Set in the shared Marvel Universe, it follows on from the 2018 series of the same name. Miles is a mixed-race Hispanic and African-American teenager, he's a student at the Brooklyn Visions Academy, and his parents and best friend already know about his secret identity. Miles's life is in a very different place to Peter Parker's - and that's true regardless of whether it's compared to teenage Peter or his modern life.
That doesn't mean it's easy, of course. Fighting supervillains isn't always compatible with classes and exams. And even when Miles isn't looking for trouble, it seems that trouble is actively looking for him.
The first issue was released December 7, 2022.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales (2022) provides examples of:
- 11th-Hour Superpower: In the climax of his final battle with Rabble in Issue #5, Miles channels his bioelectricity to form a Laser Blade with Absurd Cutting Power, which he uses to slice through Raneem's swarm of Attack Drones like a hot knife through butter.
- '90s Anti-Hero: Giant Size Spider-Man (2024) features Miles being forced to fight Dylan Brock/Venom VI to prevent him from slaughtering an entire warehouse full of small-time gunrunners led by Black Obsidian. While Dylan goes full throttle into the "Lethal Protector" persona, ranting about how Black Obsidian and his men deserve to die for getting an innocent family killed while they were warring with a rival gang, Miles refuses to buy into any of the Anti-Hero's rhetoric while pointing out how even his predecessor Eddie came to realize how woefully misguided that mindset is. Subverted near the end of the issue, where its revealed that it was the Venom Symbiote itself that was falling back on bad habits again and that Dylan was desperately trying to claw back control before they killed someone.Venom: If you want to save lives, you'll stay out of our way. We made peace with the other Spider, but we have no qualms with putting you down.Spider-Man: Killing is easy. Saving everyone? Now, that's the hard part. If saving lives were easy, everybody would be Spider-Man! But its not easy. You don't save a person by killing someone else! You may be lethal, but until you understand that, you'll never be a true protector!
- Automated Automobiles: In the first issue, at least some of the police (PDNY) are in Roxxon smart cars when responding to the Scorpion's bank robbery. One unfortunate officer is forced to jump from his car after the autopilot engages in error.
- Big Damn Reunion: While the Gang War in Brooklyn makes circumstances far too hectic to properly catch up, Miles still goes out of his way to give Ms. Marvel a bear hug while they were both infiltrating Hobgoblin's HQ, absolutely ecstatic that she's alive and well...while sarcastically throwing some shade at Kamala over how she died for the other Spider-Man, of all people.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Trial By Spider Arc ends on a mostly positive note. Miles successfully defeats Raneem before she could kill any of his loved ones and manifested a brand-new power in order to do so. But Raneem did get away with firebombing his house and swears to dedicate every waking moment of her life to making Miles suffer. Fortunately, Misty provides the Morales family a temporary property to stay while their home is being rebuilt and officially takes on Miles as an intern at her Detective Agency. Also, Agent Gao shows up to Mac Gargan's prison cell, intending to recruit the villain for a major operation.
- Boxed Crook: Agent Gao's Cape Busters include numerous supervillains that Gao's men have dirt on. In exchange for reduced sentences, the crooks are required to help Gao with police work and subduing targets, be they supervillains or superheroes. Her crooks include the Scorpion, Hightail, and Lady Electro.
- Boxing Lessons for Superman: Miles' repeated traumas over the past two comic runs has left his Spider-Sense on the fritz. To compensate for this and handle his new Venom-Saber power, Miles spars with Misty Knight and Colleen Wing to be more aware of his surroundings and deal with his foes more creatively.
- Brutal Brawl: Whereas Saladin Ahmed's run was defined by fleshing out the titular wallcrawler's personal life via the Wake Up, Go to School & Save the World trope, Cody Ziglar's self-admitted mission with this run is to put Miles through the wringer by forcing him to fight tooth-and-nail against an increasingly dangerous set of adversaries, all with the goal of making this Spider-Man step up his game.
- The first villain Miles throws down with is Rabble, a powerful Technopath who is hellbent on killing Miles and his entire family over a petty vendetta. Their final fight is a Battle in the Rain that culminates in both opponents being bruised, battered, and on the verge of exhaustion. The stress of the situation also results in Miles manifesting a brand new superpower.
- Almost immediately after Rabble, Miles was thrown into a bloody rematch against Cletus Kasady, a nigh-invulnerable Ax-Crazy Humanoid Abomination currently in the possession of Tony Stark's Extrembiote. Miles is bitten, sliced up, and impaled through the chest, all while trying to bring Cletus down by any means necessary.
- His battle against Hobgoblin after the events of Carnage Reigns didn't ease off the breaks either, as the accumulated trauma from all of his previous battles has resulted in Miles being unable to rely on his Spider-Sense. So Miles is forced to go blow-for-blow with Kingsley, and eventually ended the fight by breaking Kingsley's ribcage with a Diving Kick to the chest, complete with a X-Ray of Pain panel!
- Brutal Honesty: When Miles implies that he usually follows Peter's Indy Ploy style of approach to both crimefighting and life in general, Misty Knight doesn't mince words to him on how they don't have the luxury as black folk to just go with the flow and stresses to Miles that they need to have a plan for everything — even if that plan might be a bad one, which she self-deprecatingly admits to having plenty of.
- By-the-Book Cop: New character Agent Gao is the leader of a PDNY tactical unit who has very little tolerance for Miles and his vigilante escapades, partly because he's in direct violation of the Powers Act. While she allows him to slip away from an active crime scene after saving a civilian from being ran over, Gao makes it painfully clear to Miles that she will do everything in her power to put him in cuffs if she catches him in the streets again.
- The Cavalry: Starling, Shift, and Ms. Marvel arrive at the end of Issue #14 to help Miles in his fight against Prowler and the Enforcers during the Gang War event. Ms. Marvel being a particularly special case out of the lot as this marks the first time Miles and Kamala have seen each other since the latter's resurrection in the third Hellfire Gala.
- Cape Busters:
- Agent Gao and the men under her command are specially equipped to combat and apprehend supervillains. Just to drive home how good they are at their job, Gao was able to take out an upgraded Scorpion in a single hit, who at the time had both Miles and Misty Knight on the ropes.
- During Cletus Kasady's latest rampage, Gao decides to deploy the Cape Killers: a Thunderbolts-esque team of supervillain convicts she has personally enlisted to provide backup for her men in times of exceptional crisis. Their roster is currently made up of Scorpion, Taskmaster, Electro II, Hightail, and Gust.
- Characterization Marches On: Under Brian Michael Bendis' pen, Miles used to be irritated by the idea that he would always be seen as the "Black Spider-Man" and couldn't begin to understand why somebody like Danika Hart would make such a big deal about him being a person of color. Under Ziglar, Miles is far more proud about his heritage and outspoken about the unique struggles he faces as a young black man in America. He's also more than eager to team-up with Misty Knight on a case they're both investigating simply because he thought it would be cool to finally work alongside another black hero for once.
- Chronic Villainy: Discussed. The last time they fought one another, Miles had assumed that the Bumbler heeded his ultimatum to give up being a supervillain and get another hobby that doesn't require breaking the law. So when Miles catches Bumbler trying to pull off a heist, his disappointment is palpable.Spider-Man: I can't believe I'm going a round two with you. Thought we ended last time on such a good lesson!Bumbler: Street life is hard! I needed the money!Spider-Man: Damn, that's a shame.
- Commonality Connection:
- Played for Laughs in Issue #10, Where Miles quickly picks up on Hightail's choice of Spanish phrases and asks if she's Boricuanote . When Hightail clarifies that she's actually Dominican, Miles can't stop himself from teasing her over it.note Unfortunately for him, Hightail is not amused.Spider-Man: Wait. Hol' up... "Arañito?" Boricua?
Hightail: Dominicana.
Spider-Man: Shame. Our mofongo's better—
Cue Hightail giving Miles the Mother of all Death Glares. - In Issue #17, Kamala strikes up a friendship with Shift over their similar shapeshifting powers. She tries to mentor him on how to his size to be less frightening to others and encourages him when he's struggling.
- Played for Laughs in Issue #10, Where Miles quickly picks up on Hightail's choice of Spanish phrases and asks if she's Boricuanote . When Hightail clarifies that she's actually Dominican, Miles can't stop himself from teasing her over it.note Unfortunately for him, Hightail is not amused.
- Crossover:
- Had a major one with Carnage (2022) in the form of the Carnage Reigns storyline.
- Issue #10 sets one up with Blade (2023), where Miles teams up with both the titular Daywalker and his daughter/protégé Bloodline to deal with a new supernatural threat lurking in Brooklyn.
- Beginning with issue #12, Miles will begin crossing over with Amazing Spider-Man for Gang War (2023).
- Didn't Think This Through:
- Miles attempts to get into the Bar with no Name without even bothering to conceal the fact that he's a teenager. He's subsequently laughed out of the bar when everyone inside points at the "No minors" sign.
- Agent Gao is so incensed by Miles after the events of Gang War (2023) that she strikes a deal with Rabble to "prove" that the Supers of NYC can't be trusted. She then hands out collars to her Cape Killers that are supposed to let them use Uninhibited Muscle Power so long as they're active despite the Cape Killers themselves pointing out how bad of an idea that is. Predictably, Rabble hacks these collars and the Powered Armor she gave Gao to mind control them all and use them as weapons and hostages against Miles and his team.
- Disappointed by the Motive: Miles and Tiana balk when they learn that Rabble's vendetta against him and Spider-Man is because Miles won the lottery she wanted to use to get into Brooklyn Visions. The heroes are dumbstruck by Rabble's sheer pettiness over something that isn't even Miles' fault. Tiana in particular has zero sympathy for Rabble given that she came from similarly troubled circumstances but isn't out to murder people over losing a raffle.
- Enemy Mine: With Cletus Kasady on the loose and more powerful than ever courtesy of his Extrembiote, Agent Gao reluctantly decides to take Scorpion's advice and forcibly enlist Miles to help her take down Kasady before anymore innocent lives are lost. Happens again during the Gang War event, where Gao allows Scorpion and Gust to help Miles apprehend Hobgoblin...but not before taking Misty and Colleen into custody since Mayor Cage didn't explicitly deputize the duo to shield them from the Power's Act.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Miles is absolutely furious and heartbroken to see that his Uncle Aaron has broken bad again as the Prowler and is working with Hobgoblin during the Gang War event. While Aaron claims to have his own reasons for putting on the mask again, Miles just becomes even more determined to beat some answers out of his Uncle if he keeps refusing to elaborate on why.
- Exposed to the Elements: Subverted. While fighting Frost Pharaoh's Humongous Mecha, Miles' teeth chatter and he complains that he's freezing in his superhero tights as the mecha's Freeze Ray is cold enough to freeze Miles' web-shooters shut without even hitting him. He's grateful for Misty's offer of hot chocolate and the time Misty and Colleen buy him to let his web-shooters warm up.
- Freudian Excuse Is No Excuse: Tiana Toomes has absolutely no sympathy for Rabble and her revenge plot, rightfully calling out how her trauma doesn't give her an excuse to inflict it on others, especially when the target of her wrath (Miles) isn't to blame.
- Friendly Enemy: After teaming up to take down Cletus Kasady during the events of Carnage Reigns, Miles has become Fire-Forged Friends with Mac Gargan of all people. Even when being forced to follow Gao's orders to apprehend Miles, Gargan constantly reiterates to the wallcrawler that its Nothing Personal on his end and even admits that he likes Miles way more than his predecessor for what its worth.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: In Issue #10, Miles reflexively uses his new Venom-Saber power to attack someone who tries to pounce on him from above. He's briefly horrified when he winds up chopping both of his assailant's arms off, only to calm down when he realizes that the other person is a vampire who can easily heal wounds like that.
- Hero Insurance: Discussed. Agent Gao asks if Spider-Man busting Scorpion is really worth all the collateral damage when all the money is insured by the bank along. Miles swings away rather than letting the conversation continue.
- Humongous Mecha: During the Gang War (2023) event, Frost Pharaoh reveals that he owns an enormous three-story mecha that Miles compares to a Gundam in size. In addition to its size and strength, the mecha is armed with an oversized Freeze Ray that can cover entire city blocks in ice and freeze Miles' web-shooters shut without even hitting him. It's only taken down when Colleen Wing manages to stab her sword into it, allowing Miles to fry the entire thing with an overcharged Venom Blast.
- Hypocrite: Agent Gao lambastes Spider-Man for causing collateral damage in stopping supervillains like Scorpion... then she turns around and hires Scorpion as part of her Cape Busters, meaning that she doesn't care about property damage so long as she thinks it's justified. She also has no qualms about hiring known mercenary and assassin Taskmaster as well as Electro, though she at least draws the line at harming innocents.
- Inspector Javert: Agent Gao makes her debut as dedicated one to Miles Morales. While Gao clearly has no love for costumed-vigilantism in general, its Brooklyn's very own Spider-Man who she's out to nab in particular. Even after putting aside their differences to stop Cletus Kasady in a major-league crisis, Gao continues to hound Miles and even sent Hightail in Issue #10 to specifically keep tabs on him.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Thanks to the Trauma Conga Line he endured in the previous run compounded with the growing stress of his responsibilities both in and out of the mask, Miles has become far more cynical and abrasive than he was in his younger years. He now has an explicit beef with law enforcement and isn't afraid to express it to Agent Gao's face, he gets himself suspended from school after telling off his new teacher, and he comes close to crippling Bumbler in a rage-induced beat down. That said, Miles himself acknowledges all of this and still strives to live up to the ideals Peter Parker instilled in him while struggling to keep his worst impulses in check.
- The Lopsided Arm of the Law: Agent Gao makes it very clear that she intends to put Spider-Man in handcuffs for his destructive superheroics... while also hiring known assassin and mercenary Taskmaster as part of her Cape Busters even when Taskmaster is making jokes about stabbing people.
- Mentor Archetype: Misty Knight becomes this to Miles over the course of the Trial By Spider arc. Teaching him how to think and operate like a proper Hardboiled Detective, stressing the necessity of having a plan for every situation instead of running in blind, while giving him the occasional word of wisdom as a fellow black superhero who has been in the game much longer than he has. In the arc's finale, Misty decides to make it official and take Miles under her wing as an intern at her Detective Agency, and brings her partner Colleen Wing along for the ride to help oversee his combat training.
- Mythology Gag:
- New York City's police department is showcased with the acronym PDNY (Police Department of New York) instead of NYPD (New York Police Department), just like in Miles' animated movie and video game.
- The new Big Bad Rabble AKA Raneem has many similarities to the Tinkerer from Spider-Man: Miles Morales, as a young and wrathful Gadgeteer Genius adorned in neon lit Adaptive Armor who upgrades various members of Spider-Man's rogues gallery with cutting edge tech.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: When Bumbler first debuted, his weapons amounted to shooting honey at his enemies. But after receiving upgrades from Rabble, Bumbler's new Powered Armor is strong enough that it can knock Miles on his ass in a single punch and his BFG is packing enough power that it can obliterate reinforced metal walls.
- Opening Monologue: The city scenes of the first two pages of the first issue are accompanied by excerpts from Miles's diary. They stop when the Scorpion attacks and Miles directly enters the story.
- Police Are Useless: Agent Gao, the police officer Miles continually runs into, repeatedly shows up after the villains are dealt with to try and arrest Miles for property damage. She's willing to hire known assassins and supervillains like Taskmaster and the Scorpion as part of her Cape Busters while consistently failing to do more than clear the area of civilians when it comes to actually helping people. Miles' patience with her is especially limited due to the events of Outlawed and they butt heads throughout the run.
- The Reveal: Raneem is introduced of the first page of the first issue. She buys food for a homeless woman - a scene which is accompanied by Miles' diary entry talking about the many people in the city who do good things, helping those who fall through the cracks. And then she gets caught up in the Scorpion's failed bank robbery, and Miles has to rescue her. It's structured in a way that sets the scene for her becoming a new member of his supporting cast. The end of the issue revisits her, in her secret lab, reading files on Miles. Not only is it made clear that Raneem already knows his secret identity — she has a vendetta against Miles and aims to make him and his loved ones suffer as this run's latest Arc Villain.
- Revenge Before Reason: Rabble's entire vendetta, but as detailed under Evil Is Petty, especially when Miles offers himself and his life up to spare the Morales Family. Raneem can win right then and there...but her hatred of Miles is so pathological and so ingrained that she can't accept that outcome. In her mind, Miles's sacrifice would mean he still dies a hero and he still 'wins'. She needs Miles to remain alive to suffer and lose everything like she did.
- Rookie Male, Experienced Female: While Miles is far from inexperienced as a crime fighter, his team-up with a veteran detective like Misty Knight shows that he has a long way to go when it comes to thinking like a proper sleuth.
- Samurai: Discussed during one of Miles' sparing lessons with the Daughters of the Dragon, where he suggests to Colleen Wing that while he appreciates her lessons in swordsmanship, he isn't necessarily trying to become a full-blown "Spider-Samurai" even now that he has a literal sword to his name. But Colleen makes Miles reconsider his entire stance by asking a simple Armor-Piercing Question.Spider-Man: I'm not really trying to be a Spider-Samurai or anything.Colleen: Why not? That sounds cool as hell.Spider-Man: Wait, really? Maybe you got a--Colleen: [strikes Miles with the hilt of her Katana] Never stop paying attention!Spider-Man: You're no fun.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Connections!: After working together to take down a Rabble-upgraded Scorpion, Misty Knight defends Miles from being arrested by Agent Gao as well by (falsely) asserting that he's actually an intern at her detective agency. When Gao tries to call her bluff, Misty reminds her that she also has Mayor Cage on speed dial, which forces the Agent to reluctantly back off.
- Sequel Series: The creative team changes, but the series is a continuation of the previous Miles Morales: Spider-Man title, which ended in September 2022.
- Shell-Shocked Veteran: The Trauma Conga Line of being physically and psychologically tortured by the Assessor, being Mind Raped by the Carnage Symbiote, and needing to fight for his life against an unrelenting gauntlet of opponents finally takes its toll on Miles in Issue #9, where his untreated PTSD has effectively disabled his spider-sense. This turns what should've been a relatively easy mission to apprehend Hobgoblin into a full-blown Brutal Brawl between the two that leaves Miles on the verge of another Heroic BSoD.
- Shout-Out:
- Cody Ziglar has said on Twitter that Miles' new Venom-Saber superpower is a homage
to similar abilities used by Kuwabara in YuYu Hakusho and Vegito in Dragon Ball. Its name is an explicit sendup to the beam sabers used in Gundam. - Miles asks Rabble if she's ever played Tekken while taking her to suplex city in a recreation of King's signature grab.
- Cody Ziglar has said on Twitter that Miles' new Venom-Saber superpower is a homage
- Sore Loser: Exaggerated with Rabble. Everything she did (kidnapping Miles' friends, burning his apartment, trying to kill Miles' family which also include his sister, who's a baby) is because she lost the Brooklyn Vision raffle to him.
- Targeted to Hurt the Hero: Rabble's ultimate goal is to murder Miles after killing all of his family and friends solely to plunge him into the despair she felt when she lost the Brooklyn Vision raffle to him. Fortunately, Miles defeats her before she can cause any fatalities.
- There Are No Therapists: Subverted. After the traumatic events of this book and the previous run, Miles' Spider-Sense goes haywire, either reacting to non-threats like mail being pushed through a door or not reacting to threats at all. He tries journaling on his own, but it's insufficient at helping him process his trauma and he can't explain his problems to a normal psychiatrist without outing himself as Spider-Man. He's confused and doesn't know what to do until Misty sets up an appointment with Dr. Leonard Samson, the superhero psychiatrist, to help Miles manage his symptoms.
- Took a Level in Badass:
- Thanks to Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, Miles is now formally trained in both hand-to-hand combat and Japanese swordsmanship respectively, which in combination with his already formidable powerset has granted him the edge he needed to hold his own against opponents like Cletus Kasady and Hobgoblin. He's also developed a natural affinity for detective work in this run, to the point where even Misty and Blade were impressed with his sleuthing skills.
- The Rodrick Kingsley incarnation of Hobgoblin largely backslid into being Dumb Muscle for other power players, the most recent being Ashley Kafka AKA Goblin Queen who brainwashed both him and Ned Leeds in an elaborate plot to try and corrupt Norman Osborn. Here, Kingsley is at the top of his game, being able to fight tooth-and-nail against both Miles and Tiana before successfully stealing the device he needs to free himself of Kafka's brainwashing.
- Variant Cover: The first issue is available with four different variant covers, as well as the standard one. One shows the battle against the Scorpion, another shows Miles, in costume, as a cute anthropomorphic cat, sitting on a rooftop.
- Villain Has a Point:
- Downplayed. So much it could be seen as a subversion. Rabble's vendetta is portrayed as an extremely petty grudge, but her complaint about Miles squandering his opportunities at Brooklyn Visions has some truth to it, as he's been consistently portrayed as a Brilliant, but Lazy student with more tardy slips than attendance because his vigilante life is the priority. Miles himself also greatly sympathizes with Rabble's grievances against the education system, agreeing with her that it isn't right that they're forced to live in a society where their futures are decided by a literal game of chance. But the simple fact that Rabble decided to take out her frustration on Miles in spite of not being the one at fault and refuses to listen to reason no matter how many times Miles and his friends desperately try to plead with her, renders both of these points pale in comparison to Rabble's own vile actions.
- While struggling to escape a collapsing sewer tunnel after their near-fatal encounter with Carnage, Scorpion argues to Miles that they should kill or ignore any survivors they might come across out of paranoia that they're actually another symbiote duplicate Kasady created, which Miles vehemently disagrees with as he's not going to take the risk harming a potentially innocent person. While the injured paramedic Miles rescues first is thankfully who she says she is, Scorpion's fears are eventually proven right when the SWAT officer they help later turns out to really be a symbiote clone who immediately tries to murder everyone the second they all get topside.
- Villain Team-Up:
- Taking advantage of the Evil Power Vacuum spawned from New York's city-wide Gang War, Hobgoblin recruits The Prowler, The Enforcers, Shocker, Ricadonna, Goldbug, Man-Bull, Lady Stilt-Man, and Mr. Fish to help him seize control of Brooklyn as the new power base of his aspiring criminal empire. Giant-Size Spider-Man (2024) also reveals that Kingsley made an alliance with Rabble, who survived her last battle with Miles but is now even more unhinged due to the defeat at his hands causing her powers to go on the fritz. In exchange for Raneem becoming The Armorer for Kingsley and his followers while helping the former hunt down Ashley Kafka, Kingsley promises Raneem a cure for her "condition" that will hopefully bring her powers back to their full potential.
- Issue #18 ends with Agent Gao brokering a deal with Rabble, seemingly to enlist her help in going after Miles one last time before the Cape Killers are finally shut down.
- Wham Shot: Issue #4 ends with Miles suffering a Heroic BSoD after discovering Rabble firebombed his house, while his family was inside.
- Would Hurt a Child: Rabble's plan to hurt Miles involves killing his entire family. And there is nothing to suggest that Billie, Miles' baby sister, would be spared from her wrath.
- Wrestler in All of Us: In Issue #18, Miles uses a German suplexe on Rabble while asking her if she's ever played Tekken, performing a perfect recreation of King's signature grab.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: In Issue #13, Miles has to deal with Frost Pharaoh and several other D-List villains who now have henchmen and upgraded tech. While he manhandles them all at first, Miles gapes in horror when Frost Pharaoh reveals a Humongous Mecha complete with oversized Freeze Ray.Spider-Man: Ain't no way... Frost Pharaoh got a Gundam?!
