Yes, Miles Morales’ Dad Died! Here’s What Happened

Mainstream comics and other fictional media love making their superheroes suffer, especially when it comes to their origin stories. One of the things most characters have in common is death in the family, mostly bad childhoods and deceased parents. Peter Parker lost his parents at a young age, and the death of Uncle Ben propelled him to become the protector of New York. On the other hand, Miles Morales lives in a loving family with his parents Rio and Jefferson, in Brooklyn, New York, but Marvel’s Spider-Man game showed us the death of Miles’ father, Jefferson Davis. This article will explain the context around Jefferson’s death in the popular Sony game.

Jefferson Davis indeed dies in Marvel’s Spider-Man game. In the game, Officer Davis helps Peter Parker’s Spider-Man apprehend the Inner Demons members attempting to steal the equipment at the shipyard owned by Wilson Fisk. Jefferson Davis becomes the city’s hero, and Mayor Norman Osborn presents him with the medal at City Hall. However, Inner Demons, led by Mister Negative, arrive at the venue with explosives and detonate them in the crowd. Jefferson pushes the bomber out of the way and dies in the explosion. 

We will discuss this topic by mentioning the context around Jefferson’s death in Marvel’s Spider-Man, did Miles lost his dead in Marvel Comics, and if Jefferson returns in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. If you are interested, stay with us until the end.

Jefferson Davis dies in Marvel’s Spider-Man game

We already mentioned that most superheroes have tragic backgrounds that propel them toward a heroic lifestyle. Of course, Batman is the most famous example of a tragic backstory, and Spider-Man from Marvel is in the same boat. Specifically, Peter Parker is an orphan whose parents die and leave a young boy to Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

Peter Parker’s parent’s faith was unknown until it was revealed that they were killed by one of the personalities of Red Skull. Marvel Comics extended their characters more during the 1990s; Peter Parker is mostly known as an orphan raised by Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

However, one of the biggest tragedies of the character is the death of Uncle Ben, which propels Peter to really dedicate himself to Spider-Man and the superhero lifestyle. The tragic backstory of Peter Parker is pretty well known to casual audiences as well. Still, in 2011, the alternate version of Spider-Man, an Afro-Latino teenager from Brooklyn, Miles Morales, was created.

Besides being the alternate version of Spider-Man, Miles Morales also lived in New York but in a healthy household, meaning that both of his parents were alive. Rio Morales is Miles’ mother, a passionate and loving nurse who cares for her family in the best way possible. Miles’ father, Jefferson Davis, is a police officer of NYPD who always puts his family first. Miles was always supported by his parents, even when he became Spider-Man.

Of course, the Spider-Verse event, among other things, made Miles Morales and his family part of Earth-616, with slight changes to their backstory. The changes mostly apply to Miles’ parents not knowing about Miles’ secret life.

Yes, other adaptations retold Miles’s story, and one of them is Marvel’s Spider-Man, a PlayStation exclusive from 2015. The game revolves around Peter Parker’s story, but Miles Morales is also part of the universe. In one particular mission in the game, Spider-Man stumbles upon a shipyard owned by Wilson Fisk, where members of the Inner Demons gang try to steal the equipment.

Jefferson Davis, the officer in NYPD, helps Spider-Man apprehend the criminals and becomes the hero of New York City. Mayor Norman Osborn decides to award Jefferson for his honorable work for the city at the special event. Proud family members, Miles and Rio Morales, support their father and husband in the audience, while Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson also attend the event.

Things go awry when Peter senses that Inner Demons infiltrated the venue and, most importantly, that Deputy Mayor is one of the members trying to detonate the bomb and kill everyone. He tries to intervene, but it is too late. Unfortunately, Jefferson sees something is wrong and pushes a rogue Deputy Mayor out of the way, saving everyone but dying in the process.

This sequence of the game briefly guides us through the perspective of Miles, who finds his mother in the rubble and continues to look for his father. In the emotional scene, Miles escapes the criminals and finds his deceased father, who died as a hero of New York City.

The scene cuts to Jefferson’s funeral, where distraught Miles stands above his father’s coffin while saddened Rio talks with Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson.

Jefferson died as a hero in Marvel’s Spider-Man game, and the recent release of the remastered game on PC and consoles enhances this moment even more.

Did Jefferson ever die in Marvel Comics?

Now, we know that Miles’ father died in the Spider-Game game, so the sequel of the game, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, doesn’t have Jefferson’s character.

What about comics? Despite the game going for the traditional tragedy of the superheroes, this isn’t the case in the comics. Jefferson is well and alive, although he does have close calls, especially with ending up in a different universe, which leads to Miles and Gwen trying to bring him back.

Jefferson never truly dies in the Marvel Comics canon, but another important character in Miles’ life does – his mother, Rio. Before the soft remake of the character’s backstory and the Secret Wars event that brought the Morales family and other characters to Earth-616, Miles Morales was a Spider-Man on Earth-1610, where Rio discovers her son is a superhero.

However, in the event where Venom wreaks havoc, Rio is accidentally shot by NYPD, and before she dies, asks Miles to take care of his dad and keep his superhero persona a secret. Miles is devastated, but Secret Wars undoes this moment and revives Rio in the new continuity.

Marvel’s Spider-Man is a great game, and its sequel Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, is also amazing. Jefferson Davis dies of heroic death in the first movie, so he isn’t present in the second game. Jefferson’s death made sense in the context of the game, but what makes Miles different from the rest of the heroes is his loving family, and hopefully, it stays that way in the comics and Marvel Cinematic Universe.