Miles Morales Should Skip His MCU Spider-Man Origin Story (Like Peter)

While it's practically inevitable that Miles Morales will join the MCU as Spider-Man at some point, there's a very real question of how to do that effectively. Even outside of the MCU, the character has proved tricky in the past, with multiple different tellings of his donning the mantle across different mediums. There are only a handful of truly consistent details found in every iteration, with others being added or discarded entirely to give the character more personality. So it's entirely possible that the MCU could continue this trend of tweaking Miles to suit the story they want to tell. However, there's another possibility that the MCU may actually be wise to take.

Despite a long journey to get there, Miles Morales has managed to become a beloved character in the eyes of many. After his inception in the comic Ultimate Fallout #4, and his subsequent adventures as the new Ultimate Spider-Man, Miles drew some criticism for not really setting himself apart from Peter in any meaningful way, following many of the exact same character arcs and story beats. This changed over time with newer writers and the move into a new universe with much of his supporting cast. Then the overnight success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse made Miles a household name.

If and when the MCU properly introduces Miles as the new Spider-Man - or even just a second Spider-Man - they need to completely avoid his origin story. It's already a method they took with Peter, never showing the radioactive spider-bite or the death of his Uncle Ben, choosing to introduce him a few months into his web-slinging adventures. It was a move that avoided several of the pitfalls and headaches that would have come from a decision to do otherwise and could spare Miles the exact same troubles tenfold.

One of the recurring criticisms of The Amazing Spider-Man - particularly for those who'd already seen the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy - was that it made fans sit through Peter Parker's origin story for a second time. Thanks to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, this is a mistake that Miles's introduction to the MCU proper could likewise make. The recency of that film, as well as the upcoming Spider-Verse sequels, means that if Miles does appear in the MCU anytime soon, and is treated to another telling of his origin story, it could result in the exact same criticism and eye-rolling.

There is also the risk of undermining the entire arc of the MCU's Peter Parker. Across the three main iterations of Miles's origin story - the comic, Sony's Spider-Man video game series, and the Spider-Verse franchise - two of them revolve around Peter's death. At this point in the MCU's lore, however, that would render much of Peter's MCU arc moot. Especially considering the aftermath of Spider-Man: No Way Home. For Peter to have lost and given up so much, on top of only just now truly coming into his own as Spider-Man, abruptly killing him off before there's a real opportunity to see him operate in his new status quo would mean his story would be stopping, rather than ending.

It wouldn't even be difficult to skip over Miles's origin, as the MCU already has a major hack to introduce the character without it: the multiverse. With the multiverse card ready to play at any time from both the MCU and the Spider-Verse films, there's no reason to have to do Miles's origin again. Even the comics jumped on this, transplanting him from the Ultimate Universe to the mainline 616 Universe after the Secret Wars event. The MCU could do something similar, thus having the character appear for the first time, meeting Peter, and conveying the important story beats to him without audiences having to sit through them again. If and when Miles comes to the MCU, they'll hopefully take notes from their handling of Peter and he will make as big of a splash as his own animated movie did. Until then, however, fans can next expect to see him in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Next: Spider-Verse 2: Why Spider-Man 2099 And Miles Morales Will Fight