Miles Morales Was Never Supposed to Be Spider-Man & Here’s Why

The recent ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse‘ won over the world with its amazing animation, incredible characters, and a storyline that made us yearn for more after the movie ended. The “cursed” cliffhanger made us wait for the new movie coming in 2024, but that doesn’t stop us from speculating about the movie. Of course, ‘Across the Spider-Verse‘ truly opened doors to so many possibilities, and frankly, one has to watch the movie a few more times to detect all easter eggs and plot points. Miles Morales’s origin story in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ got more complicated, which we will discuss in this article.

According to O’Hara and the Spot himself, Miles Morales was never supposed to be Spider-Man – the spider designated for the Earth-42 version of Miles Morales and Peter Parker never bit anyone there, which caused the dark timeline for that universe. In the movie’ Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,‘ Miles Morales got bitten by the radioactive spider from Earth-42 that had been transferred by Dr. Jonathan Ohnn (the Spot). The esteemed doctor worked for Kingpin on the super-collider and transported the radioactive spider from Earth-42 to Earth-1610 – the one that bit Miles Morales.

‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ got us on the edge of our seats at the movie’s end, when we thought that Miles would finally tell his parents the truth about his identity. However, the fact that the so-called “Get Home” device recognized Miles’ DNA as from Earth-42 proves that the young Spider-Man wasn’t supposed to become one – or does it? Let’s discuss this topic further. Of course, beware of spoilers.

How Miles Morales became Spider-Man in the ‘Spider-Verse?

Of course, before we delve into the reasoning why he wasn’t supposed to become a Spider-Man, let’s see how he became one in the first place. In the first movie, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,’ Miles is seen as a young boy who just transferred to the Brooklyn Visions Academy for gifted and talented students.

After ensuring he gets expelled and returns to his old school, Miles goes to his Uncle Aaron to tell him about his problems. Miles mentions a strange girl named “Gwanda” (Gwen Stacy from Earth-65) to his uncle, who provides him with relationship advice and leads them to a secluded subway alley, where the duo creates graffiti.

During their uncle-nephew hangout, Miles is bitten by a strange spider that was in the alleyway behind Uncle Aaron’s apartment (in the comics, the spider was inside Aaron Davis’ apartment.) Later we learn that the research company called Alchemax created this spider. Of course, the spider gives Miles superhuman physiology, power, and abilities, eventually making him a new Spider-Man.

In ‘Into the Spider-Verse,’ we thought that Alchemax created the spider and that Aaron Davis, who was acting under the mantle of the notorious New York villain, Prowler, accidentally brought the spider to his area – or the spider somehow ended up in the alleyway in another way. That is a partial truth since Prowler worked for Kingpin, who hired Alchemax to work on the Super-Collider to access the Multiverse and bring his family back.

However, the ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ movie clears up that particular moment, showing us that the spider isn’t even from Earth-1610, but Earth-42, which was confirmed by the scientist working for Kingpin during that time, Dr. Jonathan Ohnn, known as the villain Spot.

This brings us to the article’s main question – was Miles supposed to become a Spider-Man?

Miles was never supposed to be bitten by the radioactive spider in his universe

The fact that Miles’s story got more complicated in the ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ showcases the great flexibility and depth that could only get better with more plot devices. Of course, the Spot plot makes absolute sense for Miles Morales’ story. The esteemed doctor worked at Alchemax for Kingpin and transported the spider from Earth-42 to Earth-1610, where “our” Miles got bitten by the insect.

This is the film’s main conflict, and why is Spider-Man 2099 so opposed to Miles being part of his Spider-Force – he wasn’t supposed to be a Spider-Man, and he is considered an anomaly.

Now, Miles has become the Spider-Man of his universe after Peter Parker died, but Miguel O’Hara thinks that the teenager is responsible for Peter Parker’s death, and consequently, the dark fate Earth-42 suffered – they didn’t get their own protector of the city since the spider got transported to another reality.

During the Spot’s vision, after Miles is exposed to the villain’s memories, we learn that that particular spider was taken away from the classroom with the Earth-42 version of Miles Morales, which was supposed to bite the teenager, but the scientist transported the spider in the last moment, preventing the “birth” of new Spider-Man.

This is huge since it’s revealed that the absence of Spider-Man on Earth-42 leads to Miles’ father, Jefferson, dying on duty and Miles being mentored by his Aaron Davis under the mantle of the criminal Prowler.

This reveal confirms the notion that Miles Morales wasn’t supposed to be the Spider-Man of his universe and that mantle was designated for Peter Parker only – or was it?

Gwen Stacy’s role in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’ is much more important, and her story proves that Miles becoming Spider-Man didn’t hugely disrupt the Multiverse. Spider-Woman’s situation with Captain Stacy, her father, proves there is a possibility of “canon changes,” but without any fatal consequences. When she learns that her father left his position in the police and will survive, Gwen realizes that Miles, despite the fact he shouldn’t become Spider-Man in the grand scheme of things, Miles as Spider-Man didn’t “break” the timeline or the Multiverse.

She then creates a tag team to help her save Miles from the Earth-42 version of himself and, consequently, save the Multiverse. The movie showcased that although Miles may not have become Spider-Man, he is still important for the Spider-Verse and his own story.

Of course, the continuation of Miles Morales’ story will continue in the third installment of the franchise called ‘Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse’ where we will see the epic fight between the Spot and the rest of the Spider-Verse, and what will happen to our main character, Miles Morales.

The movie wants us to think that Miles wasn’t supposed to become a Spider-Man, but in the end, it will show us that the young teenager deserved it in the grand scheme.

What are your thoughts? Did Miles deserve to become a Spider-Man in ‘Spider-Verse’? Let us know in the comments below.