Teenager Miles Morales is one of the most popular Spider-People in the Marvel Multiverse but in his journey through the Vanishing Point, he learns how personal his stake in the Spider-Man legacy really is.
Much like Kamala Khan’s own journey with the original Ms. Marvel, Miles Morales is sent to the Vanishing Point in this tale by Brian Michael Bendis. The one shot is considered part of the Generations maxi-series, which all feature stories that send some of the legacy characters in the Marvel Universe through time and space to learn valuable and important lessons that will shape them as they go into the future.
Miles Morales, the breakout star of Sony’s “Into the Spider-Verse” was a middle schooler when he was bitten by a genetically altered spider that gave him powers much like Peter Parker’s (along with camouflage abilities and a bioelectric “Venom Blast”) and just like in “Into the Spider-Verse,” he resides in an alternate dimension known as Earth-1610. In his universe, Peter Parker was killed in action so Miles decided to use his powers to become Spider-Man. Very few people know about his two lives: including his father, his best friend Ganke, the 1610 versions of Gwen Stacy and MJ Watson.
Eventually, thanks to multiversal madness, he ends up on Earth-616 (the Prime Marvel Universe where all the comics take place) where Peter Parker is alive. Peter gave Miles permission to be Spider-Man, and he’s been fighting to prove it every single day since. However, even though he already loves being Spider-Man, Miles has been struggling. The teenager has a lot on his plate: school work, relationships, his family, his grades, and the fact that he’s Spider-Man.
And now he’s questioning if he has the right to be Spider-Man.
So, during the Secret Empire event, he is sent into the Vanishing Point just like Kamala Khan was. He ends up early into Spider-Man’s career, where Peter Parker was a college student just like him. At first, Miles sees Peter (and his friends) in a new perspective. After running into Peter, and almost revealing to him that he knows Peter is Spidey, Miles sets off to where and when he is in time and space.
After seeing a heartwarming moment between a younger Miles and his best friend, he decides he needs to know where exactly he is. So, he decides to go see the only other person who might be able to give him some kind of clue on his location: the younger Peter Parker.
He finds his way to his house in Queens, and hears Peter say (in a monologue) that his Aunt May was on her deathbed and that he feels responsible for this and his Uncle Ben’s death. He also says that this has only brought tragedy and he feels like he doesn’t deserve their love. Miles enters the scene and Peter confronts him, which makes Miles reveal the fact that he’s Spider-Man as well and the fact that his costume is considered a living tribute.
Miles tells Peter to talk about what’s going on with him, and asks about his monologue when he first arrived. Peter tells Miles the entire story of what’s going on with him: his Aunt May was diagnosed with a rare blood disease and the only person who had the cure was Otto Octavious (aka Doctor Octopus). When he visited Ock, he dropped a building on him. Luckily, he escaped with the medicine. However, he also realizes that he almost died. Miles asks if Peter is okay, and he says he is, but right now he’s just worried more about Aunt May than anything. When he gets the call that Aunt May is okay, he breathes a sigh of relief and smiles with Miles before passing out from the stress.
Miles takes a look back at what he saw, from his encounter with Peter’s friends and seeing his younger self, and realizes what he learned. Spider-Man isn’t a job, it’s a legacy. Peter went through hardships, fought back, and came out a better man. Miles learned this, and saw that legacy is his and that he’s amazing. He tells the asleep Peter this: “You’re amazing to let me prove myself by your high standard, but even that is just about how amazing you are. Not how much I deserve it. I guess I really never understood how personal it was.”
Miles returns home to his family, but leaves learning a valuable lesson: Spider-Man is a personal and powerful legacy, and he’s lucky to be a part of it. With more Spider-Verse films in the future, and plenty of comics coming out soon, Miles is taking a swing forward into the next phase of the Marvel Universe.
