As Peter Parker and Miles Morales‘ Spider-Man unite in a new series, Marvel is promising a new era for their relationship – one in which their roles are reversed, and the two evolve beyond the mentor/protégé arrangement that’s no longer working. Of course, this being superhero comics, growth comes with a side of thrilling adventure, and Marvel’s new trailer also confirms that a classic Spidey villain is getting a Hulk-style upgrade.
In a trailer shared by Marvel Entertainment, Peter and Miles web around New York, setting up a new weekly meet-up in their civilian guises. While Peter promises this won’t involve crime-fighting, the pair are quickly faced with the threat of a hulking new version of the Jackal, as well as an attack by Vermin in the city’s sewers. The trailer sets up the new Spectacular Spider-Men ongoing series, beginning March 2024.
What makes this series special is that it will make a permanent change to Peter and Miles’ relationship. The trailer begins with Miles calling them “the Spider-Man of Manhattan” and “the Spider-Man of Brooklyn.” This suggestion of the two as equals – rather than Miles being the junior ‘trainee’ – will define the series. In a press release announcing the series, writer Greg Weisman says:
In this book, I see the younger Miles trying really hard to show his maturity to his mentor Peter, while the older Pete feels free to let out his inner 16-year-old with Miles. So there’s a bit of role reversal to the normal mentor-protege relationship than one might expect to see. But I think both Pete and Miles still feel very true to character. And when things get serious, so do our boys (quippage notwithstanding.) What we’re seeing here is the evolution from mentor and protege to them simply being good friends. And that change of status (in process, as it is) really interests me as a writer.
The Spectacular Spider-Men #1 (2024) | |
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Spectacular Spider-Men Series Is Healing Miles and Peter’s Relationship
New Ongoing Series Reunites Both Versions of Spider-Man
It’s past time that Marvel charted the change in Peter and Miles’ relationship from mentor and protégé to superhero equals. While Miles may be the younger hero, he’s been Spider-Man for years, and for most of them, he didn’t know Peter Parker. Miles actually originated in an alternate reality – Earth-1610 – and only joined Marvel’s mainstream Earth-616 after the events of 2017’s Secret Wars event.
In that reality, Miles replaced Peter Parker after the latter was killed. Miles started out as a teen hero but faced immense challenges that Peter never has – including a civil war that tore America apart and left Captain America as president. Miles does have things to learn from Peter, but the idea that he’s new on the superhero block has no relation to his actual experiences. For fans who’ve been following Miles from the start, a more equal relationship is long overdue – especially since Peter has failed badly in his mentor role.
Miles and Peter’s Friendship Is in Trouble
Spider-Men Is a Chance for Miles and Peter’s Relationship to “Evolve”
Over the past year, Miles Morales has gone through an immense amount of suffering. Not only did he face the gauntlet of Hobgoblin, Carnage, and the deeply personal villain Rabble, but his family were targeted and their home burned down – all while Miles’ powers evolved in ways he didn’t expect or understand. Miles was even experimented on and cloned, with his doppelgängers targeting his baby sister. Throughout it all, Peter Parker has been all but absent – partly due to an adventure that briefly trapped him in a dimension where time passes far faster, but also because the original Spider-Man has always been terrible at maintaining his relationships.
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During this period, other heroes have stepped into the breach. Iron Man showed up to help Miles take on Carnage – even giving him his own Iron Spider armor – while Blade trained him to battle the undead. Misty Knight recently helped Miles take on an out-of-control Venom, while the gamma-powered hero Doc Samson became his psychiatrist after the stresses of vigilante life began to affect Miles’ Spider-Sense.
As a result of processing his experiences with Samson, Miles has unlocked multiple new powers, including the ability to manifest a ‘Spider-Saber’ from his Venom Blast energy and concentrate his Spider-Sense into a new kind of X-ray vision. Unfortunately, when Peter discovered Miles’ new powers in Amazing Spider-Man: Gang War – First Strike #1 (Zeb Wells and Cody Ziglar), his surprise resulted in a confrontation between the two. Peter promised to work at rebuilding their bond, and it seems Spectacular Spider-Men will make good on that vow.
The Jackal’s Transformation Is a Welcome Upgrade for an Underrated Villain
Peter Parker’s Clone-Obsessed Villain Is a Great Challenge for the Spider-Men
While fans are already excited about the series’ creative team – Ramos has a long history drawing Spider-man, while Weisman wrote the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series – the villains on show are particularly interesting. The Jackal and Vermin are both classic Spider-Man foes who don’t get the love they deserve. While Vermin recently gained the ability to duplicate himself into a pack of monsters, the Jackal’s transformation is even more surprising. A mad geneticist who is obsessed with cloning, the Jackal’s genius is his chief weapon, and he’s known primarily for cloning Gwen Stacy following her death and his pivotal role in the Spider-Island event, where everyone on Manhattan Island was mysteriously given spider-powers.
The Jackal is known more for his scientific genius than the physical threat he poses, so to see him transformed into a gigantic hulking threat suggests something truly unusual is afoot. Jackal and Vermin don’t pull their punches, and their claws and cruelty have made them two of the most terrifying enemies in Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. Fighting these villains will give Miles and Peter the type of crucible they need to come back together, as well as giving them an outlet where they really don’t need to pull their punches. If the Spider-Men are getting their own ongoing series, they need threats that will test them to their limits, and a Hulk-Jackal and Vermin army fit the bill.
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Peter Parker and Miles Morales Are Becoming Equals
Spectacular Spider-Men’s New Status Quo Is the Change Both Deserve
Miles Morales and Peter Parker are both coming off a hellish year – one in which each has been pushed to their limits and beyond, and been forced to reassess what really matters in their lives. Thankfully, Peter and Miles have come to the conclusion that their relationship truly matters, and they’re finally doing the work to repair it – all while combining their powers and expertise against some of the scariest villains New York has to offer. A new era just started for Miles Morales and Peter Parker, as the two versions of Spider-Man evolve into true Wall-Crawling partners.
Spectacular Spider-Men #1 is coming March 6 from Marvel Comics.
