“Enter a universe where more than one wears the mask.” The characters in Marvel Comics don’t reside to just one earth, or even one universe for that matter. The main universe is called Earth-616, but through the history of the comics, certain storylines have lead to these earths colliding and characters from different universes meeting. One of the most iconic characters not from the main universe is Spider-Man, originally from Earth-1610. Now by Spider-Man, I don’t mean Peter Parker. I’m talking about Miles Morales, a teenager from Brooklyn who wears a darker version of the Spider-Man suit.

[wpdevart_youtube]ii3n7hYQOl4[/wpdevart_youtube]

On Earth-1610, Norman Osborn revealed to the world that he was the Green Goblin. After this announcement, he was arrested and Oscorp, his corporation, was shut down. Miles Morales’ uncle, known as the comic book villain The Prowler, broke into the abandoned Oscorp building and stole the technologically advanced spiders. Later, when Miles was over at his uncle’s house, one of the spiders escaped and bit him. He then began to change and gained powers very similar to those of Spider-Man. Two months later, the Green Goblin murdered Spider-Man (Peter Parker). Having seen Peter die before his eyes, Miles was inspired to follow in his footsteps and become a new version of Spider-Man.

The trailer for the animated movie, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse starts off with Miles Morales chasing The Prowler through the streets of New York. The scene opens with Miles standing over Peter Parker’s grave. This confirms that the movie is using the original comic book storyline where Peter Parker dies. The trailer demonstrates some of Miles’ powers, such as the traditional web-sling, and ability to wall-crawl. We also see a face reveal where Miles removes his mask to show the kid underneath. Finally, the trailer concludes with Miles Morales talking to another Spider-Man who asks, “Wait, so how many of us are there?” This is a huge reveal because it tells us that Miles Morales is not the only alternate universe Spider-man fans will be seeing in the movie.

The Spider-Verse is an iconic storyline that has been used in comics, the Ultimate Spider-Man TV show, and even in a mobile app. Each universe has their own unique Spider-Man, and fans can only imagine how many will be shown in this animated film. There is an infinite list of Spider-Man versions that could be used. Some of the more likely include: Ben Reilly, a clone of Peter Parker from Earth-94; the newly popular Spider-Girl from Earth-982; the Spider-Man from the year 2099, who is on Earth-928; a Spider-Man Noir, who is a detective character that seems to be based off Batman from Earth-92100; and Spider-Woman, who is actually the Spider-Man love-interest, Gwen Stacy, but from Earth-65. There is even a universe where Spider-Man is a pig, named Spider-Ham. His secret identity is Peter Porker and is from Earth-8311. Any of these characters, as well as dozens more, are being given the opportunity to appear in not just this animated movie, but in any sequels or spin offs that follow. Now that the Spider-Verse is being established, it opens up the opportunity to give many unknown characters a chance in the spotlight. Fans, this is just the beginning!

Joseph DiGiuseppe