Miles Morales’ Dark Future Teased in Sequel to Spider-Man’s Grossest Story Ever

Warning: Contains potential spoilers for Spider-Man: Reign II #1 (OF 5)!

Marvel has teased a bleak future for Miles Morales as the character enters the world of one of Spider-Man’s most controversial limited series. The publisher previously announced a sequel to the 2006-2007 limited series Spider-Man: Reign, and now Marvel has revealed a new Black Cat and Miles’ Spider-Man will feature alongside the series’ older Peter Parker. As Peter navigates his journey back into heroics in this dystopian future, new heroes join the fight.

Advertised as “The Most Notorious Spider-Man Story Ever Told” when the sequel was first teased back in 2023, Spider-Man: Reign by Kaare Andrews is an infamous yet fascinating tale in Peter Parker’s lore. The dark and grim future-set series showed Peter at his lowest, but ended promisingly with him webbing into action again. Now, Marvel has revealed a look at Spider-Man: Reign II, with more details about the story.

With a sequel arriving 17 years after the original limited series ended, it seems that the matured version of Spider-Man has more trials and tribulations ahead. A variant cover reveals Miles Morales hugging Peter Parker’s grave, hinting that Peter may be passing the baton again.

Miles Morales and Black Cat Join the Disturbing World of Spider-Man: Reign

As Miles Morales is revealed in Spider-Man: Reign II, his fate in this dystopian future will come into focus. Future versions of Miles have appeared previously, notably his villainous turn as Ultimatum against his younger self in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #10 by Saladin Ahmed, Javier Garrón, and David Curiel. The version teased on Kaare Andrews’ variant cover for Reign II looks similar to Miles’ clone brother Shift in current comics, just with gray hair poking out of his mask. He will join the universe alongside a new version of Black Cat, seemingly not Felicia Hardy as teased in the solicit.

Miles’ buff transformation in the universe and a new origin for Black Cat could be a reason for Andrews to lean into the more gross and disturbing aspects of the original limited series. The depressing world of Reign had some unsettling displays of violence, a Venom takeover, and the older Peter haunted by the ghost of Mary-Jane and his trauma related to her passing. The series featured one of Peter Parker’s darkest moments with MJ’s shocking death by Spider-Man’s radioactive fluids. The new characters joining the universe could ratchet up the body horror or bring hope to Reign’s Earth-70237.

Creator Kaare Andrews Looks to Bring More Hope to Reign II

While Spider-Man: Reign featured a bleak dystopia, it was also a story about Peter Parker’s heroic perseverance through it all. Andrews has hinted that he would like to fix the broken universe of his limited series, and the solicitation has also stated that triumphs will go hand-in-hand with Peter’s tragedies in the sequel. Miles Morales as the new Spider-Man for this universe, along with a new Black Cat, could be the hope that this alternate Marvel future needs. With older versions of key Spider-Verse characters, Reign II will see how they persist against all odds.

The future in Spider-Man Reign saw Peter Parker at rock bottom, but also illustrated how he pulls himself out of the darkness by being a hero. As Peter goes back to saving people, his journey could inspire the new Black Cat’s origin story as well as Miles’ Spider-Man and bring some optimism to the dreary Earth-70237. An aged-up Miles Morales’ Spider-Man appearing in this alternate universe could be a defining moment for the character’s lore in his Marvel Comics future.

Source: Marvel