10 Times Miles Morales Spider-Man Totally Outdid Peter Parker

8. Part Parents, Part Spies, All BAD

Okay, hear me out here. No Superhero needs parents who are spies. Now I can hear you all typing in the comments already, but hold on. Isn’t one of the reasons we relate to Superheroes (especially to Spider-Man) the fact that they are normal people, aside from their super selves. Of course, comics are full of exceptions, but at least in the case of Miles Morales and Peter Parker, being an everyday kid is part of the appeal.

We got a different backstory in The Amazing Spider-Man and its sequel from 2012 and 2014 respectively. Based on the story hinted at in Spider-Man’s original 1960’s run, we saw Peter’s entire motivation as a hero change from being the Friendly Neighborhood SuperHero to unraveling the mystery of his spy parent’s treason.

Miles Morales’ story deals with this in a much better way. Directly after taking the mantle of Spider-Man, Miles is contacted by Nick Fury who informs him of his father’s double life as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. While this certainly makes more sense in Miles' story, especially with the origins of The Prowler being tied to S.H.I.E.L.D, it still takes away some of the relatability of the Miles Morales character.

Thankfully, future Miles Morales writers have recognized this and gone to great measures to fix it. In the video game title Spider-Man on PS4 and its Miles Morales sequel, Jefferson Davis is not a spy but a police officer. The same alteration was made for Into the Spider-Verse. Even in the comics, Jefferson has decided to take a step back from the spy world to spend more time with his family. Where I’m from we call that growth and character development. Something the Peter Parker spy parents storyline failed to provide.