Highlights
- Miles Morales, the star of the Spider-Verse movies, is more popular than ever and fans are eager for his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Tom Holland's Spider-Man 4 would be a good opportunity to introduce Miles Morales as a supporting character, with Holland retaining the lead role as Peter Parker.
- While fans currently get to see Miles shine in the Spider-Verse movies, it would be a shame if his cinematic adventures ended there, making it important for filmmakers to handle his live-action introduction correctly.
The Jon Watts Spider-Man trilogy is in the can, giving longtime fans of Peter Parker a new perspective on the character. All three movies served as a modified adaptation of the character's origin story with the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home leaving Peter Parker alone in Manhattan as the wall-crawling hero. There's a ton of potential for the world of MCU's Spider-Man to expand. A slew of heroes and villains stand ready to make their MCU and even live-action debut.
One such character is Miles Morales, the star of the Spider-Verse movies. He found his way into a trilogy of animated movies and the Spider-Man video games, the next logical destination is a live-action movie. Tom Holland's Spider-Man 4 would make for a decent introduction to the character.
Spider-Man 4 Could Introduce Miles Morales
Miles Morales is more popular than ever with audiences. Whether fans knew about the character from the comics or they weren't introduced to him until Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Miles has become an even bigger fan-favorite than his comic book premiere. It makes sense for Kevin Feige to push for his live-action debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Spider-Man: Homecoming revealed that Miles exists within the MCU when it introduced Donald Glover as Aaron Davis and he mentioned his nephew.
If there's ever a time for Miles to debut in the MCU, working alongside Tom Holland's Spider-Man in his fourth installment, it's now while his popularity is at an all-time high. Miles is even a playable character in the Playstation Spider-Man: Miles Morales game. By the time Spider-Man 4 hits the big screen, Holland's Peter Parker has operated as Spider-Man for several years with experience working on his own and in a team setting. Now he's on his own in the Big Apple with a dumbed-down spider suit (compared to his Stark suit) with plenty of knowledge to impart to Miles.
It's uncertain how long Holland intends to remain in the MCU, so it would be smart of Marvel to plan for his eventual departure by introducing his potential replacement.
Miles Morales Would Have to be a Supporting Character
Undoubtedly, Holland will remain the star of the next Spider-Man movie, and fans will finally get to see him be the Peter Parker they know and love from the comics where he doesn't rely on a mentor for help with every little problem. Spider-Man: No Way Home showed audiences more of that and went one step further by showing him take on more of a mentor role, taking the lead in his trio of Spider-Men.
Marvel could introduce Miles in any number of ways, but all indications point to Tom Holland retaining the lead role. Disappointment would follow if director Jon Watts teased fans with a comic-accurate Spider-Man at the end of Spider-Man: No Way Home only for Marvel to dismiss Tom Holland from the role in the very next film. More than disappointment would follow, in fact. Absolute carnage would flood Marvel's social media accounts.
That leaves Miles in a supporting role. The last time a Spider-Man debuted in the MCU as a supporting role, the movies glossed over his entire origin story. Instead, it took an entire trilogy to show Spider-Man's origin, which is creative and refreshing but not the same. Peter deserved better than that, and Miles deserves better than that. Fans deserve to see Donald Glover return as Aaron Davis and steal the newly created formula that leads to Miles getting Spider-Man's powers.
Tom Holland himself said in an interview with Inverse:
I would be honored to bring Miles Morales into the live action world. How we do that, I don’t know, but given the opportunity, I would jump at it.
The idea is out there and may very well happen. It's just a matter of filmmakers handling it correctly.
Miles Morales Already Gets to Shine in the Spider-Verse Movies
For now, fans get to see Miles front and center in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse with Beyond the Spider-Verse set to premiere sometime in 2024. Into the Spider-Verse showed an exciting and personal origin story for Miles Morales. The writers and directors did an amazing job, giving everyone a taste of a little bit of everything from the Spider-Man mythos. Balancing an ensemble cast with notable talents such as Hailee Steinfeld, Jake Johnson, John Mulaney, and Nicholas Cage while keeping Miles in the forefront is no easy feat. Lightning struck twice too when Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse premiered, expanding on the world established in Into the Spider-Verse.
The writers showed equal care to the more personal coming-of-age story about Miles being a teenager and Spider-Man evolving as a hero in Across the Spider-Verse. Despite having people to learn from like the other Spider-People, Miles even comes off as a capable and competent hero. Since it's an animated series, the animators got to have fun with the cinematics and really let loose, giving audiences a visually stunning film that emanates with comic book roots.
Miles encountered a lot of hate from Miguel O'Hara in Across the Spider-Verse, echoing comments from Miles' debut in Ultimate Spider-Man penned by Brian Michael Bendis. Just as he became favored amongst comic book fans, Miles has also become a household name for moviegoers. It would be a shame if his cinematic adventures ended with the Spider-Verse trilogy.
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse is slated for release sometime in 2024.