Tropes Media Browse Indexes Forums Videos Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Tools
Cut List New Edits Edit Reasons Launches Images List Crowner Activity Un-typed Pages Recent Page Type Changes Changelog
Tips
Creating New Redirects Cross Wicking Tips for Editing Text Formatting Rules Glossary Edit Reasons Handling Spoilers Word Cruft Administrivia FAQ
Tropes HQ
About Us Contact Us Advertise DMCA Notice Privacy Policy Report Bug
Go Ad-Free Changelog
  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Highlight Links
 

Follow TV Tropes

Following

Characters / Marvel Comics: Miles Morales
aka: Ultimate Spider Man Miles Morales

Go To

Miles Morales Main Character Index
Title Character
Miles Morales
Supporting Characters
Supporting Characters
Rogues Gallery
Rogues Gallery

Remember, except where the sheet states otherwise, this is only for characters and examples from the main Marvel Universe (referred to in-universe as Earth-616).

Please do not list characters or examples from shows, movies or alternate universe versions here. If you've thought of a trope that fits an alternate version of the characters, please take that example to its respective sheet.

Miles Morales / Spider-Man II

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/miles_84.jpg
"Change always comes. What matters is how you face it."

"A hero isn't the one who always wins. It's the one who always tries."

Miles Morales, better known by his alias (Ultimate) Spider-Man, is a Marvel Comics character created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, first appearing in Ultimate Fallout #4 (dated August 2011).

Bitten by another genetically-enhanced spider, 13-year-old Miles was given powers similar to Peter before him, to his dismay. The death of Spider-Man, soon publicly revealed to be the young Peter Parker, shocked Miles out of apathy. Miles convinced himself that acting earlier and revealing himself as an ally to Peter could have spared New York's hero. Finding the will to act, Miles dons a makeshift suit to help fill in the void Spidey left. Miles Morales is the principal protagonist of Ultimate Spider-Man after Peter Parker's death.

Inspired by the election of President Barack Obama and actor Donald Glover's unsuccessful campaign to play the lead role in The Amazing Spider-Man, Bendis created Miles in the Ultimate universe and planned the Death of Ultimate Peter Parker as an event to specifically introduce his successor. Miles' first appearance was in Ultimate Fallout, a miniseries that provided a requiem for Peter's death, and then officially debuted as Spider-Man in the second volume of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man. Miles shares a bit in common with his predecessor, namely their mutual gravitation toward science and many of the same abilities — namely Spider-Sense and wall-crawling. But unlike Peter, Miles wasn't fame-obsessed and cocky when he started out. Rather, he was confused and weirded out about his powers, especially because his father Jefferson was mutant-phobic (at the time) and disliked costumed heroes. Peter's death drives him into action, where Miles, on seeing the death of The Heart of Ultimate Marvel, comes away believing that had he been on the scene and active, Peter might well have survived the day. In effect, Peter Parker becomes Uncle Ben to Miles, inspiring him to uphold his legacy and spirit. In addition, Miles is younger than Peter when he started out in both the Ultimate and 616 continuity. He was still in grade school when bitten by his own genetically-modified spider. Where Peter had only Aunt May as his family, Miles lives with his parents and has many relatives. He's also on the whole far less neurotic than either classic or ultimate Peter. In addition, he has some powers that Peter didn't have, with extra abilities like Spider-Camouflage and venom blasts, but at the same time, not being as fast and agile as Peter is. Fundamentally, Miles shares the main quality that Peter embodied, the archetype of the underdog hero, with his civilian mixed-race Hispanic and African-American identity, his more tactical and sneaky skillset, and his small frame transplanting and updating the original roots of Peter Parker as the teenage Working-Class Hero for a new generation.

Miles' first major story arc involved confronting his criminal uncle, dealing with questions of Nature vs. Nurture; an especially prescient topic for a young black man like himself, trying to do some good in a world stacked against him. Further storylines saw him clash with S.H.I.E.L.D., The Ultimates, and HYDRA. He even crossed over with the 616 universe on a few occasions, mostly notably in the pages of Spider-Men, where he met the mainstream Peter Parker, and All-New X-Men, where he befriended the time-displaced Jean Grey. When the Ultimate Marvel line started winding up, owing to declining sales, Miles nonetheless remained in demand, getting his new ongoing title — Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man — and featuring on the All-New Ultimates team. When Ultimate Marvel ended in 2015 during the Secret Wars event, Miles was imported directly into the 616 Universe, in the All-New, All-Different Marvel universe that rose from the ashes of Secret Wars which was perhaps Miles' official implementation into the altered Earth-616. Not only was Miles serving as New York City's official Spider-Man in his third ongoing title, Spider-Man, but he also joined the All-New, All-Different Avengers. He subsequently left to become a founding member of the new Champions. His co-creator and first writer Bendis left Marvel in 2018, ending a landmark run on the character, where he finished it with Spider-Men II which resolved and tied up all loose ends about Miles Morales' future in the 616 (namely he's here to stay and he can't go back to Ultimate Marvel anymore).

Shortly afterwards, Marvel announced Miles' fourth ongoing, Miles Morales: Spider-Man, with Saladin Ahmed taking over as writer for 42 issues straight. Ahmed's run put a significant focus on fleshing out Miles' personal life, introduce new Arc Villains in the form of the engimatic Assessor and the sinister Ultimatum, and debut the birth of Miles' baby sister Billie Morales — who Miles is staunchly protective of. In December 2022, Miles' solo series was relaunched under Cody Ziglar as his initial new writer, who put Miles through the wringer by forcing him to fight tooth and nail against an increasingly dangerous set of adversaries starting with a new vindictive Technopath known as The Rabble — which culminated in Miles unlocking a brand new ability in the form of a powerful Laser Blade constructed from his own bioelectricity. Miles also found himself at odds with Agent Julia Gao, the commanding officer of the New York Police Department's Anti-Super SWAT Team who has developed an obsession with throwing Brooklyn's Spider-Man behind bars, even if that means recruiting incarcerated supervillains to help her do it. Both Misty Knight and Colleen Wing would also take Miles under their wing as an intern at their Detective Agency, helping the webhead foster his potential as a both a Hardboiled Detective and a Samurai respectively.

Notable Comics

Western Animation — Film

Western Animation — Television

Video Games

Miles Morales provides examples of:

    open/close all folders 
    #-F 
  • 10-Minute Retirement: After his mom's death, Miles shreds his costume, quits the Ultimates, and spends a year living as a normal human, rebuking Spider-Woman's efforts to give him a replacement costume and wanting nothing more to do with super heroics. Probably subverted on the "Ten Minute" part of 10-Minute Retirement, since he successfully spent more time retired than he actually spent being Spider-Man. On the other hand, it was still only one issue.
  • Adaptational Villainy: Spider-Men II revealed that Miles' 616 self was a friend and former ally of The Kingpin's.
  • Adaptational Intelligence: Make no mistake, Earth-1610 Miles is a bright kid, but in the realistic "he's got great grades, good common sense, and is well-read" sense. Both his counterpart in the 2017 cartoon and the Playstation series are science nerds not too far off from Peter himself.
  • Affirmative-Action Legacy: Miles is biracial and replaced the Caucasian Peter Parker when he died. The concept gets played for some drama from Miles when a video blogger talks up on the fact there's finally a black Spider-Man and Miles doesn't want to be known as just the "black Spider-Man".
  • Age Lift: Miles goes from being 13 at his debut to ~17 by the time of his crossover with Spider-Gwen. Spider-Men II also revealed that Earth-616's Miles was already an adult when Fisk first became the Kingpin, making him older than Peter.
  • Alliterative Name: In the grand tradition of Marvel comic books, his name begins with an "M": Miles Morales.
  • Alternate Self:
    • In the Spider-Gwen series, Gwen comes across a possible future version of herself who's married to Miles Morales and has two kids who inherited their abilities.
    • In Spider-Man: Life Story, Miles became the elderly Peter Parker's crime-fighting protégé and is in his physical prime after working alongside him for eight years. Which is exactly why Doc Ock chooses to take over Miles' body instead of Peter's, turning Miles into this timeline's equivalent of the Superior Spider Man.
    • The Dark Ages mini-series features a dreadlocked version of Miles who involuntarily became the host of both the Venom and Carnage symbiotes during the apocalypse. Thankfully, the other surviving heroes succeed in freeing this Miles from the symbiote duo's influence.
    • Miles Morales: The End is a one-shot story set in another Bad Future where Miles is the leader and protector of the Last Bastion of Humanity. Unlike the Dark Ages version, this Miles is a Cool Old Guy who goes out killing a supervillain who stole the mantle of Captain America and attempted to enslave Miles' people.
    • What If...? Miles Morales explores several realities where For Want Of A Nail causes Miles to adopt the mantle of another superhero instead of Spider-Man. The variants of Miles shown so far include a reality where he inadvertently became the second Captain America and another reality where Miles became Wolverine in place of Logan after being kidnapped by the Weapon X program.
  • Amazon Chaser: Downplayed. Miles has had two girlfriends (Katie Bishop and Barbara Rodriguez), both of whom are civilians or so he thinks in Katie's case; he later learns that she's working for HYDRA. But he's got an ever-growing list of crushes on female superheroes around his age, which thus far includes Ultimate Cassie Lang, teen Jean Grey, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Gwen, and Starling.
  • Amnesiac Resonance: After being retconned into Earth-616 at the end of Secret Wars (2015), Miles' memories of Earth-1610 are all but erased in favor of his new backstory. However, certain triggers — like his run-in with Eddie Brock in Venom (Donny Cates) and his encounter with the Ultimate Green Goblin in Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018) — trigger PTSD-esque flashbacks to his old life.
  • The Anti-Nihilist: Despite his youthful optimism, Miles is well aware of his limitations as a super-hero when compared to the likes of powerhouses like Thor or Captain Marvel. But despite his times of failure and doubt as a hero and knowing full well that he can't help everyone, fix a broken world, or even make it fair, his definition of a true hero isn't one who will always win & save the day, but one who will never give up on trying to do the right thing in an unfair broken world, and to do the best they can to help as many people as they can.
  • Approval of God: In-universe, the presence of a new Spider-Man was initially resisted because it was considered insulting to the death of Peter Parker. But, eventually, he got all the required blessings to continue being Spider-Man: from Aunt May, Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy, from Jessica Drew (remember, a female clone of Peter), from the mainline Peter Parker of Earth-616, and even from Ultimate Peter Parker himself, who was not really dead after all.
  • Arch-Enemy: Has had a few in his (relatively) short run as a hero. In the Ultimate Marvel universe, his Uncle Aaron (as Prowler) would qualify for the first half of his run, with The Roxxon Brain Trust serving in the final few arcs. In the 616-Verse, it would be the Black Cat. He has also been one of the protagonists of the Spider-Geddon arc, and the arch enemies there are the Inheritors. Then Saladin Ahmed's run introduces a new contender: Ultimatum, a.k.a. the Miles Morales of Earth-616.
  • Ascended Fanboy: Averted and possibly inverted. He didn't seem to know much about Spider-Man before he got his powers. Even then, the only things he saw worth mentioning were the parts where Spidey was beaten up and thrown around.
  • Atrocious Alias: According to All-New Ultimates, he does not like being called "Spidey", but seems to have warmed up to it in later stories.
  • Backstory Invader: Miles and his supporting cast were brought into the regular Marvel Universe in 2016 at the end of Secret Wars, but as far as anyone else is concerned, they've always been there (his mom Rio apparently having been acquainted with Luke Cage before he went to prison, and his dad having been an agent of SHIELD), Miles having gotten his powers somewhere shortly before Secret Invasion.
  • Bad Liar: When both he and Ganke are confronted with anything remotely Spider-Man related, they go into a routine which makes it really apparent that they are hiding something. It has cost them a roommate and gained them suspicion from their resident assistant. In the Prime Marvel Universe, this has persisted.
  • Because You Were Nice to Me: During Secret Wars, Miles and 616!Peter run into the Molecule Man, the source of Doom's power, and who is starving hungry. Miles offers him a burger he'd been carrying in his pocket for the last three weeks (and eight years, but Miles thinks that since there was suspended animation involved that part doesn't count). Owen eats it anyway, and tells Miles he owes him one. As a result, when everything's over, he transplants Miles' friends and family over to Earth-616, and revives Rio in the bargain.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Miles does not like anyone bringing up his mother, especially after she was killed in the Ultimate Universe.
    • To a similar extent, bringing up the criminal past of his father Jeff or his Uncle Aaron is a sure fire way to tick him off.
  • Beta Outfit: His starting outfit was a cheap storebought Spidey costume which didn't properly fit him. Anyone who saw him in it remarked "that outfit is in poor taste", a sentiment Miles quickly agreed with.
  • Black and Nerdy: He's a Afro-Latino teenager who is academically gifted, grew up watching old-school martial arts flicks, used to write trashy fanfiction as a hobby, is an avid gamer, an unapologetic sneakerhead, and a Anime fan on top of it all.
  • Blue Oni, Red Oni: Thematically, to the Ultimate Universe's Peter Parker. Where Peter was hot-headed and a bit of a geek in addition to being courageous and outspoken in his values, Miles is fearful, worrisome, and more terse and to the point when dealing with villains and disaster.
  • Breakout Character: Miles became by and far away the most popular character of the Ultimate Marvel line-up, going so far as to get his own comic series as well as migrate into the main Marvel Universe after the events of Secret Wars II. He has since had starring roles in the Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) and Marvel's Spider-Man TV shows and a similarly important role in Spider-Man (PS4). He's also the protagonist of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
  • Cannot Tell a Lie: Miles is at odds with keeping his identity a secret from loved ones that could be affected by his actions. It makes him uncomfortable that he has to lie to his girlfriend Katie; eventually he gives in and prepares to tell her. Then bad things happen.
  • Canon Immigrant:
    • Jumps to Earth-616 with his third ongoing, along with his family (including his revived mother), Ganke, Judge, and Bombshell (plus their respective families).
    • Spider-Men II features the debut of the Earth-616 incarnation of Miles, who is a former ally of the Kingpin's. The series ends with Miles-616 going to the restored Earth-1610.
  • Characterization Marches On: After the departure of his co-creator Brian Michael Bendis from Marvel Comics, Miles' overall characterization would gradually evolve under the pen of his new creative teams. Possibly to bring his personality more in line with his iconic animated film incarnation.
    • Under Bendis, Miles was a shy and anxious Dork Knight whose fight banter was more terse and reserved to contrast with the more Hot-Blooded Ultimate Peter Parker. But under writers like Saladin Ahmed, Miles became far more self-confident and socially assertive in his civilian life, boasts a strong affinity for Hip-Hop culture, and liberally uses AAVE and Spanish while speaking or snarking. Ahmed is also the one who introduced the idea that Miles keeps a Captain's Log via an in-universe journal that serves as a written record of his exploits as Spider-Man.
    • During the Bendis era, 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 behind the mask. Under Cody Ziglar's pen, 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. Ziglar's run is also notably the first time Miles is established to have an explicit disdain for the police as the inevitable result of all of his negative experiences with law enforcement.
  • Character Tic: He has an amusing habit of using his Venom Strike by poking his foe with two fingers. Particularly when it gets dramatic action shots which make it look like he's about to land a blow before switching to a delicate two fingered Venom poke at the last second.
  • Chaste Hero: He's surprised by Ganke's sudden interest in the opposite sex. Miles is only 13, of course, an age where chastity isn't entirely uncommon. However, he starts dating Kate Bishop after the 1-year Time Skip following his mother's death. Averted in the new Marvel universe — where he's around 17, one of the first scenes is him being yelled at for being late to a date, and it's not long afterwards that he gains a big crush on Spider-Gwen and then finds a new girlfriend, a classmate named Barbara.
  • Chick Magnet:
    • Miles' dad seems to think his son is this when they go out to eat at a Chinese place after the one year time skip following the death of Miles' mother and Gwen Stacy instantly recognizes him, even though (or perhaps because) Miles has a girlfriend at this point.
    • In true Spider-Man fashion, his later comic appearances eventually lend credence to this when Miles ends up attracting the likes of Diamondback, Bombshell, Spider-Gwen, Gwenpool, Barbara Rodriguez, Techno Golem, and Starling. Even Nadia Pym, who ironically shares her predecessor Janet Van Dyne's instinctual distaste for the original Spider-Man, enjoys Miles' company and finds that "he smells nice."
  • Child Prodigy: He's a gifted student, at any rate, but it's the more realistic kind (compared to, say, young Mr. Fantastic).
  • Child Soldier: He was one, during the "Divided We Fall" Civil War II event. No one likes it, but Miles is really good on the battlefield. Captain America knew firsthand just how effective a superhero he was, and Miles convinced him that he couldn't overlook an asset like that during wartime.
  • Childish Tooth Gap: Flashbacks show that he had a prominent one when he was about six.
  • Civvie Spandex: He often wears his backpack over his suit when he's moving about town, though he stashes it before he actually does any crimefighting.
  • Classical Anti-Hero: Although Spider-Man has a long tradition in this trope (practically the trope codifier for comic books), Miles seems to be bringing this back to the series with force. It's a bit of subversion, however, when you consider that Miles is trying to emulate Peter because he thinks that Peter is the Ideal Hero or the ideal Spider-Man.
  • Combat Pragmatist: He's not above stunning someone and then hitting them when they're down. The whole concept of his Venom Strike and invisibility powers lends itself to this, as he frequently begins and ends battles by hopping up to enemies and letting loose, and he has no problem sneaking up to enemies and clocking them from behind.
    • His approach to defeating the Rhino is to make his suit self-destruct explosively while he's still inside it. He gets the idea to do so when he remembers how the last time he did that, the resulting explosion killed his uncle.
  • Combo Platter Powers: In addition to getting all of the original Spider-Man's powers (to varying degrees), Miles has "Spider-Camouflage", allowing him and his clothes to instantly blend into his surroundings to render him nearly invisible to the naked eye and his bio-electric Venom Blasts that can fry machinery, incapacitate people, and (at its highest settings) wreck entire buildings.
  • Constantly Curious: He gets curious in the middle of pitched battles. Electro trying to fry him didn't even put a damper on it.
  • Cop Hater: Miles and the law have quite the contentious history with one another, arguably even more so than Peter at his age. Ever since he took up the Spider-Man mantle, the kid has been repeatedly held at gunpoint by trigger-happy cops and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in spite of being the one who had just saved the day. Events such as Hydra's takeover of the United States, the brutal enforcement of Kamala's Law, and Mayor Fisk's crackdown on the Superhero Community has also culminated in Miles needing to repeatedly go on the run as a fugitve just for having the gall of wanting to help out his fellow man, which he frequently vents his fustration about. By the time of his 2022 relaunch, Miles has developed a serious grudge against New York's Police Department and outright accuses them of going out of their way to target minority superheroes like himself.
    Agent Gao: Friendly tip. You really don't want to mess with us.
    Miles: Oh I heard all about you guys. Cracking skulls and pushing folks around for looking after their own streets. Heard ones where folks living there who look like me get it the worst. That about right?
    Agent Gao: Got no clue what you look like under there, kid. But now I can take a guess...
  • Continuity Snarl: Miles Morales lives in the prime earth after Secret Wars and the destruction of the Ultimate universe, as well as his family. In The Unbelievable Gwenpool, it was explained that he doesn't remember any of that, that he simply thinks that he has always lived there, which prevents the audience from pointing out the lack of angst about all of it. But then, in Spider-Men II, he talks as if he did remember those things. Things get especially odd in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #10, where Miles describes having weird dreams about living in another world, but doesn't know what to make off it, and the villain of Spider-Men II, his 616-born self, resurfaces and joins Miles' Rogues Gallery.
    • Issue #16 of Miles Morales: Spider-Man eventually explains this discrepancy. The longer a person is away from their native reality, the more their memories of what took place in that reality begin to fade, explaining why he had memories of it in Spider-Men II but doesn't seem to have them later on. Ultimatum decides to test this theory by showing Aaron Davis his original Prowler mask from the Ultimate Universe, causing Aaron to enter an immediate state of unease due to his mind and body struggling to reconcile the Mind Screw of having two conflicting timelines of his life. Ultimatum himself claims to have gone through this same phenomenon as his own memories of what he saw in the Ultimate Universe began to degrade upon returning to 616. Leading him to believe that the only way to get to the bottom of this mystery is to get his hands on his heroic Ultimate counterpart. Miles' memories are eventually restored in full.
  • Contrasting Sequel Main Character: Miles is all over this trope, similar to Miguel O'Hara (Spidey 2099) — most of his tropes seen here are inversions of Peter's in some way.
  • Conveniently an Orphan: Averted. Unlike Peter, who was set apart by his tragedies, Miles instead has to juggle superheroics with parents who are still involved in his life (under most versions of the status quo). See also Reconstruction below. That being said, whether it be his mother, father, or uncle, he tends to rack up at least one dead parental figure in most incarnations.
  • Cowardly Lion: Towards the beginning, Miles gets frightened easily and tends to worry or focus on the negative. Nevertheless, when he's needed, he'll jump right into the superheroics, if only to vomit his guts out in terror afterwards.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: His costume is mostly black (bearing some resemblance to the Symbiote costume) with red as the secondary color, but he is one of the good guys.
  • Dating Catwoman:
    • With Earth-1610's Diamondback, the commander of the Skulls. During an all-out battle, Miles and Diamondback were snarking at each other and having a conversation (Miles was not flirting and was trying to carry on the fight, while Diamondback didn't seem to be taking the fight seriously) with a compromising position to boot during their fight. After SWAT reinforcements show up, Diamondback gave Miles a kiss for his trouble.
    • His relationship with Katie Bishop definitely ended up in this category.
    • He also very quickly becomes infatuated with Starling, an up-and-coming anti-heroine who was mentored by her grandfather, the Vulture.
    • Back to Diamondback, Miles is well aware that she is a threat and does not show her mercy or any preferential treatment especially since Diamondback executed his teammate's boyfriend.
    • During his short stay in Japan, Miles manages to catch the eye of Tomoe the Techno Golem after she witnesses him thrashing a group of goblin gang members by himself. Impressed, she invited him to her illegal casino/club for a date and to recruit him as an enforcer. Even when she found out Miles was Spider-Man and was defeated via Mega Venom Blast, she still crawled over to him with the implication that she was going to kiss him before losing consciousness.
  • David Versus Goliath: Playing David, obviously, to Goliath in most of his fights: the Kangaroo, Omega Red, the Scorpion and even Blackheart.
  • Deadpan Snarker: More deadpan than Peter, but he's not as much of a Motor Mouth — at least not initially.
  • Depending on the Writer: Just how powerful is his Venom Blast? Sometimes it can take down opponents several times Miles' size (like Blackheart, Ultimate Green Goblin, and Giant Woman), and he even used it to defeat other electricity-powered villains like Electro. Other times, it's more like a quick stun that lasts for a few minutes, and people wearing insulated gear (like Rhino, Scorpion, and Prowler) or enhanced with super serum (like Man Mountain Marko) shrug it off altogether, making it a complete waste of his stamina. Also, sometimes the shock is instantaneous, while other times, there's a two or three-second delay between Miles making physical contact with the opponent and the Venom Blast taking effect.
  • Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: When the Jean Grey from All-New X-Men drops in on the Ultimate Universe, Miles realizes that she's from the universe where Peter Parker didn't die and says it in front of her. When she questions "Who?", he quickly backpedals and begs not to have his mind read.
  • Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Although it took tremendous effort on his behalf, this kid once fended off Blackheart, after the latter had slapped the entire Avengers roster silly. Remember that Toxin got beaten to death in a gutter by Blackheart, and he was (at the time) stronger than Venom and Carnage combined.
  • Divergent Character Evolution: In terms of power-and-skillset, his Spider-Sense (arguably the most pivotal asset in Peter's arsenal) is a lot weaker, only registering as minor buzzing and the occasional prophetic dream, and his mainstream version is also not as remotely scientifically gifted as Peter. To compensate, Miles has Venom Powers and Spider-camouflage. Miles is also not as strong as Peter, but this is moreso attributed to his age rather than having innately weaker Super-Strength.
  • Eat Me: When Venom swallows him, Miles uses his Venom Strike to pull a Chest Burster.
  • Explosion Propulsion: A technique he picked up from his Evil Knockoff Mindspinner when they fought on the Brooklyn Bridge. With a controlled detonation of his Venom Blast, Miles can launch himself a significant distance into the air just like his PS5 Counterpart.
  • Electric Black Guy: As an African American Spider-Man, he notably has the Venom Strike/Venom Blast as his Signature Move, which he uses to certain electrical effects on top of its normal uses.
  • Embarrassing Middle Name: The first issue of Saladin Ahmed's run reveals Miles' middle name is "Gonzalo".
  • Evil Counterpart: The poor kid has had the misfortune of facing down three of these thus far:
    • First was his Uncle Aaron, who after being resurrected, resumed his life of crime in a stolen retrofitted set of Iron Spider armor.
    • Next was the Miles Morales native to Earth-616, a close personal friend of Mayor Wilson Fisk and one of the best-kept secrets of NYC's criminal underbelly. He's recently resurfaced as a full-blown super villain who calls himself "Ultimatum".
    • Shortly after defeating Ultimatum, Miles was forced to come to blows with Selim, a Wicked Cultured yet sadistic clone who was created by the Assessor using DNA samples stolen from Miles while he was in captivity.
  • The Fettered: The mainstream and Ultimate versions of Peter Parker have to consciously hold back or risk killing people outright. Miles, however, instinctively holds back, allowing himself to be thrown around by unprepared Badass Normals, for example. This is best seen in an early fight with the Kangaroo, where he takes hits up to and including a car to the face unfazed, and yet could barely damage Kangaroo without his Venom Strike.
  • Friendly Enemy: Post Earth-616 intergration, Miles has successfully befriended several members of Peter's Rogues Gallery by virtue of not being the Spider they have a bone to pick with on top of having the natural charisma to deescalate a potential conflict before things can spiral out of control.
    • He's on good standing with Rhino after Miles helped him save his ex-wife's niece from Human Traffickers. When Alexei expressed his fear that her family wouldn't let him visit the kid due to his reputation as a supervillain, Miles encoruaged him to see her anyway by pointing out to Alexei how saving the girl's life doesn't sound like a supervillain to him, which earns Miles both Alexei's gratitude and respect.
    • Miles also went out of his way to save Scorpion's life during the events of Absolute Carnage at the cost of being corrupted by the Carnage Symbiote in the process. When Cletus returns to commit another atrocity in Carnage Reigns, Mac returns the favor by saving Miles from being impaled by Cletus and has his back for the entire crisis.

    G-N 
  • Genre Blind: In his early days, poor Miles doesn't get how desensitized most New Yorkers are to superheroes.
    • His and Ganke's dicking their roommate Judge around with their secrets can only end in disaster, but none of them take the time to make better excuses or come up with believable lies to explain their behavior, causing Judge to easily figure out Miles' secret identity, though Miles was lucky that Judge kept that secret.
    • When Miles suggests revealing his secret identity to Kate Bishop in the Ultimate Universe, Ganke immediately tells him that it is a bad idea and even cites Peter Parker of the Amazing universe. When Miles says that he is retired and is no longer Spider-Man, Ganke immediately retorts that it is impossible for him to retire and insists that Miles is on a break.
  • Genre Savvy:
    • Miles has gone ahead and read up on most of Peter's exploits and foes, so he has a good idea of what to expect when he fights supervillains, old and new. Mostly about how batshit insane he can expect some of their costumes/themes to be.
    • When Peter Parker suddenly returns, his first instinct is "clone."
    • While responding to a crisis where Carnage was reported to be holding an entire diner full of civilians hostage, Miles correctly deduces that all of the hostages are already dead because he knows all too well that an Ax-Crazy Serial Killer like Cletus doesn't take hostages.
  • Good Parents: Miles has that rarest of all superhero starting points - an intact family with two living parents who are in a happy marriage. In the earliest stories, Jefferson's love for his wife and son was just about the only good thing about him, though he gets better as time marches on. Unfortunately, this also leads to Rio making a Heroic Sacrifice for her son in #22, and when Jefferson learns that his son is Spider-Man, he's so shocked and angry that he temporarily walks out on Miles. He later returns, apologizing profusely, vowing to do better.
  • Gratuitous Spanish: Miles, his mother, and his relatives from her side of the family are bilingual, but their Spanglish is mostly limited to one or two Spanish words in English sentences. Again, this depends on the writer. As a general rule of thumb, he tends to use more Spanish when there are Spanish speakers on the creative team writing him.
  • Healing Factor: Like Peter, he can recover from injuries faster than a normal human.
  • The Heart: As much as Ultimate Peter was, only for both the Ultimate Marvel universe and the mainline 616 Universe where everyone from 616 Peter, Luke Cage, Tony Stark, and others see him as a sweet, kind-hearted boy, who brings out the niceness in even the most reserved.
  • "Hell, Yes!" Moment:
    • After the first battle with Green Goblin, Miles realized that the Green Goblin was especially susceptible to the Venom Blast. The Green Goblin comes back for round 2 and thinks he is going to wreck havoc and repeat the "killing of Spider-Man" part deux. Miles has other ideas.
      Miles: Get them out of here! I have this.
      Peter: No! This is my fight.
      Miles: They (Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane) are your responsibility. I got this.
    • Miles proceeds to beat the ever-loving shit out of the Green Goblin, the one character who every time he's appeared has made shit get real. Miles wrecks Goblin's shit simply by exploiting Green Goblin's weakness to his Venom Strike. He even throws Mary Jane's couch at the Goblin.
  • Hero with Bad Publicity:
    • In true Spider-Man fashion. First, it was him replacing Peter as the Spider-Man of the Ultimate Universe that set Jonah off. Then, accidentally killing his uncle has him being labeled as a murderer. It is later revealed that Miles did not kill his uncle, it was Prowler's damaged technology that blew up and killed him. While Miles and Ganke are very happy about this, Miles realizes that the rest of the world does not know that detail.
    • Averted after becoming a member of the Ultimates and J. Jonah Jameson's efforts to leave the poor kid alone, though being part of the Ultimates hasn't stopped police officers from shooting at him during his fight with Venom, or prevented him from being blamed for the injury Venom gave Jefferson. The police legitimately like him and only shoot at him because it is not the first time that an impostor put on the outfit and committed crimes. They only differentiate from the real and fakes by the webs.
    • Played with in the new Marvel Universe. He gets held up at gunpoint by a police officer in the first volume, but the Avengers tell them off. However, when he later gets kidnapped by Hammerhead, one person mentions that they called the police to report it, but they just didn't care.
  • Heroic BSoD: After Rio Morales is killed in the Ultimate Universe, Miles tears his costume to pieces chanting "No more!" and retires from the superhero scene for a year.
  • He's Back!: At the end of Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man vol.2 #25, he resumes the identity of Spider-Man after a one-year hiatus.
  • Heterosexual Life-Partners: He's this with his BFF Ganke Lee.
  • How Do I Shot Web?: He barely knows what he's doing, to start with. When testing his powers, he realizes that he's still very susceptible to vertigo and high altitude winds as he clings to the outside of one of the top floors of a skyscraper/apartment complex.
    • His first attempts at using Peter's web-launchers are similarly disastrous, though he seems to get it on only the third try.
  • Hypocrite: In his crossover with Spider-Gwen, Miles says they can't go to Peter or Jessica for help because adults end up fighting each other, clearly referencing Civil War II; the thing is Peter and Jessica ultimately opted to stay out of it before the fighting even started while Miles didn't.
  • Iconic Sequel Character: Debuted in the Spider-Man mythos a year short of its 50th anniversary. Despite this, he's easily one of the most recognizable characters there. In fact, he's by far the most popular and beloved character from the Ultimate Marvel line, being introduced in the final years of that stable, well after Ultimatum, and the end of the second volume of Ultimate Spider-Man. He has subsequently become more famous than the original (and still very popular) Ultimate Peter Parker.
  • I Got Bigger: He fills out and shoots up considerably during his one-year hiatus from being Spider-Man. He's later aged up to something-teen and develops a gymnast-like physique compared to the wiry one he had as a kid and is almost as tall as Captain America.
  • I Let Gwen Stacy Die:
    • The main reason why Miles decides to become Spidey in the Ultimate Universe is because he feels partly responsible for Peter's death since he wasn't there to help him. This trope is played even straighter with the death of his mother, though she is eventually resurrected.
    • On his insertion into the regular Marvel universe, since Peter never died there (at least, not long enough for it to really matter), Miles's backstory is changed so a fellow student was killed during the Skrull invasion instead.
  • Imagine Spotting: When the Spider-Man from Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) suddenly turns into a Super-Deformed version of himself in a hippy costume upon arriving in the world of Spider-Man (1967), Miles is taken aback and Peter sheepishly admits he has an overactive imagination.
  • Intergenerational Friendship:
    • After the events of Secret Wars (2015), Miles is usually depicted having a strong bond with the Peter Parker of Earth-616, who unlike his Ultimate counterpart, is a grown adult.
    • While the way they first met wasn't exactly on the best of terms, Miles also strikes up a friendship with Steve Rogers. The two quickly bond over their shared status as Brooklyn natives and have fought alongside one another long enough that Miles has Cap as a personal contact.
    • Miles also earned the admiration of Tony Stark during the time they both served alongside one another on the same Avengers roster. Before things popped off during Civil War II, Tony went out of his way to personally recruit Miles to his side and was the first to come to the kid's fervent defense when Captain Marvel tried to arrest him. And when Tony found out what the Acccessor did to Miles in the Iron Man Annual, Tony went full Papa Wolf and systematically obliterated the Assessor's entire Brooklyn operation in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
  • Innocent Prodigy: At first, before the requisite superhero tragedies strike.
  • Invisibility: Well, technically camouflage, but it amounts to the same thing.
  • It's Personal:
    • When one of the Inheritors drops in on the Ultimate Universe, Miles tells her this because she just wrecked his mom's grave.
    • When he clashes with Agent Venom during Civil War II, Miles tells Flash that it's Nothing Personal before frying him with a Venom Strike. Considering that the Ultimate version of Venom killed his mother and they were arguing over which of them was most-disrespecting Peter's legacy, it's obvious that it was very personal.
    • After Hammerhead hospitalizes Bombshell, Miles goes after him. His silent fury freaks out Hammerhead's goons, since Spidey's a known quipper, and Miles? Not quipping.
  • It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Let's face it, being Spider-Man, while good for city morale and such, has been a burden on him. His greatest fear was that being Spider-Man would harm his family. It took the relationship he had with his uncle and turned it into a hostile one that led to the latter being killed, and had Venom show up on his doorstep, which ended with his mother killed in the crossfire.
  • Kid Hero: He was 13-years-old when he started out — two years younger than Peter when he got his powers — and he's a lot smaller. When incarcerated by The Ultimates, Nick Fury instinctively holds his hand while escorting him around the premises. Even a year later, Miles is still outed as relatively young even when he is in costume. Following the events of Secret Wars, he's aged up to something-teen.
  • Laser Blade: In the climax of his final fight against Rabble in Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022), Miles gains an 11th-Hour Superpower by channeling his bioelectric energy to create a sword construct in the style of Kazuma Kuwabara. With it, Miles was able to effortlessly slice through Rabble's swarm of Attack Drones like a hot knife through butter and overload her tech before the Self-Destruct Mechanism could kill them both.
  • The Lancer:
    • Miles Morales has the most talent of the All-New Ultimates, but his nature and overall reluctance in actually being a superhero keeps him from being the leader.
    • He usually takes the unofficial role as second-in-command within the Champions when team leader, Ms. Marvel, is unable to. Even when Ms. Marvel is leading on the field, he will at times act as a co-leader, becoming the main support for the overall mission. He also often acts as a voice of reasoning and calm for the team as a whole, being the one to de-escalate rising tensions between members and calling themselves out to reflect on their mistakes when they make them no matter how uncomfortable.
  • Legacy Character: He took over Ultimate Peter Parker's mantle of Spider-Man largely out of guilt over not using his powers to save him.
  • Let's You and Him Fight: In Venom vol. 4 #2, Miles introduces himself to Eddie Brock by kicking him in the back of the head, thinking he's responsible for the giant symbiote dragon rampaging through Manhattan, and an Irrational Hatred of symbiotes in general (there actually is an explanation for that, but, courtesy of Molecule Man, Miles doesn't know it: the Venom of his native dimension killed Rio Morales in front of him).
  • Like Brother and Sister: How Miles regards Bombshell post-Secret Wars.
  • Lost in Imitation:
  • Loves My Alter Ego: Inverted. Miles is a bit upset that his dad hates Spider-Man because his dad isn't too trusting of mutants after what happened in Ultimatum. Mom is a fan, however.
  • Loved by All: Post-616 intergration, Miles is pretty much near-universally adored by the superhero community. To A-Listers like Captain America and Iron Man, Miles is a great kid who has consistently proven himself to be just as much of an inncorruptable Ideal Hero as the man who wore the webs before him. To his young peers within the Champions, Miles is a pillar of leadership who has helped guide the team through some rough times and always has his back when he needs them most. And to Peter Parker himself, he feels nothing but absolute pride sharing the Spider-Man name with him. Just to drive the point home, when every person on Earth was being individually judged by the Celestial Progenetor on whether or not the existence of the human race should be allowed to continue, Miles holds the distinct honor of being one of the rare few heroes throughout the event who the Progenetor automatically passed — without question.
    The Progenitor: Miles Morales turns and sees me as Peter Parker. I give him a thumbs-up. He gives me one back.
  • Make-Out Kids: While the reader doesn't see it, Miles and Ultimate Kate have been stated to not keep their lips off of each other. It got to the point that the Academy called their parents.
    Jefferson: I get a call from school, they catch you guys mackin' on each other every five minutes.
    Miles: Mackin'?
    Jefferson: You know what mackin' is.
  • Meaningful Name
    • Miles means "Soldier" in Latin (hence the trope name Miles Gloriosus) and is traditionally a name for warriors or fighters. Miles began his career during an American Civil War and decided that the best way to be the hero the world needed him to be would be by joining the Ultimates.
    • Also, first name: Miles. Second name: Morales? Not quite. His father was actually Jefferson Davis, but he gave the last name of Rio to Miles (and then took it himself as well) because he came from a family of criminals. Which means that Miles' name, if not for those unfortunate events, would have been Miles Davis.
  • Mistaken for Gay: Apparently, Jefferson and Rio thought their son was gay and was also an item with Ganke. Even his girlfriend thought this. Miles is not too pleased.
  • Most Definitely Not Accompanying Us: There was a vision of the future in Civil War II where Miles kills Captain America. This vision got a whole new light when Cap revealed himself as a traitor loyal to Hydra, established himself as dictator and took over the US. Black Widow goes with Miles to a location where they may ambush and kill him, but then she locks him inside the truck and continues on her own, wanting to prevent him from becoming a killer.
  • Motor Mouth: He has a habit of spouting walls of text in between panels, usually indicating less than a second going by. As he grows more confident in his abilities, he gets more talkative during his fights as well. Sometimes he almost manages to give Peter a run for his money in the Casual Danger Dialogue department; certainly villains have started to complain that he talks too much when they fight.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: In the first issue of Champions (2019), Miles is very angry about something. We find out at the end of issue #1 and the full #2: Ms. Marvel, Viv and loads of citizens were killed by Zzaax. Mephisto shows up, offers to roll back time so they can do it better, and for free: no souls taken, no blood oaths, no nothing. Miles accepts, but is later angry with himself for making a Deal with the Devil, and later regrets it even more when he realizes that he saved his friends in his do-over, but neglected to save a civilian. The guilt later causes him to quit the Champions.
  • Mythology Gag: Miles retains a number of characteristics from other Spider-characters:
    • He wore his web-launchers outside his suit like Ben Reilly and May Parker when he first got them.
    • His Venom Strike is similar to Jessica Drew's bio-electric shock.
    • The later half of his 2016 run expands on his bio-electric abilities to show that Miles can even create energy web-like constructs akin to Julia Carpenter.
    • He relies on his reflexes more than his Spider-Sense, similarly to how Miguel O'Hara's (Spidey 2099) "Spider-Sense" is just super-human reflexes and intuition.
    • Whether by accident or design, his suit heavily resembles May Parker's Spider-Girl suit, except with the red and black inverted along the mask and chest note 
    • If you want to stretch, his being a dual-minority with many of Pete's characteristics inverted calls to mind Miguel's cultural heritage and character traits contrasting Peter Parker's.
  • Nerves of Steel: The very first time he does anything in costume, he gets surprised, beaten up, and thrown around by a villain a lot bigger than him. While Miles is still amateurish regarding heroics, he never once loses his composure (keeping in mind that Miles almost always avoids confrontation and is in general a timid mess). His reaction to being completely immobilized and surrounded by hostile cops? To sit down and take a load off. In addition to that, Miles is virtually immune to pain, as he consistently takes massive blows before popping right back up to fight again.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: While the conditions of why he retired are completely understandable, taking a year long break in New York undid a lot of what Peter had accomplished. Due to the Ultimate Universe having a shortage of super heroes, and the ones who were around having difficulty getting involved without being restricted, Miles inadvertently allowed Hydra to grow uncontested, on top of which he also could have ceased Roxxon's expansion that coincided with Hydra, as we see in the All-New Ultimates.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Miles' features are based on former U.S. President Barack Obama and musician/actor Donald Glover.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished
    • In his first adventure in the mainstream Marvel universe, a demon has defeated the Avengers and caused a lot of chaos and destruction. Miles takes Captain America's shield, and eventually manages to make the demon flee. Victory! And then, Parker shows up, and finds all the chaos and destruction, no demon in sight, the Avengers all unconcious and defeated, and Miles in the middle of it all, with Captain America's shield. What the Hell, Hero?
    • Miles goes to the Triskelion at Iron Man's request during Civil War II, despite Bombshell insisting that it wasn't his fight, believing that he can help change the tide and do something good. It ends up with him being arrested for a potential vision of him murdering Captain America.
  • No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine: Defied by Miles. After his Uncle Aaron, the new Iron Spider, knocks him out and kidnaps him, he wakes up to him preparing them both breakfast for dinner. He quickly leaves without a second thought especially since he's confused why his uncle was still alive.
  • Nom de Mom: He has his mom's last name instead of his dad's.
  • Not So Stoic: Miles is good-humored and eternally soft-spoken, but the Prowler is eventually able to incite him to anger, at which time Miles is borderline deranged with fury.

    O-Y 
  • Oh, Crap!: Miles has just defeated a true demon from hell and saved the Avengers, but now he will face an even more terrible threat: as his school grades are so low, his grandmother is here to straighten him out! "Face it Tigre, you're about to get a big ol' kick in the culo!"
  • Open Secret: He eventually lets both of his parents in on his superhero activities. Rio is more annoyed that he lied to her than anything and supports his efforts.
  • The Paralyzer: Another new power, stunning or knocking enemies out by touch (it also sends Lego flying). It is quickly shown to be both versatile and universally effectivenote . It can be conducted along and through almost any surface, including skin, clothes, spider-webs, or layers of those. It will also cause advanced machinery to explode. The shock is time delayed by a few seconds, allowing for some comedy. Some characters, like Taskmaster, 616-Peter Parker and the Peter Parker supposedly back from the dead have shown that they can shrug it off in seconds, but it still hurts them. Curiously, it affects Norman Osborn so much it could be considered a Kryptonite Factor, though he has developed a substantial resistance by the time they meet again in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #10.
  • Parental Abandonment: Post-Cataclysm, Miles' dad disappeared, so he's staying with Ganke. He later comes back.
  • Personality Powers: He's withdrawn and timid (at least at first), complemented by a camouflage ability.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's absolutely tiny. Peter was already probably one of the more petite superheroes in the area, and Miles is even smaller than that. It's especially evident when he fights one of the Giant Women and ends up uppercutting her unconscious. Subverted after he gets a growth spurt, growing about a foot and filling out considerably to be comparable to 616-Peter in height and build (Depending on the Artist, naturally).
  • Rage Against the Heavens: His reaction when he finds out that his grandmother hired a private investigator to follow him.
  • Reconstruction: Of The Paragon and Legacy Character, and possibly a more thorough one than the Spider-Man series intended it to be. Unlike Peter, Miles dons the suit because he feels like it is his fault that Peter, someone he has never met and wasn't ever close to, died — while Peter dons the suit because his father figure was killed indirectly because of him. Miles wasn't motivated by dead parents or a tragic past, he was inspired by Peter's example to do something selfless. Miles is an example of how a superhero can do good by becoming a symbol, and not just by punching villains in the face. To further separate him from Peter, it is important to note that Miles' life was perfectly normal before taking up the mantle which contrasts both versions of the 616 Universe and Ultimate. As soon as he became Spider-Man, there was an almost immediate shift in how the world became to him. His uncle, who was previously cordial and cool to him, became selfish and manipulative. His dad's bigotry probably wouldn't have bothered him so much if Miles didn't have powers himself. The one and only sole consistent source of confidence that he had was his mother and then she died because Venom was looking for the new Spider-Man so it could be said that he indirectly caused his mom's death. It is as if to show that Miles' theme as Spider-Man asks one question: Why, on Earth, would anybody want to be Spider-Man?
  • Refusal of the Call: Miles was adamant about not becoming a superhero in the Ultimate Universe after gaining powers. And then Peter died. His mom's death leads him to refuse the call again only to come back to assist Jessica to stop Roxxon and seeing how without a Spider-Man, lots of people get hurt and no one is accounted for.
  • Reluctant Hero: To contrast with Ultimate Peter, Miles was reluctant to be a super hero even when he gained his powers. Even after saving a little girl and a woman from a burning building, he immediately ran away and threw up. It took Peter's death to take action because he felt responsible for not reaching out to Spider-Man when he got his powers. Even with support from other superheroes, he still did not want to be Spider-Man because he had no clue what was going on. Then his mother was killed by Venom and he went in retirement and forewent any superhero activity for a year.
  • Resurrective Immortality: It's heavily implied that the OZ formula that empowered Norman Osborn, Peter Parker, and Miles Morales has had the unintended side-effect of acting as an Immortality Inducer that allows them to cheat death. While this does explain how the former two were able to come back from their fatal injuries, it's left ambiguous on whether or not Miles benefits from this as well.
  • Secret Identity:
    • Miles is supposed to have one, but he is horrible at keeping it a secret. And he's called out on it repeatedly.
    • In the Ultimate Universe, Roxxon made it clear that he found out his identity in a matter of days. He told Kate Bishop and Hydra learned of it.
    • In the Prime Marvel Universe, Jessica Jones explains that she found out two hours after following him on his grandmother's behalf. Along with finding out who he's close enough to to share his secret, information that in the hands of a villain would put his friends in danger. She sternly admonishes Miles that if he's going to have a Secret Identity, he needs to be a lot more careful about it.
  • Series Continuity Error: Two in Spider-Man #14. First, Gwen doesn't know Noir Spidey... despite being in the same Web Warriors team as him. Second, Miles and Gwen land in an alternate universe where their version are older and married, despite Gwen herself bitching in Web-Warriors that her world is the only one where she's actually still alive.
  • Shock and Awe: When Miles is put under enough physical stress (like torture), he is capable of releasing a Venom Strike via his entire body, wiping out a city block's worth of electronics and setting the earth itself on fire. Unfortunately, he hasn't learned to fully control this particular aspect of his powers yet.
  • Short Teens, Tall Adults: The official Marvel guidebook lists him (post-growth spurt) at 5'8", but he's still smaller than nearly every adult he interacts with.
  • Shout-Out: In issue #14 of Spider-Man, he and Spider-Woman end up visiting Metropolis during a trip through the Multiverse.
  • Shut Up, Hannibal!: He delivers a pretty epic speech to Norman Osborn as he completely curb-stomps him:
    Miles: I have to give you credit, Osborn... I've studied you, I've heard all the stories. But until you get a front-row seat, you really can't appreciate your pioneering work in villainous monologuing as the Mayor of Crazy Town. I mean, it's a little all over the place for my taste... but you really are the — The Beatles of that sound you make when you rub your finger over your lips.
    The Green Goblin: I WILL TEACH YOU RESPECT!
  • The So-Called Coward: Miles is no coward. He is just passive-aggressive.
  • Spider-Sense: According to Bendis, Miles' Spider-Sense is weaker than Peter's, registering only as a buzz. He might have, however, had a prophetic dream, which the mainline Peter Parker also had as part of his version of the Spider-Sense, and his evil-clone Kaine had as part of his amplified Spider-Sense.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: In Marvel NOW! (2016), a cover for Spider-Man shows him and Spider-Gwen kissing. The previews magazine uses the common playground rhyme: Miles and Gwen sitting in a tree... K.I.S.S.I.N.G. Sounds like the teen spider heroes are starting a romance, right? How is that possible though, when they exist in different universes? He even says this in the #12 issue starting his arc with Gwen. "My future wife. Or my future girlfriend. My future something."
    • Out of all the Spiders across the Web of Life, the Gwen Stacy of Earth-65 is the only one who explicitly maintained her ability to travel across dimensions via an Interdimensional Travel Device that's specifically keyed to her body's unique radiation signature. With it, Gwen has regularly traveled to Earth-616 and eventually chose to immigrate there after several life-changing incidents made pursuing an education in her home dimension a nigh-impossible feat. So the idea of the two webheads forming a future relationship isn't as impractical as it sounds.
    • It's also revealed in the aforementioned crossover that there does exist a universe where Miles and Gwen not only got married, but had two children who inherited their abilities. But the exact circumstances of what led to the two getting hitched are vague.
  • Stealth Pun: Had Jefferson Morales not adopted his wife's surname to avoid association with his brother Aaron Davis, his son's name would have been Miles Davis.
  • Story-Breaker Power: In full honesty, Miles' Venom Touch and Venom Blast are way more powerful than the average street-level hero would require. It doesn't matter if the opponent is an Energy Being, a Hulk-level bruiser, or even an eldritch demon spawned by Mephisto himself, Miles' powers will leave their mark. It's implied in that last case that demonic biology is for some reason especially vulnerable to the Venom Blast. The few times opponents have withstood the Venom Blast, Miles has gotten his butt kicked.
  • Superior Successor: A downplayed example as it’s more in the eyes of the super hero community. Miles is a lot more popular with his peers than Peter is with heroes ranging from Nadia Van Dyne to Illyana Rasputina commenting on how much less annoying he is than his mentor.
  • Superpower Lottery: Out of all of the Ultimate Universe's heroes, Miles won. He has all of Peter's powers plus a few more besides.
  • Super-Reflexes: Like Peter, Miles possesses a Spider-Sense that warns him of danger and helps him dodge things as fast as bullets with ease.
  • Super-Speed: He's a lot faster than Peter, and can outrun the medieval Goblin in a millisecond.
  • Super-Strength: According to Bendis, about the same as Peter's, although Miles is smaller than Peter and probably can't put quite as much weight behind his punches. This changes a bit after the Time Skip, as he's grown about a foot and filled out to boot. When Norman Osborn comes calling, Miles is able to punch him hard enough to draw blood. He later beats the ever-loving piss out of a fully-powered Green Goblin with seeming ease and single-handedly mops the floor with a warehouse full of super-powered HYDRA agents and Doctor Doom.
  • Super-Toughness: Getting smashed through walls and glass does nothing to him. The only thing that even fazes him is Scorpion punching him really hard in the face, and that just makes him dizzy. The Rhino gores him at full speed, sending him from the Lincoln tunnel to the ocean, and all that happens is Miles gets wet. The Green Goblin sets him on fire and Doctor Doom tortures him... and Miles shrugs it off.
  • Suppressed Rage: Due to becoming increasingly frustrated with the ever-troubled state of the world as well as the sheer amount of insanity he's endured ever since he became Spider-Man, Miles has actively been trying to keep his anger in check whenever he's fighting crime. Miles has even confessed to his closest friends that one of his biggest personal fears is that he'll reach a Rage Breaking Point and inevitably cross a line.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: Like most Spideys, Miles refuses to take a life, and the stakes are always really high when he's put in a situation that might force him to break this code:
    • Secret Empire: After the brainwashed-by-HYDRA Captain America kills Black Widow (the mentor to the teen superheroes resisting the HYDRA takeover), Miles uses the fullest extent of his strength to issue a No Hands Barred Beatdown on the former hero. He's even tempted to kill Steve right then and there, but luckily, fellow teen hero Wasp talks him down.
    • Spider-Geddon: Powered up with the Enigma Force, Miles is forced to kill the Inheritor Solus using Leopardon's Sword Vigor. An entertaining visual, and certainly the best solution to dealing with someone like Solus, but Miles himself does not like it at all.
    • Absolute Carnage: Being forced to kill J. Jonah Jameson is what finally gives him the strength to resist the symbiote's control over him.
  • Took a Level in Badass:
  • Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Claims to have this following his mother's murder, but Spider-Woman doesn't buy it. Then Molecule Man seems to invoke it on him after he arranges for Miles and his supporting cast to "move in" to Earth-616; no one (aside from Gwenpool) ever mentions a time when Rio was dead, or Jefferson abandoned his son, or Miles dated a girl who turned out to be a fascist. He does retain an Irrational Hatred for symbiotes, though.
  • Two Guys and a Girl: Miles forms this with both Kamala Khan and Sam Alexander, who together spearheaded an entire generation of young legacy heroes.
  • The Unmasking: Miles reveals his secret identity while trying to save his father during Cataclysm because it was the only way that his dad would comply with Spider-Man.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: Brian Bendis used to note that Peter was a much more polished fighter, while Miles is a bit clumsier and awkward. However, his extra powers made ending fights much easier for him in comparison. But as noted under Took a Level in Badass, this dynamic would no longer be the case as Miles gradually gained enough experience over years of publication to close that skill gap.
  • Vague Age: When Miles made his debut, he had a set age of thirteen. Since then, he's grown older, but due to the inherently wonky nature of Comic-Book Time, the exact number bounces between fifteen and seventeen. In his Birthday Episode, Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018) #10, the issue is side-stepped as a running gag where any indicator of his actual age is kept just off-panel.
    Miles: Um, did I just turn one-year-old?
    Jefferson: Sorry, the other balloon got a leak in it.
  • Walking Spoiler: For those not up to speed on Ultimate Peter's death.
  • Wall Crawl: He can walk on walls. Kinda comes with the territory of being Spider-Man.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Half the people who see him think he's the original Spider-Man while the more cynical onlookers just think his suit is "in bad taste". Spider-Woman agrees. Vehemently. Miles encounters less hostility as time goes on, though his dad is not pleased to find out that he is Spider-Man in the Ultimate Universe, but later calms down.
  • When All You Have Is a Hammer…: His Venom Strike is remarkably handy, and whenever it fails him, that's when Miles knows he's in trouble.
  • White Sheep: His Uncle Aaron is also the Prowler, and his father was once a crook as well. They were also raised by an abusive dad who sent them down that road in the first place. Part of why Jefferson and Rio decided to give Miles his mother's surname was to symbolically distance Miles from those roots, with the hopes of him carving out a better life for himself.
  • Will They or Won't They?: Miles famously has this dynamic with the Gwen Stacy of Earth-65. The two are obviously into one another and even discovered a Alternate Universe where they got married with kids. But since they don't want to rush into a relationship just because it worked out in another reality, the two decide to settle on taking things slow before making such a commitment.
  • Young and in Charge: During the Spider-Geddon event, while Peter Parker of Earth-616 is busy taking on Morlun of the Inheritors in a 1-on-1 revenge match, Miles is put in charge of leading a team of Spider-Totems against the rest of Morlun's totem eating, dimension-hopping family. While not the youngest spider person on the team, it's still impressive for a teenager to lead a room of some more experienced heroes, and considering who they're up against, Peter may have gotten the easier job of defeating just Morlun.
  • Yo-Yo Plot Point:
    • Having an I Let Gwen Stacy Die moment and angsting; first was his uncle, then his mother, then his father, then in the 616 universe, a flashback to one of his classmates dying during the skrull invasion.
    • Fighting an Evil Counterpart of himself as a major Arc Villain. First was his Uncle Aaron when he led the Sinister Six as the new Iron Spider. Second was the Earth-616 version of himself who was an arrogant aspiring crime lord with close personal ties to Wilson Fisk. Then almost immediately afterwards, Miles had to fight a Terrible Trio of clones in the form of Selim and his two lackeys Shift and Mindspinner.

Alternative Title(s): Miles Morales, Ultimate Spider Man Miles Morales, Miles Morales Spider Man 2022

Previous

Index

Next

  • Show Spoilers
  • Night Vision
  • Sticky Header
  • Wide Load

Important Links

Ask The Tropers Trope Finder Media Finder Trope Launch Pad Tech Wishlist Reviews Go Ad Free!
Crucial Browsing
Resources
Top