Spider-Man # 18 NM Jim Lee Variant X-Men Cover Miles Morales Across Spider-Verse

Description

Spider-Man (2016 Marvel) #18B

Published Sep 2017 by Marvel
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Art by Oscar Bazaldua
Cover by Jim Lee
28 pages, full color

Spider-Man finds out that Hammerhead isn’t so funny after all. The NYC crime-land gang war is heating up, and Miles is getting a little too involved. This won’t end well.

Featured Characters:
Spider-Man (Miles Morales)
Goldballs (Fabio Medina)
Ganke Lee
Judge
Rio Morales
Bombshell (Lana Baumgartner)
Black Cat’s Gang
Hammerhead Family
Hammerhead (Joseph)
Black Cat (Felicia Hardy)
Doris (a nurse) (First appearance)
D-Man (Dennis Dunphy) (Cameo)

Reeling from a battle with Hammerhead, Spider-Man is in big trouble!

This means his old X-Men friend, Goldballs, must come to his rescue. Miles manages to escape, but he finds his mom back at his home. They have to connect on the Spider-Man issue, and Miles Morales has to come to terms with the fact that he was ready to kill Hammerhead.

Hammerhead isn’t through with Miles, though, and he is already scheming on what to do with the Wall-Crawler next.

This comic brings Miles to an emotionally vulnerable moment. He almost killed the Hammerhead, and he is having to tangle with his mom, who has never approved of his superhero persona. This leads to a nice moment where she has to show some level of encouragement for his Spider-Man career and encourage him that he can be better than even Peter Parker.

Goldballs bringing down Hammerhead was a pretty neat and amusing moment. He essentially keeps producing balls until he manifests a giant one which takes out the mobster.

Bombshell admitting her feelings for Miles was a pretty sweet moment, too. You have to feel bad for Goldballs, because she tells the hero and her feelings are reciprocated. It’s a bit of juvenile love triangle foolishness, but it’s handled in a novel enough way (given her interpretation of how Miles handled Hammerhead) that it was at least unique.

Oscar Bazaldua’s artwork is quite good. He manages to hybridize a comic and cartoonish style that is quite fitting for the adventures of Spider-Man. It’s also generally very visually appealing, and is actually pretty in line with frequent Brian Michael Bendis partner David Marquez.

Miles Morales is an endlessly likable character, and it makes this a fairly enjoyable comic. It’s another stepping stone on the journey of the new Spider-Man, and it helps remind you why this character became so popular so quickly. This one comes with a recommendation. Check it out.

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What Kevin Feige & Sony Have Revealed About The MCU Miles Morales
Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal, and two MCU Spider-Man films have hinted at Miles Morales eventually making his MCU debut as the next Spider-Man.

Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige and Sony have hinted at a live-action Miles Morales for some time, revealing a potential MCU appearance on the horizon. Miles Morales succeeded Peter Parker as the Ultimate Marvel universe’s Spider-Man in 2011and has since become an extremely popular superhero in his own right. Within a decade, Morales has starred in numerous comics, an animated film, and a video game, and many fans hope to see him in the MCU someday. With multiple MCU films hinting at an appearance by Morales and comments by Feige and producer Amy Pascal regarding the fan-favorite hero, his live-action debut seems inevitable.

After the Peter Parker of the Ultimate Spider-Man comics seemingly dies in a final, climactic, confrontation with the Green Goblin, Miles Morales eventually takes his place as New York City’s web-slinger. Like Peter, Morales was bitten by an Oscorp test spider (which came from the same laboratory as the one that bit Peter), granting him similar powers to Parker, albeit with two new abilities. In addition to enhanced physical attributes and a “spider sense,” Morales also gained the ability to turn invisible and deliver powerful bioelectric shocks from his hands. Eventually obtaining a set of web-shooters and a supply of web-fluid, Morales grew into his role as the new Spider-Man, winning the hearts of New Yorkers and readers alike.

Miles Morales starred in the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a massive success among critics and viewers. Although the film featured multiple Spider-Man variants across the multiverse, it was Miles’ film, proving that he was more than capable of carrying a film as well as he did a comic series. With Morales having joined the mainstream Marvel comic universe, being the player character of Insomniac’s second Spider-Man video game, and leading the upcoming animated sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One), his MCU appearance is highly anticipated. Thanks to Kevin Feige and Sony, Morales’ debut seems closer than ever.

The first hint at an MCU Miles Morales comes from Spider-Man: Homecoming. Aaron Davis, played by Donald Glover, is an associate of Mac Gargan and a potential buyer of Adrian Toomes’ alien weaponry. Davis helps Spider-Man track down Gargan, admitting that he doesn’t want futuristic weaponry endangering his nephew. Aaron Davis was a character in Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, better known by his villainous alter ego, The Prowler. Davis is also Miles Morales’ uncle, making his dialogue in Homecoming indirectly reference Morales.

Although the scene doesn’t specify his age, the MCU’s version of Miles Morales might have been too young to be Spider-Man during the events of Homecoming. Avengers: Endgame created a five-year time skip, however, so the MCU’s Miles Morales may now be closer to the age he received his superpowers in the Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man. By including Aaron Davis, the MCU has also introduced a key supporting character for Miles, showing that the franchise is slowly and gradually setting up their iteration of Peter Parker’s successor.

Although introducing Aaron Davis and having him mention his nephew in Homecoming seems like a clear confirmation of Miles Morales’ existence in the MCU, there may have still been room for skepticism regarding an MCU appearance by Morales. Mac Gargan and Dmitri Smerdyakov have appeared in the MCU Spider-Man films, but it seems unlikely that either will become their costumed alter egos from the comics. Davis calls Miles and addresses him as such in a deleted scene, but these aren’t always canon. Any suspicion that the Homecoming line was nothing more than an Easter egg was debunked, however, when Kevin Feige himself confirmed that it was included to prepare fans for Miles Morales’ eventual MCU debut.

Around the time of Homecoming’s theatrical release, Feige was asked about the Miles Morales Easter egg in an interview. While he didn’t confirm a Miles Morales Spider-Man film, he made it clear that the reference was intended to reveal Morales’ existence in the MCU. In 2015, when an MCU version of Spider-Man was announced, following the cancellation of The Amazing Spider-Man films, Feige stated that while he wanted the MCU’s first web-slinger to be a new version of Peter Parker, he is a fan of Morales and would maintain opportunities for him to appear in the MCU sometime after Parker.

Amy Pascal, who produced many of Sony’s Spider-Man movies, recently revealed in an interview that plans for a live-action Miles Morales appearance are underway. In a November 2021 interview, Pascal revealed that Miles Morales would be introduced to live-action films once their story creates an opening for him. Now that a new trilogy of Spider-Man films set after Spider-Man: No Way Home has been confirmed, the MCU may gradually begin to set the stage for Morales’ introduction. Tom Holland has also voiced support for a live-action Miles Morales, hoping that the younger web-slinger would succeed him (and allow Holland to gracefully transition out of the role of Peter Parker).

If the MCU were to follow the comics, Peter Parker would die sometime after Miles Morales receives his fateful genetically-altered spider bite. Another possibility (that would perhaps be more crowd-pleasing) is that Holland’s Peter Parker begins mentoring Morales by the end of his films, having him take Tony Stark’s Homecoming role and bringing his character arc full circle as he prepares Miles for the life of a superhero.

Unsurprisingly, No Way Home includes an additional Miles Morales reference. After his powers were neutralized by Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man, Max Dillon (a.k.a. Electro) wonders if there’s a Black Spider-Man somewhere in the multiverse. While Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man wouldn’t know it, they were both in a reality that includes Miles Morales, who will presumably succeed Peter Parker as the web-slinger someday. Given the prominence of the multiverse in the MCU’s Phase 4, there may be other Miles Morales variants as well, including the animated version of Miles, featured in the Spider-Verse movies. With the recent comments from Kevin Feige, Amy Pascal, and Tom Holland, the gradual transition from Peter Parker to Miles Morales may be key to the upcoming Spider-Man films. No Way Home is considered to be the end of a franchise, and perhaps that means that the next Spider-Man film series will belong to Miles Morales.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) is an upcoming American computer-animated superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Miles Morales / Spider-Man, produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation in association with Marvel, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is the first of a two-part sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) and is set in a shared multiverse of alternate universes called the “Spider-Verse”. The film is directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson from a screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and David Callaham. Shameik Moore voices Morales, starring alongside Oscar Isaac and Hailee Steinfeld.

Sony began developing Across the Spider-Verse before Into the Spider-Verse’s release in 2018, with the writing and directing team attached. It was set to focus on the relationship between Morales and Steinfeld’s Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman. The film was officially announced in November 2019, animation work began in June 2020, and the title was revealed in December 2021.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Part One) is scheduled to be released in the United States on October 7, 2022, delayed from an initial April 2022 date due to the pandemic. Part Two is expected to be released in 2023, and a female-focused spin-off film is also in development.

Near mint, 1st print. Bagged & Boarded.