles and a number of other young heroes would even go on to form a superhero team called The Young Ultimates.

But the Ultimate Universe’s days were sadly numbered. When the Ultimate Universe and its mainstream counterpart collided in an event known as the incursion, the heroes of both universes found themselves in a hellish amalgam universe known as Battleworld, where Doctor Doom reigned as God-Emperor. Following a massive battle for the future of the Marvel Universe, a new Earth was formed that retained elements of the regular Marvel Universe and its Ultimate Counterpart. Now Miles, as well as his friends and family, are a part of the mainstream Marvel Universe, with only Miles retaining his memories of his old world.

He’s still got a lot of learning to do when it comes to web-slinging, but this young crimefighter has proven time and again that he’s got what it takes.