Warning! Spoilers for Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26 ahead!
As Peter Parker and Miles Morales investigate a new clone conspiracy, the elder Spider-Man conveys a crime fighting philosophy that Batman wouldn’t be likely to share. Two of the most popular heroes in their respective comic book universes have vastly different crime fighting approaches.
Peter Parker has often made it a point to provide Miles Morales with guidance and advice he’s amassed from years as Spider-Man. Their very first adventure together in Spider-Men concluded with Peter advising Miles not to let anyone ever clone him. That advice has proven to be well founded, as Miles deals with his own complex clone saga. The actions of a clone catches the attention of the original Miles, as well as Peter’s, in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #25. The two Spideys pursue what turns out to be a trio of clones and engage them in combat, but are repeatedly out maneuvered and surprised by unique abilities the copies possessed. Battling versions of himself has clearly rattled Miles, but Peter does his best to help the younger webslinger stay grounded mentally and emotionally as the clones elude them.
In Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26, by Saladin Ahmed, Carmen Carnero and David Curiel, Miles pushes himself to the limits to pick up the trail of the clones, but Peter knows it’s not an effective or healthy response. Parker reassures Miles that beating himself up and scouring the city aimlessly won’t get the job done, and will only lead to him neglecting other obligations. He suggests waiting for your target to make a move is sometimes the only option. Waiting for an enemy to make a move would be unacceptable to Batman. His typical methods lean more in the direction of paranoia and a need to know as much as possible about the movements and operations of his foes. In Batman: Urban Legends #2, Batman shakes down a few henchmen during an investigation and uncovers intel about Mr. Freeze. Even though Freeze doesn’t appear to be actively engaging in any schemes, Batman alerts the Bat-Family to search for his location, a clear example of how Batman’s approach differs from Spider-Man’s.
One reason for why Spider-Man’s approach to crime fighting may not be as aggressively proactive as a hero like Batman could be the addition of Spider-Sense. Having the innate ability to detect danger means Spider-Man doesn’t necessarily have to seek out criminals in order to respond to crime. That’s not to say Spider-Man hasn’t attempted to operate in a manner similar to Gotham’s most famous defender. When Otto Octavius was in control of Peter’s body in Superior Spider-Man, he utilized a fleet of Spider-Bots to monitor New York City and keep him abreast of bubbling dangers. However even Otto’s version of Spider-Man blatantly rejected Batman’s methods in Superior Spider-Man #3, when he destroyed a Spider-Signal that Mayor Jameson installed on top of police headquarters. Otto cited how foolish it was to provide a predictable location for enemies to attack, and it’s fitting that the Bat-Signal has recently been updated to fix this flaw.
The wall-crawler and the Dark Knight are both passionately dedicated to protecting the innocent and defending their cities. Spidey’s methods wouldn’t work for the World’s Greatest Detective, and the same can be said in reverse. Spider-Man doesn’t need to try to be Batman, and as the Clone Saga illustrates, sometimes it’s hard enough to be yourself.
