Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales was announced a few months ago (here you can find ours special about it) during the presentation conference dedicated to PlayStation 5 with a very short clip. The new branded title Insomniac Games it then returned to show itself during the second conference dedicated to the new Sony home console, where we could see the title in action with a full-bodied gameplay video. The work, out on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 on November 19th, does not represent in all respects a direct sequel to Marvel's Spider-Man seen on PlayStation 4, but it should be seen as a commercial operation similar to what was done in 2017 with Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, which is a stand-alone expansion whose breadth is very close to that of a full title.
The protagonist of this spin-off will be Miles Morales, which we have come to know in recent years both thanks to the same Marvel's Spider-Man of 2018 and the incredible animated film Spider-Man: a new universe. Born from an idea of Brian Michael Bendis with drawings by Sara Pichelli in August 2011 in Ultimate Comics: Fallout # 4, the character with the passage of time began to enter more and more in the collective imagination, almost like the much more famous Peter Parker. Waiting for the arrival in the stores of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, let's see together which are the stories to read absolutely to better prepare.
The death of Spider-Man and the advent of Miles Morales
Miles Morales, before moving on to the classic print Marvel universe of Earth-616, made its debut in the "late" Ultimate universe in the title Ultimate Spider-Man. The Ultimate narrative line, which takes place in the universe of Earth-1610, featured the same classic Marvel characters but in renewed, youthful but at the same time adult guises. Among the various narrative versions there was obviously also that of Peter Parker, protagonist of the aforementioned Ultimate Spider-Man magazine for 160 releases.
The narrative arc of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, however, ended with the sad death of Peter Parker, who despite everything did not leave a void in the Ultimate universe, given that shortly afterwards to collect the legacy of the wall climber there Miles Morales, a young African-American boy of Puerto Rican origins who lives in New York, thought precisely. Thus was born the magazine Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man. The series tells the origins of the "new" Spider-Man Miles Morale, son of Rio Morales e Jefferson Davis, who after being admitted to the Brooklyn Visions Academy he is bitten by a genetically modified spider during a visit to his uncle Aaron Davis.
Numbers:
- Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates # 1 - Part One of Six
- Ultimate Spider-Man # 153 - Death of Spider-Man: Prelude
- Ultimate Spider-Man # 154 - Death of Spider-Man: Prelude
- Ultimate Spider-Man # 155 - Death of Spider-Man: Prologue
- Ultimate Spider-Man # 156 - Death of Spider-Man, Chapter 1
- Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates # 2 - Part Two
- Ultimate Spider-Man # 157 - Death of Spider-Man, Chapter Two
- Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates # 3 - Part Three
- Ultimate Spider-Man # 158 - Death of Spider-Man, Part Three of Five
- Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates # 4 - Part 4
- Ultimate Spider-Man # 159 - Death of Spider-Man: Part 4 of 5
- Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates # 5 - Part 5
- Ultimate Avengers vs. New Ultimates # 6 - Part Six
- Ultimate Spider-Man # 160 - Death of Spider-Man: Part 5 of 5
- Ultimate Fallout # 1 - Chapter One of Six
- Ultimate Fallout # 2 - Chapter Two of Six
- Ultimate Fallout # 3 - Chapter Three of Six
- Ultimate Fallout # 4 - Chapter Four of Six
- Ultimate Fallout # 5 - Chapter Five of Six
- Ultimate Fallout # 6 - Chapter Six of Six
Ultimate Spider-Man No More
In the end, every superhero is called upon to face a moment when he feels the need to confront the problems of his life with respect to those deriving from the "great powers". Bendis and Marquez with the comic run Spider-Man No More, in addition to resuming the same dynamics that occurred in the same cycle of stories starring Peter Parker, they deepened even more the figure of Miles Morales, even managing to keep him out of the superhero circle for over a year.
This narrative cycle has allowed the character to obtain greater maturity and awareness, in full tradition with the figure of Spider-Man. With great powers comes great responsibilities, but from great powers also arise big problems, and after being able to find himself during his "hiatus," Miles is back in Spider-Man shoes with a renewed purpose (and with new allies).
Numbers:
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 23
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 24
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 25
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 26
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 27
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 28
Venom War
Venom he was long associated as Spider-Man's antagonist before becoming a full-fledged anti-hero who occasionally helped save the world from greater threats. While not that directly related to Miles Morales, Venom has crossed paths with the young superhero in both the character's original Ultimate Universe and his subsequent integration into the main Marvel Universe.
Specifically, in the Venom War story, the symbiote (in the Ultimate universe born in the laboratory) binds to the employee of the Roxxon Conrad Marcus, who tries in vain to control the entity's murderous rampage. Venom, convinced that the new Spider-Man is Jefferson Davis, Miles' father, decides to track down and kill the man, but in the crossfire between him and Miles Morales, Rio Morales, the superhero's mother, is killed. This is precisely the event that prompts Miles to say goodbye, temporarily, to wall-climbing clothes.
Numbers:
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 19
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 20
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 21
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 22
Spider-Men
As previously mentioned, Miles Morales' Spider-Man was born with the intention of replacing the void left by Peter Parker in the Ultimate universe, a narrative cue also taken from the aforementioned Spider-Man: a new universe. The two superheroes, before living together on Terra 616, had the opportunity to meet in the comic miniseries Spider-Men, which sees the two wall climbers as protagonists.
Bendis and Pichelli teamed up for this special five-issue miniseries that laid the foundation for the bond the two superheroes share even today. After some initial conflict, the two reunited to deal Mysterio. This relationship of "mentor and pupil" was also echoed in Marvel's Spider-Man and in the DLC, and who knows if in a Marvel's Spider-Man 2 we will be called to control both by retracing this narrative cycle in part.
Numbers:
- Spider-Men # 1
- Spider-Men # 2
- Spider-Men # 3
- Spider-Men # 4
- Spider-Men # 5
Prowler
From great powers comes great responsibilities, great problems… but also big bad guys. Because every superhero is not a superhero without one Nemesis to counter it, and this also applies to Miles Morales. The cycle of stories Prowler introduced what is on balance the main villain of Miles' Spider-Man, who turns out to be the aforementioned uncle Aaron Davis.
This story puts a solid foundation on Miles Morales' narrative universe, letting us know more about his world, his family and his ideals. A story arc that we would like to see already addressed in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. Prowler, also conceived by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Sara Pichelli, outside of comics he appeared in the animated film Spider-Man - A new universe, voiced by Mahershala Ali.
Numeri
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 6
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 7
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 8
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 9
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 10
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 11
- Ultimate Comics Spider-Man Vol 2 # 12
