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The new Spider-Man, Miles Morales, shows the kid behind the mask. Miles makes his debut as Spider-Man in an upcoming issue of Marvel's 'Ultimate Fallout'. (Reuters)
Marvel Comics on Wednesday unveiled a new Spider-Man for the Obama-age — a half-black, half-Latino nerd named Miles Morales.
The new Spidey, who lives in Brooklyn, was revealed in Marvel Comics’ Ultimate Fallout Issue 4. He replaces longtime comic-book favorite Peter Parker, who was white, hailed from Queens and was killed in Ultimate Spider-Man Issue 160 in June.
“Going into this we knew we wanted to make a statement about the 21st century,” said Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso.
“I’m mixed race. My mom is from England; my dad is from Mexico. When Obama was elected I cried — partly because he was African American but largely because of the fact that he was mixed race,” Alonso said.
“I remember what it was like to grow up mixed race. This is more and more prevalent in the United States and it speaks to our rich cultural heritage.”
Like Parker, Miles is a nerdy, awkward working-class kid from the outer boroughs of New York. But Parker was an orphan raised by his aunt and uncle in a traditionally white section of Queens.
Miles’ parents — his mother is black, his father Latino — are still alive, live in more racially diverse Brooklyn and play key roles in his story.
“Spider-Man is arguably the most recognizable superhero on the planet and little kids like my son Tito can relate to him because of the red-and-blue tights,” Alonso said.
“But when he peels off his mask now, he’s going to have a very different look and he’s going to resonate emotionally with all sorts of new readers.”
The new Ultimate Spider-Man series and Wednesday’s Ultimate Fallout issue are available digitally and in stores.
“I have no doubt that people will fall in love with Miles the way they did with Peter Parker regardless of what race or class or creed they are,” Alonso said.
I don’t know why they couldn’t create a new superhero. I’m sure Miles Morales is a wonderful kid but does he have to be Spiderman?! Marvel couldn’t make a statement about the 21st Century without changing one of their iconic characters?
Don’t care about the genre, as long as the story is good and interesting. Last eight years would be a good time frame, you can assume that I bought something that had a good reputation 8 years ago.
i think there’s nothing wrong about the new superhero as long as the story is good and could explain well why things happen that way which make people curious and people buy comics in the first place. lol
Who cares? They’re doing it in the Ultimate Universe. That means it doesn’t matter. No one is kicking and screaming over this for exactly this reason. Everyone nowadays tries to be SO diverse that it’s actually becoming racist. Marvel just changed a major character in a minor title from white to black/Latino, and they want a nice big pat on the back. “Look how liberal we are! Look how we diversify!” Yeah, well. Maybe they should go back to writing GOOD stories about characters we CARE about rather than making gimmicky moves like this while trying to milk the comic-reading audience with a bunch of B.S. mini-series that tie into huge crossovers that ULTIMATELY (no pun intended) mean NOTHING!?
@ david,so not having ALL the characters be white is racist in your little mind?you must looove fox news.sorry,teabagger,but ultimate spidey’s black now.
@kremzeek, I think you’re the one with the racist attitude. If any black character were to get changed to white, then the black community would be in uproar and call Jesse and Al to come and have a rally to scream about how they are being robbed. It’s offensive to some to change the traditional race of characters for the sake of diversity. Look at the the casting of a black actor to play Heimdall in the Thor movie. Scream diversity, while slapping Nordic culture in the face.
I personally don’t care about what they do with Spiderman, but in order to have an objective and considerate mind, I respect the protest of those who have valid complaints. I also remember the complaints about the “Steel” character in the Return of the Supermen series, and the comments from black protesters about how Irons and his hammer was akin to a brute negro breaking rocks on an old timey chain-gang, which is also a valid point espoused by those who were offended.
What would you say if they changed the SPAWN character to a white person?
“Latino” connotes language/culture irrespective of race. “Half-Black Latino” makes sense; “half-black, half-Latino”[sic] doesn’t.
Honestly, I don’t understand why there is an issue w/ the new Spider Man. From my understanding everyone knew that Peter Parker was killed off in the issue before this one so they knew a new Spider Man would emerge, correct? With that said, if this new Spider Man was white would there be an issue?
While I may never know what Marvel’s true intentions were for making the new Spider Man a half black, half Hispanic character I do know that it should not, I REPEAT SHOULD NOT, be this much of an issue. Whether they did it as a publicity stunt or because they really want to be more racially inclusive needs not be the focus. The focus should be whether the story is good.
What’s next? Are people going to picket when the inevitable movie comes out if the role isn’t portrayed by a white guy!?
That’s the same thing I said… Maybe someone at Marvel will fix this. Some Americans don’t understand that Latinos come in different colors too. LOL
IMO, I think this was the right step. I could care less if it were Amazing Spider-man or Ultimate. I applaud Marvel for taking such a huge step. It’s really too late to do this in the other series anyway. Petes like 30 +. The Ultimates are for the next generation. Everyone’s reading them. This is what the GOLDEN AGE of comics was all about. Say what you want. Everyone is curious as to how this guy fits into the story and how will he plays out.
I think marvel is doing an awesome job with diversifying a little. It allows a different demagrphic to identify directly with the super hero. I am of black and latino decent and all for it just as long as the character represent both cultures in a positive way.