Miles Morales is one of the main protagonists in Marvel's Spider-Man series. He is a prominent supporting character in Marvel's Spider-Man, and the titular protagonist of the standalone expansion Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. A seventeen-year-old[1] teenager, he is a friend of Peter Parker and the son of police officer Jefferson Davis and councilor Rio Morales. He is also close friends with Ganke Lee, who knows about his secret identity and helps him on missions.
Peter befriends Miles after his father's death, introducing him to the non-profit F.E.A.S.T. shelter so he can serve as a volunteer. Miles is unaware of Peter's secret identity as the masked vigilante Spider-Man, whom Miles idolizes. He eventually gains spider-like powers himself, which he reveals to Peter, who in turn reveals being Spider-Man. Under Peter's guidance, Miles attempts to step up as New York City's next superhero.
In the original game, a pre-spider bite Miles is featured as a playable character during some investigative stealth gameplay portions in the main story. In the self-titled spin-off, he is the main playable character, adopting both stealth and action gameplay mechanics similar to those of Peter's Spider-Man.
History
Early history
Miles was born in Brooklyn, New York City around the year 2003.[1] He was the only son of police officer Jefferson Davis and teacher Rio Morales. Miles developed an inclination for technology at an early age, taking apart his family's TV at the age of five. As a teenager, he and his friends developed a phone app that allowed them to hack into almost any technology, even military-grade equipment.
Miles was close friends with Phin Mason and her brother Rick Mason, as they were passionate scientists. Miles considered Phin to be like a sister to him, and the two were inseparable,[1] creating many inventions that were placed in time capsules across the city. At one point, Phin and Miles developed an energy converted that was featured by Oscorp in their science center. The two were not given tickets to their own exhibition, and were forced to sneak in. After this, Miles enrolled in Brooklyn Visions Academy while Phin enrolled in Midtown High School, leading them to grow apart on account of seeing one another less.[2]
Marvel's Spider-Man
Miles recording the helicopter crash with his cell phone.
During "Straw, Meet Camel", Miles videotaped the battle between Spider-Man and the Inner Demons. Later, when Miles' father Jefferson was killed in a bombing while protecting the gathered crowd during "And the Award Goes to...", Miles crawled through the wreckage. He managed to find his mother, helping pull her from the rubble, and then ultimately find his father's body. While Miles was found by the Inner Demons, Mister Negative decided to spare his life. Miles struggled dealing with his father's death, and at the funeral, brushed off Peter's attempt to console him. Remembering his own experience losing his father figure, Peter had Aunt May reach out to his mother Rio, hoping that working at the F.E.A.S.T. shelter would help Miles process his grief.
Miles worked at the shelter when the prisoners escaped from Ryker's Island and The Raft, helping Aunt May with those sick from Devil's Breath. He became trapped with her inside the building after the convicts set it ablaze, before Spider-Man arrived to save them both. In a twist of irony, Miles then had to save Spider-Man with the help of Mary Jane Watson. Later, while on a supply run for more medicine, Miles came across Rhino and Scorpion of the Sinister Six. His information led to their apprehension after he successfully sneaks away.
Miles reveals his powers to Peter.
While helping out at the shelter later on, Miles was bitten by an Oscorp genetically modified spider that escaped from Norman Osborn's secret lab; it ultimately imbues him with superhuman abilities like Spider-Man.
Miles was seen at Aunt May's funeral after she died from Devil's Breath. He comforted Peter the same way Peter did for him when he lost his dad. After a few weeks go by, he revealed his powers, first to his best friend Ganke Lee,[1] and then to Peter, who in turn revealed his secret identity to Miles.
The City That Never Sleeps
During the three-part story expansion, The City That Never Sleeps, Miles was training to become Spider-Man himself, calling Peter frequently for help with training. While Peter was initially unwilling to let Miles jeopardize his life by following in his footsteps, Miles admitted that he accidentally used his powers to show off in basketball. Promising not to do it again as long as Peter trains him, Miles manages to convince Peter to consider it.
Miles as he appears in The City That Never Sleeps.
Peter eventually did train Miles by the time of the Maggia gang wars in the "Turf Wars" chapter. Bolstered by the newfound knowledge he was learning, Miles contacted Peter asking for hero work. His questions were gently shot down by Peter, who warned him about the responsibility associated with his powers. Not heeding Peter's warning,he tried jumping off of a bridge, breaking his toe in his process. Peter reiterated his previous statement about being responsible and Miles promised to do better. Peter then agreed to meet Miles that weekend for another lesson. At the end of "Silver Lining", Peter taught Miles how to web-swing.
Miles Morales
Around a year after the Devil's Breath Incident, Miles and his mother moved from Brooklyn back to her childhood neighborhood Harlem. Though adjusting to this move proved to be difficult, with Miles frequently stating that he didn't feel very at home there, it put him closer to the action in Manhattan, allowing him to work with Peter. Miles had made his own suit from one of Peter's old suits, a hoodie, a parka, and some sneakers.
During "Hold Onto Your Web-Shooters", Peter contacted Miles while he was picking up food, asking for his help overseeing the transport of a Raft prisoner, Rhino. Miles accidentally released Rhino by throwing the transport cell off balance after latching onto it, following which the two chased Rhino through New York. Eventually, Rhino fought them at a Roxxon energy complex, and beat Peter nearly unconscious. Miles fought Rhino in Peter's stead, running up to him and blasting him with bioelectricity, a newfound power that Rhino was vulnerable to. After defeated Rhino, Miles helped Peter up, and Roxxon executive Simon Krieger arrived to apprehend Rhino and thank them, telling them he expected to demolish the complex anyway. Miles was skeptical, but Peter suggested they leave and let the police do their work. Shortly thereafter, in "Parting Gift", the two shared a pizza atop a rooftop and Peter gave Miles a new spider-suit, before telling Miles he would be leaving for a few weeks, traveling to Symkaria with Mary Jane. Peter wished Miles luck and promised he would be only a phone call away, and also made him take the oath of being Spider-Man: to do everything in his power to protect the city.[3]
In "New Thwip", the nervous but excited Miles called Ganke to show him the new suit. After completing some holographic training exercises left by Peter, in "We're Here For You", Ganke called him about a break-in in the Nuform reactor at the Roxxon Plaza in Harlem. Upon inspecting it, Miles discovered a group of high-tech criminals known as the Underground trying to steal information, and battled it out with them. After returning for dinner, in "La Nochebuena", Rio surprised Miles with a guest at dinner, Miles' old friend Phin, whom he had not spoken to in some time. The next day, Ganke surprised Miles with a new invention, the FNSM App, which allowed people across the city to submit requests for Spider-Man. Miles accepted one of these requests, "Harlem Trains Out of Service", from his uncle, Aaron Davis. While helping reconnecting the New York subway for Davis' job, Miles awkwardly tried to hide his identity in his interactions with his uncle, though after completing the request, Aaron gave Miles a free subway pass with Miles' name written on it, revealing he knew t Spider-Man was his nephew and encouraged him to reach out if he needed help. In "Reconnecting", Miles met up again with Phin where they discussed their science project from middle school, though both suspected the other was hiding something.
In "Time to Rally", Miles returned to watch his mother's campaign rally. During her speech, a member of the Underground calling themselves the Tinkerer hacked the screen overhead and indicted Simon Krieger as a killer, before several Underground members appeared and attacked the armed Roxxon guards present at the campaign speech. Miles fought them off, but head to address an explosion near Braithwaite Bridge as the Underground and Roxxon clashed, Underground trying to steal Nuform. During the battle, Miles saw that the Tinkerer was in fact his friend Phin, and his bioelectricity accidentally mNuform unstable, blowing the bridge. Miles raced to save civilians who thanked him, though Roxxon agents branded him a criminal. Miles stumbled across a new power, biological camouflage, and fled the scene in fear.
Miles returned to Ganke, and the two spent several hours designing a new spider-suit. Peter then called Miles on the phone and offered to fly back and help out, though Miles assured him he could handle it. In "Someone Left the Lights On", Miles visited the Mason repair shop that Phin's family had owned to look for clues, where he learned Rick had died of a disease.Phin's phone in a Roxxon test lab in "Corporate Espionage". He came across another vigilante, the Prowler, who soon after revealed himself to be Miles' uncle Aaron. Davis appealed to Miles to leave, though Miles disagreed stubbornly and continued searching for the phone, with Davis reluctantly helping. Upon acquiring at, Miles saw that Rick and Phin had snuck into the lab to disable Nuform and prevent the illness spreading, but Krieger locked Rick behind and killed Rick with synthesizer. Miles absorbed the energy of the synthesizer onto himself, releasing a giant blast and destroying the lab, and he and Davis escaped.
After leaving, Davis once again expressed concern for Miles, but advised him to join the Underground, lying to Phin, in order to learn more. In "Underground Undercover", Miles followed through with this, as Phin showed him to the Underground's lair, now set up in Fisk Tower. Miles pretended to receive a call from his mother before leaving and donned the spider-suit to sabotage the base, where he learned Phin was attempting to overload a canister of Nuform and create a bomb. In "Curtain Call the city and she apprehended him, but stopped short of killing him after he revealed his secret identity to her. The stressed and weakened Miles met up with his uncle once more in "Breaking Through the Noise", who encouraged him to calm down by getting back in touch with his music hobby and looking for several sound samples that he and Miles' father Jefferson were trying to use back in the day. Miles then told Davis he planned to meet Phin at Trinity to it out, and unbeknownst to him, Davis promptly revealed this information to Krieger but urged them not to hurt Miles.
The next day, in "Tinker Tailor Spider Spy", the two attempted to talk, Phin lambasting Miles for lying and stating she planned to destroy the Nuform reactor to avenge Rick's death, assuring Miles there would be no casualties but that Miles could not stop him. However, the two where then apprehended by a Roxxon-upgraded Rhino. Miles and Phin were taken to a Roxxon lab where Krieger then interrogated them. After Krieger left, Miles as beaten hatefully by several Roxxon soldiers, though this allowed him to gather more energy for a venom blast to knock them out. Miles and Phin then snuck out of the facility, and along the way, Miles saw that Aaron Davis, as the Prowler, had been working for Krieger, and deduced that his uncle had betrayeand Miles continued to cooperate, though Phin was agitated by Miles' dishonesty and wished to part ways with him for good. Upon reaching Krieger's personal lab, Miles found damning evidence of Nuform's toxicity and downloaded it, saying he could use it to take down Krieger. The two were then ambushed by Rhino once again, Miles unable to his his venom blasts against Rhino's new Roxxon armor, until he tore the armor apart and beat him. He then saw that Krieghad changed the specs on the Nuform reactor and that blowing it would destroy Harlem. After taking it to Phin, he saw her stabbing Rhino after Rhino antaonized her over the death of her brother, and attempted to pull her off of him. In frustration, Phin beat him and refused to listen to him about the reactor. Miles appealed to her one last time by stating they were family, though Phin did not returning his words, stating her family was dead.
The profoundly injured Miles returned to Ganke, who brought him back to the apartment, where Rio learned of his identity. Miles filled Rio in entirely and told Rio he did not want her to worry about him. Rio assured Miles she would never stop loving him, and said he reminded her of his father. Ganke and Rio then made a plan to evacuate Harlem in the event of the reactor explosion, while Ganke deduced that Phin was most likely at the Oscorp exhibition hall where they had shown off their energy converter. On the way there, in "Thicker Than Blood", Aaron Davis, as the Prowler, tranquilized and imprisoned Miles. Aaron stated he was working for Krieger and doing all this for Miles' safety, as he could not afford to, Miles rebutted in anger, saying it was his job to help people no matter the cost. Miles eventually defeated the Prowler, and Aaron made one final appeal to Miles that they were family and he did not wish to lose touch with Miles as he had lost touch with Jefferson. Miles told him that being family was no longer enough and that he would never turn his back on people when needed, and left to continue searching for Phin.
In "Like Real Scientists", at the center, Miles reminisced about the time there with Phin for the exhibition of their energy converter. After finding Phin using the energy converted to destabilize the Nuform, Miles appeal to Phin one last time, before a battle ensued as Phin left for Harlem to carry out her plan. In "The Battle For Harlem", Miles fought several Roxxon soldiers at the Roxxon Plaza while Rio and Ganke tried to evacuate Harlem, with Aaron arriving as the Prowler last minute to help Miles and urge him to do what he needed to do. Miles then rushed towards Roxxon Plaza where he fought Phin, who was still consumed by rage and believed Miles was lying to her.
Following a lengthy battle with Phin, Miles removed his mask, as its heads-up display was too damaged for him to see properly, as he webbed Phin to safety. Phin apologized to Miles, and Miles tried to absorb its energy into himself with no other way to stop the reactor. This caused him intense pain and brought him close to death, though Phin used her surviving technology to launch herself and Miles into the air, at a safe distance, and urged Miles to let go. This released the reactor's energy in a colossal explosion in the sky, causing Miles to fall unconscious while Phin was gone. Rio, Ganke, and several Harlem residents all saw his face, with Rio assuring Miles that everyone was safe. The Harlem residents passed Miles his mask so he could hide from reporters, as the residents simply told reporters "he's our Spider-Man".
Weeks after the fact, Miles became much more accustomed to his life in Harlem, after Aaron Davis revealed the damning evidence on Krieger, leading to Krieger's arrest. Peter, returning from Symkaria, remarked that he liked Miles' new suit, and told him that some parts of the job become easier, while others remain difficult. They agreed to add to the Spider-Man oath that no one would ever go unchecked, and after hearing sirens, the two jumped into action shortly after.
Characteristics
Appearance
Miles is a teenager of African-American and Hispanic descent. He is of average height and weight, at 5'8" and 140 lbs respectively,[1] and shares many facial features with his father. He has short black hair with thick eyebrows. A year after gaining his powers and being trained by Peter, Miles becomes lean and muscular as a result of his training. Outside of his spider-suit, is usually seen sporting either a hoodie and T-shirt combo or a blue parka as seen in "Supply Run". During the winter time, he wears a hoodie and red jumper, as well as a pair of headphones.
Personality
Miles is smart and passionate, committed to put others before himself. He has a love of science, which he got from his mother, making inventions since he was young, and during his early years focused on academic success.[1] Miles is also a lover of music, mixing beats as a hobby with his uncle when he was younger.[1] Miles is sociable around crowds, as even when he struggled to fit in after moving to Harlem, would often start conversations with those he came across on the street. Though many of his acts are selfless, Miles is partly driven by low self-confidence in his own abilities, feeling smaller than he is.
Since becoming Spider-Man, Miles is extremely eager to help others. This is as much to his credit as it is to his detriment, as he will often put himself in grave, life-threatening danger, in his quest to protect his friends and those he cares about. This went up to the point of absorbing energy from the Nuform reactor even if doing so could kill him. Miles is driven both by admiration for his late father, as well admiration for Peter Parker. Miles credits his father for teaching him right from wrong, and was greatly affected by his loss, while he looked up to Peter Parker as Spider-Man from a young age before knowing his secret identity.[1] Early on, Miles had little confidence in his own abilities, wondering in his own bio if he is "really a hero, or just a kid playing pretend", though he later came to love being Harlem's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.[1]
Miles is also very stubborn about his beliefs in right from wrong, which sometimes puts his relationship with others at risk. With his close friend Phin, whom he originally saw as like a sister to him, and with his uncle Aaron whom he looked up to as a "cool uncle", Miles eventually fought them both after failing to appeal to their better judgment, but forgave them later.[1] Miles also has admiration for those close to him, being committed to protecting his mother and looking out for his friend Ganke, whom he believes does not give himself enough credit for his great work. This also extends to Peter, who he views as a "kind, dorky dude" outside of the spider-suit, and who he looks up to.[1] While Miles struggled to fit in in Harlem at first, he grew to love the community.
Powers and abilities
Miles displaying his superpowers.
As Spider-Man, Miles has access to most of the same powers as Peter Parker's Spider-Man, with the additions of bioelectricity and camouflage. He possesses similar Spider-Man physiology as Peter, as seen in his superhuman strength (seen when he pulled together a falling bridge[4]), agility, and durability (seen when he can survive being thrown through walls). He also maintains the ability to wall-crawl across and adhere to most surfaces, a superhuman reflexes that allow him to dodge attacks. Miles was trained to use these abilities by Peter Parker during The City That Never Sleeps. Though Miles uses a different set to Peter, he has proficiency in a variety of gadgets including the Web Shooter.
Miles learned his unique abilities during the events of Miles Morales. His bioelectricity powers give him control over the natural electricity his body produces. He uses this for offensive techniques, which he and Ganke dub as "venom" attacks, though he is also capable of absorbing huge amounts of energy. His greatest feat was seen in his ability to absorb the energy from Roxxon's more powerful Nuform reactor, though doing so brought him near to death before eventually releasing this energy. Miles' other most notable ability is optical camouflage, allowing him to blend into his surroundings and appear invisible, improving his skills in infiltration.
Outside of his Spider-Man powers, Miles has other abilities stemming from his own intellect. As a mere teenager, he was able to create an energy converter with Phin Mason, which was featured in an Oscorp assignment. Miles also designs and develops his own suits and equipment with Ganke. With Peter, Miles demonstrates his ability to solve complex math problems quickly, which comes in handy while using his gadgets. Miles is also proficient in three languages: English and Spanish, which he is fluent in, and American Sign Language, a work-in-progress.[1]
Original appearance
Miles Morales was introduced in the Ultimate Universe, and was later introduced to the prime Marvel universe. The character's first appearance came in Ultimate Fallout #4 (August 2011).