Spider-Man: 10 Ways Miles Morales Is Eclipsing Peter Parker

When Miles took over as Spider-Man in Marvel's Ultimate Comics series, much of the fictional public's reaction to his appearance dealt with the outpouring of emotion that followed Peter Parker's traumatising death. The very existence of any new Spider-Man at that time was tough for them to take, and Miles had to deal with that.

Now the issues of his ethnicity and heritage are more prominent than ever, as he's getting judged in direct comparison to a Spider-Man that's much more familiar. Obviously each one's identity is secret, but there are already a few events unfolding in Miles' pages where some are starting to discover just who he really is.

In issue two of Miles' new book, his battle-torn suit reveals brown skin and a vlogger shares a video hailing the addition of this "black Spider-Man" to the city. We can expect that this will be the first of many times that the images in the panel will turn a mirror on the real-life debates around many of Marvel's new heroes. Even Miles' own reaction to this even acts to demonstrate his desire not to be defined by his ethnicity, but also his bewildered uncertainty as to whether or not he should so willingly deny who he is. Questions are being asked not just of what the public thinks of Miles, but also what he thinks of himself.

We've talked about Miles' adventures being more relatable than Pete's at the moment, and dealing with very real issues like the perception of ethnicity adds to this in spades.