Across the Spider-Verse: Miles Is Spider-Man, and You Have to Accept That

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse cleverly confronts the Miles Morales hate from “fans” that claims he “is not my Spider-Man.”

I left Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse (ATSV) the same way I entered: gitty, shaking with excitement, and ready for more. The sequel to the critically acclaimed animated masterclass Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (ITSV) is receiving just as much, if not more, praise than the original. In one fan’s opinion, rightfully so. The sequel evolves nearly every component of the original; from animation to dialogue, from character work to comedy, ATSV carries just as much heart, passion and emotional power as the first. However, what has somehow continued to follow the Spider-Verse saga, and Miles’ character as a whole, is the insistence that he is “not my Spider-Man” by fans disguising racism under the innocent veneer of fan ownership and “character authenticity.” 

The movement, taken online by the hashtag #notmyspiderman, was born alongside Miles. When making his first appearance in August of 2011 as the new face of the Ultimate Spider-Man series, fans were outraged. Looking at The Atlantic article “The Backlash to the Backlash of a Multiracial Spider-Man” published the month of Miles’ introduction, author Erik Hayden contextualizes the situation. “The announcement was seemingly treated as evidence of a creeping multicultural agenda…by the time the The Daily Mail raised questions about whether a new Spider-Man could be gay and Media Matters caught big-Spider-Man-fan Glenn Beck tenuously linking Morales on his radio show to a Michelle Obama remark, the apparent backlash was in full force.” Looking at comments on news articles covering the shift in super-hero status quo only proves this assessment. “Usual PC crap… When are these stupid people going to realise how many people they actually alienate with this PC nonsense?? Anyone who jumps on the PC bandwagon loses any trade from me.” says one commenter on the DailyMail covering of the story, “Marvel comics are obviously out to commit financial suicide by their pathetic attempt at social engineering. Spider man has always been Peter parker. If they want to create a latino teen superhero, then they should create a new superhero character.” posits another. And of course, there’s always the blunt one: “It really seems as if the media and the politicians want to stamp out white people at all costs.”

“Does it really?” I would have to reply to the person claiming the white face of a still running sixty year long comic series is facing a threat to his position of power. These assertions are obviously ridiculous, with many of the commenters exposing their own laziness when assuming Miles was replacing Peter, when in reality, Miles was taking the position of a dead Spider-Man in an alternate universe…where that dead Peter still came back alongside Miles for a time, all while the main Marvel Universe Peter was still the flagship hero everyone knows and loves. Even racists.

  Having never known peace, Miles’ reinsertion into the mainstream with ITSV in 2018 and ATSV in 2023 has similarly re-agitated these arguments. Blatant racism against the hero with #notmyspiderman can be found easily in any social media space or online community, and while that noise has certainly dulled over the years, it is stunning to think that fans are still upset about having a black superhero at the forefront of a film. The creators clearly think so as well.

Narratively and thematically, ATSV works against the not-my-spider-man narrative. ATSV picks up a year after the first with Miles as the one and only Spider-Man…outside of the secret Spider society consisting of thousands of Spider-People, all working together to stop multiversal threats, including the impending existential crisis manifested/Miles’ new arch nemesis: The Spot. While advancing the narrative, ATSV ensures audience satisfaction by evolving the thematic discussion just as much. ITSV already acted as a seething thematic opposition to the movement. The culmination of Spider philosophies boiled down to Miles’ quintessential message as a hero: “anybody can wear the mask.” It was a declaration that Miles, being a minority hero facing systemic oppression both on and off the page, delivers with effortless style and heart. Watching ITSV is only as heroing of an experience as it is because of Miles’ persistence that he can wear the mask despite the entire world telling him to take it off. Peter says he’s not ready, commenters say he is PC propaganda, and Miles ignores it all. The film cements this metatextual declaration to its audiences with ending the film on Miles, confidently swinging through New York as he spreads his message to the hundreds, thousands of different faces dotting the city streets. Launching himself into the air for a dazzling wide of the New York skyline represents all of the heroes that can wear the mask. He plummets into a match cut bringing us to his bedroom. Miles collapses in his den, a coy smile as if aware of his targeted audience, and states “I am Spider-Man.”

And yet, it wasn’t enough. Only days after its release and I still see stubborn man-children refusing to accept representation. Many of these arguments disguise themselves as “concerns for the characters integrity,” as if, again, the main hero of a sixty year long comic with a finger in every aspect of pop culture, as well as the face of an entire comic book industry, 1) is in dire threat of being misrepresented by modern writers, or 2) needs defending from an overly sensitive twitter user. Claims of protecting the legacy of “the OG Spidey” will always be the face of these thinly veiled arguments that are just an excuse for racist viewers to deploy their harmful and reductive beliefs from the safety of fandom. Be warned, these are not not Spidey fans, they are fans of the status quo; the normativity that says only white people can act as representations of power, responsibility, or any other positive trait associated with super-heroics. This is doubly proven by the fact that if they were fans of Spider-Man, well, they have the clearest distillation of the character yet in Miles Morales.

A common complaint following the film a few days after release, one that often overlaps with the anti-Morales morons, is that a Spider society filled with Peter’s would never agree to Spider-Man 2099’s plan. “It’s too sinister”, “they’re not looking out for the little guy,” or in other words “they’re not Spider-Man.” The reason for the overlap is thus revealed: both parties hold strong sentiments to the monolithic traditional Spider-Man; one who is Peter Parker, and by extension, a straight white male who is always willing to sacrifice anything for the right cause, someone who is virtuous in their efforts 110% of the time, someone who will always try to save as many as they can despite the literally existential odds. In this way, yes, these Peter’s aren’t Spider-Man…because they’re not Peter. The film opens with what felt like fifteen minutes spent on Gwen, Peter B. (the original Spider-Man surrogate) does not appear until deep into the second act, and as if I even need to say it, the movie is about Miles; just because Peter Porker sounds similar to Peter Parker doesn’t mean this pig just magically turned human. Yes, Spider-Man is a character of the people, he has been around for dozens of years inspiring thousands and impacting millions. But, does that mean the audience then gets to dictate every incarnation of the character? If that was the case, we would be missing out on rich, vibrant, impactful stories like Spider-Verse. Miles encapsulates the notion of Spider-Man as the every man, the one that anyone can aspire to, and in that way he harkens back to the character’s origins. From the first pages of Amazing Fantasy, Spider-Man was always meant to be, first and foremost, relatable. So, speaking to the anti-Morales crowd, would it not be more encapsulating of the hero's fundamental aspects if they did take on different identities? If there are different Spider-People? The idea of Peter Parker as a monolithic, godly hero in his morals is antithetical to Spider-Man, just as much as a Spider society would be against the voluntary disintegration of entire dimensions. And that is the genius of ATSV; it directly confronts the discussions of audience ownership and the acceptance of diversity not just in super-hero media, but film and television as a whole by presenting Miles as the true hero in a legion of the multiverses finest.

Let me ask, out of all of the Spider society, who is the one person to act against the grain? Who is the hero that finds fault with letting down the little guy despite the clear moral dilemma? Who acts as the moral high ground that Spider-Man is supposed to be? In other words, out of an infinite amount of Spider-People, who is the most “Spider-Man” in accordance with the anti-Morales crowd’s favorite talking points of character integrity and tradition? Exactly. Miles Morales is Spider-Man because he has the beliefs that best align with the character’s past. If Spider-Man fans claim that Miles isn’t their Spider-Man, while wailing about how ATSV presents Spider-People that don’t align with the heroes traditional beliefs, then there is either a gross misunderstanding of the film and Miles’ arc on a fundamental level, or an exposure of their true complaints: that a black character is in a position of power. 

Miles encapsulates the character in its most essential ways. Indepence, responsibility, balance, righteousness, brutal sacrifice, commitment to his own beliefs, and always doing what he thinks is right, even if the odds are ten million Spider-People to one. By reminding us of the core of Spider-Man, Miles becomes Spider-Man… but that claim doesn’t give Miles enough credit. Leaving it at “Miles is Spider-Man because he clearly aligns with the character’s values” would only bring us back to the reductive view of the hero, that the only “correct” incarnation is that which aligns with tradition. ATSV knows this and chooses to go further during its chaotic chase scene between the society and Miles, where 2099 diminishes Miles much like the rest of the world. In response, Miles calmly, coolly “does things his own way” by literally and figuratively shocking 2099, sending him flying while Miles makes his escape, his escape to help millions of people at the cost of his own well being who will never know it was him that saved countless lives. If that isn’t Spider-Man, I don’t know what is.

Meaning, ATSV presents Miles as the Spider-Man not because just he best aligns with traditional versions of Peter Parker, but because he chose to follow his own path when the same Peter went down another. The film positions the endeavor against the Spider society as, while one that would make sense for anyone with “Spider” in their name, as uniquely and definitively Miles’ choice. Now, there is no argument, Miles is Spider-Man, heroes can be anyone. And if you’re not a fan of that, well, you’re just not a fan of Spider-Man.