*Miles-related spoilers, including for Across the Spider-Verse.*
Oh, so much to love about Miles. After rewatching Into the Spider-Verse and seeing the new movie in close succession, I have all the feels about this kid. He fully is Spider-Man, every bit as much as Peter Parker is. But to paraphrase Frank Sinatra, he’s doing it his way.
Pre-spider-bite, Miles isn’t really much of a “Peter,” not in the classical nerd sense. He’s super into music and artwork, which he graffities onto walls where (he hopes) his cop dad won’t find it. But that doesn’t exactly make him cool or chill. He’s at a new school and nervous about it, not sure he can fit in at a fancy private school and missing the friends from his old one. He’s easily embarrassed, and while he’s eager to prove himself in some areas, he’s anxious to fly under the radar in others.
In short, he’s a teenager who’s still figuring out who he is and dealing with all the weirdness that comes with that. Getting bitten by a radioactive spider is the absolute last thing he wanted on his to-do list, and he freaks out at his new powers.
Or rather, he freaks out when he’s alone. His universe’s Spider-Man has just been killed, but as another pops up thanks to a multiverse-bending collider event, Miles immediately gloms onto the new Peter as a would-be mentor. He peppers Peter with all manner of eager, sometimes annoying questions, begging to be taught the ropes of being a Spider-Man.
Discovering even more Spider-Folks from various universes makes Miles feel even less alone, but at the same time, it can make him feel insecure and inadequate. Because Miles is often scared, he can forget how brave he really is, and his rookie mistakes and fumbles make him fear he can’t do anything, especially when he compares himself to other, more experienced superheroes.
I love how human Miles is. This is a Spider-Man who really does feel like a teenager, which is partly why he (and Tom Holland’s Peter Parker) hits the mark so authentically for me. He screws up. He panics and makes bonkers decisions during stressful moments. He sees the consequences of his mistakes and feels them hard. In Across the Spider-Verse, he texts his parents while trying to nab a bad guy, insisting to them that he’s totally on his way to an important meeting at school. He does rash things and tries too hard. He doubts whether he can do this.
But the beauty of Miles Morales is that he keeps on doing it. He keeps on trying. In the first film, when the other Spider-Folks agree he’s too green and not ready to help them shut down the collider, he steals himself and finally takes the leap of faith he’s been holding back from all movie. In the second, when Miguel tries to tell him that there are certain immutable facts of Spider-Folks’ lives that cannot be changed, certain lives that cannot be saved, Miles refuses to accept that as inevitable. He finds the inner strength to go against the entire Spider Society, including the friends he dearly missed, for the sake of what he believes is right.
He's often in over his head and unsure of himself, but he is still such a hero. Across the Spider-Verse leaves him in pretty dire straits, but I just know that, in the third film, he’s about the show everybody just what he can do.
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