Trivia / Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2018)

• God Never Said That: It's generally assumed by non-readers that Miles Morales is also gay/bi due to comments made by editor-in-chief Axel Alonso that maybe one day a gay character could even be introduced without it causing an uproar. Miles and his best friend Ganke are often mistaken for a couple in the series, but if Miles is LGBT+, he's never had a non-female love interest.
• Inspiration for the Work: Brian Michael Bendis confirmed that the inspiration for the creation of Miles can be credited to Donald Glover, chiefly his attempt to campaign for the role of Spider-Man in the run-up to the Andrew Garfield films. This planted the seeds in Bendis' mind for Peter's Affirmative-Action Legacy in Ultimate Marvel. Glover would go on to voice Miles Morales in his animation debut in the Ultimate cartoon, though the role would be recast in subsequent appearances (likely due to Miles becoming a recurring character and getting Glover would have been above the show's budget), and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he plays Aaron Davis who makes allusions to his "nephew", who is explicitly called "Miles" in a Deleted Scene.
• Running the Asylum: Saladin Ahmed is the first writer of Miles Morales after its creator Brian Michael Bendis left Marvel. In reference to that, he said "I've not spoken to Bendis, but he is absolutely brilliant, and his writing was one of the things that brought me back to super hero comics after years away. So of course there's some intimidation factor. But ultimately you have to just respect the work and creation of those who came before you while still being confident enough to put your own stamp on the stuff. Superheroes are myths built with layers of story. If other creators hadn't gone on to help define Peter Parker after Lee and Ditko, we wouldn't have the Spider-Man we know and love today".
• What Could Have Been:
  • Spider-Men II and an arc of suggested that Miles would drop the Spider-Man moniker and take up his own identity. Several different names (like Spy-D and Kid Arachnid) are shopped around, and "Kid Arachnid" was even used in the Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) cartoon, but this was quietly dropped around the time Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was released, presumably to keep synergy with the movie and continue the legacy angle with Miles.
  • Donny Cates revealed not long after his run on Venom wrapped up that his original plan would've saw Miles play a more central role in the book and for it to end with him becoming the new Venom. This got phased out over time the more Cates wrote Eddie's relationship with his son Dylan and choose instead to discard that original idea. As noted above, the success of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse seemed to have changed Marvel editorial as a whole mind on changing Miles' identity.

---