With great power comes great responsibility and with great spider-powers comes the opportunity to become Spider-Man.

Miles Morales was an average kid (besides being pretty smart) who happened to be in a situation that lead to him gaining spider-powers. With the death of Peter Parker in the Ultimate Universe, Miles decided that he should do the responsible thing and become the next Spider-Man. He has the powers and the world is full of threats that need to be taken care of.

The problem is, Miles is young and inexperienced when it coms to being a superhero. For all of Peter Parker's time as Spider-Man, after all the battles he fought and won, it still wasn't enough to prevent his death. Miles has had a few fights under his belt but is he really ready to become the next Spider-Man?

If Peter Parker could do it, why not Miles Morales?

Peter was a little older. While both have spider-powers, there are some differences. Peter's were mainly super strength, agility, spider-sense and wall-crawling (he was able to design web shooters off his dad's research).

Miles' powers are a little different. He's just getting a handle on his camouflage and venom-sting powers. Fighting superpowered villains while not fully understanding how his powers work or if they'll suddenly give out while being used isn't the smartest idea.

Peter Parker was a successful hero for a while but eventually Nick Fury decided he should have some proper training. He made it so the Ultimates would give him some guidance in how to be a superero.

What's odd is Miles is being allowed to be a Spider-Man despite his young age and lack of experience and guidance. He might have been able to deal with Electro but winning a couple battles isn't enough to allow him to graduate to a full-fledged hero. Nick Fury gave Miles his blessings by giving him a new Spider-Man suit.

For a guy that felt deep guilt and remorse over the death of Peter Parker, letting another young kid step into those same shoes is insane. He told Mary Jane that he met Peter when he was an baby. He was happy when Peter gained powers and was planning on grooming him. Yet, he allowed him to place himself into danger for a long time before insisting he be trained.

It was during the time when he was supposed to be under the Ultimates care that lead to his death. He was shot saving Captain America's life. During the chaos afterwards, the Ultimates didn't seem concerned that a shot kid disappeared. They assumed he sought out medical care as they regrouped back at their headquarters. Fury could have done more to make sure he was alright.

Miles is an extremely intelligent child. He's been studying footage of Peter Parker but that still isn't enough to fully prepare him. He could use some actual training with experienced heroes but trying to fit that into his school schedule without his parents or friends finding out could be tricky.

The idea that Fury is willing to give Miles "one chance" without a single bit of training is ridiculous. He's seen what happens when a kid with a decent amount of experience puts himself into dangerous situations. Miles was able to take on Electro but was it because of his abilities or because he got lucky?

Miles has shown huge potential. He definitely has what it takes to be a great hero. The last thing we need is another dead Spider-Man. Ultimate Peter Parker was a beloved character but Miles has earned the right to be the next Spider-Man. That role is more than just about having spider-powers. Miles needs proper and official training. Nick Fury needs to make sure that happens. Miles could be a great hero and Fury shouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Miles can be a great Spider-Man in his own right. He can recieve the same training as Peter but its what he does with will make him a hero.

I'm sure he'll receive plenty of training from Fury, Jessica, and other members of the new Ultimates team.  
 
However, I don't really understand where you're coming from. Besides Fury and perhaps Jessica, (the only two members of the team that even minded Miles wearing the same costume Peter wore) none of the Ultimates ever seemed particularly fond of Peter. Sure, they respected him for being so young and yet so brave, as well as handling powerful villains often all by his lonesome. But, Tony, Thor, and especially Hawkeye really just treated him like some kid that was trying too be like them and was running around New York City with spider-powers. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but I really don't think that anyone outside Fury and Jessica, and possibly Cap ever had extensive feelings for the kid. Perhaps they'll develop a relationship with Miles and possibly invite him to be a member of the team, but I would be more interested by Miles possible, future relationship with Iceman and Johnny Storm, two of Peter's most cherished allies.

Peter Parker was also young inexperienced like him if Miles follow his footsteps he will be a great Spider-Man.

Miles Morales is okay as a character but I just cant stand him as Spider-Man. He is just SO young, and inexperienced it is completely baffling to me that Nick Fury would let this snot nose kid take over Peters mantel. I dont think his powers even really make him a good Spider-man.. His powers are perfect for stealth and silent takedowns but that isnt who Spider-Man is. He is an in your face loudmouth wisecracking superhero! Let Miles mature and practice a few years and give him another identity (Scarlet Spider), he just isnt ready, or fit to be Ultimate Spider-Man. Bring Peter Parker back!

Miles Morales is okay as a character but I just cant stand him as Spider-Man. He is just SO young, and inexperienced it is completely baffling to me that Nick Fury would let this snot nose kid take over Peters mantel.

 I dont think his powers even really make him a good Spider-man.. His powers are perfect for stealth and silent takedowns but that isnt who Spider-Man is. He is an in your face loudmouth wisecracking superhero! 

hasnt impressed me yet. so yeah he kinda sucks.

I like him so far. I do wish they hadn't killed Peter but Miles is shaping up to be an involving character in his own right.

Side note: Why do I get the feeling we might be saying the same thing about Invincible 24 hours from now?

@Illuminatus: good post

Change is good. It reminds me of all the complaints about the DCnU and how the characters are tweaked. That's the point! To get new readers and new stories. There are at least half a dozen other titles out there featuring wise crackin Peter Parker, there's no shortage of that writing style. Lets try something new!

@Illuminatus said:

Peter was just as young and inexperienced once too.

Peter wasn't as young as Miles. Miles is 13 and Peter was 15 when he became Spider-man.

I'll be honest that's the main problem I have with Miles, I find him un-relatable. They had a good idea but screwed it up by making him that young. There's so much they can't do with Miles because of his age. For example giving him a love interest at 13 would be pretty creepy. They had a clean slate to work with and for some reason chose to make Miles younger than Peter. Why didn't they try to make Spider-man older for once? Put Miles in his late 20's to early 30's. I've already seen Spider-man when he was young and its getting kind of repetitive. In my opinion they should have taken another slant on this.

@Strider92 said:

@Illuminatus said:

Peter was just as young and inexperienced once too.

Peter wasn't as young as Miles. Miles is 13 and Peter was 15 when he became Spider-man.

I'll be honest that's the main problem I have with Miles, I find him un-relatable. They had a good idea but screwed it up by making him that young. There's so much they can't do with Miles because of his age. For example giving him a love interest at 13 would be pretty creepy. They had a clean slate to work with and for some reason chose to make Miles younger than Peter. Why didn't they try to make Spider-man older for once? Put Miles in his late 20's to early 30's. I've already seen Spider-man when he was young and its getting kind of repetitive. In my opinion they should have taken another slant on this.

Exactly, they should almost have done the exact opposite of Peter Parker, here we just have another version of Peter Parker... And the fact that he was bitten by a Spider by accident does not help either...

@MinkoAk: Yeah they would have had a better story-line. Eg: When Peter died the new guy could have already had his powers but had been choosing not to use them and when he saw Peter's funeral on the tele, he could have thought "hey if a kid could do it so could I" and then learn along the way that its not as easy as Peter made it look. I thought the Ultimate timeline was about variation and yet here with have another Peter Parker except he can turn invisible. This to me isn't what the Ultimate timeline is about. I felt that they where afraid to change the character which is stupid because the Ult Uni is about taking risks not sticking to the same thing again and again.

I will never buy this book because Ultimate version it's not interesting for me BUT I must to say that this costume it's great! I love the colors combination.

It is far more interesting to read about a character becoming a hero than starting out as the hero. That's similar to what you see in manga, such as One Piece and Naruto. You're following the hero on their journey.

So far, I like him. Yea, he's young, but so is Damian Wayne, Kidpool, Hit Girl, oh how the list goes. And if there's one thing I've learned from comics, it's that the younger they are the more interesting they are to watch. Some of you are saying, "Man, this is Parker all over again." That's a negative. As @Illuminatus just stated, "He should not have too conform to the standard Spider-Man mentality". He's in a completely different environment. He's not a genius. It seems he DOES have abit of a mouth on him and they provide some comic relief, but the kid's 13. That's natural. He's got ONE good friend. rather than a flock of hotties trailing after him(616 peter wasn't even supposed to be attractive in highschool..er until later years anyway). No love interest, so we won't see him brooding about that all the time(if they did bring one on, it'd most likely just be a SimbaxNala thing going on). He might get older and swear off love interests completely! He's from a completely different background. And! He has both of his parents and his best friend. We might see one of them die and then Miles totally flips the script becomes bloodlust. He doesn't have "With Great Power comes great responsibility" echoing through his head with every move he makes. Right now, he's doing it because it's just the "RIGHT" thing to do, and he feels something like this shouldn't be waisted and the world needs a Spider-man. And with all do respect to Fury, he can go kick a tire down a road, because last time I checked neither Pete nor Miles were doing what they felt was right for a paycheck. They're fully aware of the danger they're getting into. Instead of keeping tabs on Pete he should've been keeping personal tabs on Greg...and Osborn. You can right click and quote me on that. Okay, yea, the guy kinda cared for him, but it's clear that both Pete and miles weighed their options and chose the one that would risk their lives, but save the several lives in the process. Thumbs up for removing one's self from the equation. I don't know. Imagine..Two spiders. HA! anyway. That's jsut my little one two. Yea. One two. I'm totally going to make that a thing. And Jessica can so kick a can too. She is NOT Peter Parker. She's a completely separate being. What Petey's done and what she WOULD have done are two different things. She has no say in who takes on the mantle of Spider-man next. And now I'm ranting. Buuuut, maybe the first costume was in bad taste.

Of course he is. How old was Peter when he started being Spiderman? Ok, maybe he died in the end, but it was because he got shot protecting Captain America and then started the fight against Osborn injured, it didn't have anything to do with him being a teenager or having propper training

sorry for the bad english

That last image made we want to reread the death of spiderman.

Peter was young and inexperienced, too, and he learned how to become a great hero in his own right. I don't see why Miles can't do the same.

I'm just thinking that Fury feels like it was getting Pete involved in the ultimates that got him killed, and all that guilt is sorta stopping him from thinking rationally about Miles... Although this article does make some good points regarding it... I'm kinda surprised Fury didn't give him web shooters though... like Tony Stark gave Pete those ones for his birthday.. surely there's an extra pair lying around.

Having... trouble... accepting... anyone but... Peter Parker....

I wish people would quit complaining about Ult Pete! I mean damn isn't Spiderman Peter Parker in every other title/universe. House Of M, Marvel Adventures, What If, Age Of Apocolyspe. Damn can the Brothas have our turn? Oh and I hated everyones attitude towards him as far as the other heros go. I know he was younger but he had just as much right to protect the innocent as they did. Hell most were kinda crooked anyway. Hawkeye, Fury himself, Iron Man. They cared more of popularity, wealth, and power then actually being heros and defending the weak. Both Peter and Miles being younger makes it easier to believe that they do what they do because it's right.

@Illuminatus said:

Peter was just as young and inexperienced once too.

Peter wasn't as young as Miles. Miles is 13 and Peter was 15 when he became Spider-man.

I'll be honest that's the main problem I have with Miles, I find him un-relatable. They had a good idea but screwed it up by making him that young. There's so much they can't do with Miles because of his age. For example giving him a love interest at 13 would be pretty creepy. They had a clean slate to work with and for some reason chose to make Miles younger than Peter. Why didn't they try to make Spider-man older for once? Put Miles in his late 20's to early 30's. I've already seen Spider-man when he was young and its getting kind of repetitive. In my opinion they should have taken another slant on this.

Side note: Why do I get the feeling we might be saying the same thing about Invincible 24 hours from now?

@Illuminatus said:

So..a two year difference? There's hardly a gap in maturity between 13 and 15, so I'll just pass it off as semantics. The point is this: They were both teenagers when they received their abilities. And you can blame Bendis for the un-relatable writing. He's an older gentleman attempting to appear contemporary with a genuine insight into the thought-process of a teenager. In my opinion, a radical change to the character with a much younger but talented writer was needed for Miles.

I would argue that it is a big enough maturity difference but that's a different debate.

While I agree Bandis's writing hasn't been great I still think its playing it really safe simply getting another Spider to bite another kid and have him become Spider-man, it just seems forced. If you have a blank slate with Spider-man and can design any character why give him the same power origin? Why not make Miles a mutant with Spider-like abilities (although 616 Peter isn't a mutant near the beginning of his career he thought he may have been why not play with that even Ultimate Pete wondered that to begin with)? Its basically going to be the same trend:

Kid gets powers-> kid use powers to help people thinking its cool-> kid screws up and someone dies-> kid goes into depression about it-> feels better a bit later etc...

That's why I thought Spider-man 2099 was such a great concept (I agree the series had some poor writing and stories at times but the actual idea was good) Miguel was clearly different to Peter. He had less morals, a completely different origin story, powers that where different to Pete's but where still clearly Spider-like.

Miles has nothing unique about him, to me he's just Peter Parker Version 2.0.

While I agree Bandis's writing hasn't been great I still think its playing it really safe simply getting another Spider to bite another kid and have him become Spider-man, it just seems forced. If you have a blank slate with Spider-man and can design any character why give him the same power origin? Why not make Miles a mutant with Spider-like abilities (although 616 Peter isn't a mutant near the beginning of his career he thought he may have been why not play with that even Ultimate Pete wondered that to begin with)? Its basically going to be the same trend:

I like him so far. I do wish they hadn't killed Peter but Miles is shaping up to be an involving character in his own right.

Side note: Why do I get the feeling we might be saying the same thing about Invincible 24 hours from now?

@Illuminatus said:

I think that Bendis and Marvel are playing it safe by really just recreating the classic Spider-Man mythos with some new flare in personality and slightly different costume. That's about it.

Yeah that was my point. Playing it safe in the Ultimate universe (where the Blob is a cannibal people and the Hulk is a murdering psychopath) is like trying to rescue a kitten out of a tree by shooting it, completely pointless.

They should have had more fun with the character gave him some unique abilities, origin and made him different Peter Parker.

Fury in his quest for returning to SHIELD got Parker shot and killed. He feels responsible for Parker's death and Ultimate Captain America feels responsible for pushing Parker too hard to prove he was a hero. That's why Fury is taking a hands off approach on Miles. Plus the situation with the Children of Tomorrow and the People are bigger concerns in his agenda. Miles is about to find out who his uncle really is ( The Prowler) and that will determine the true character of Miles and what he's willing to do to be Ultimate Spider Man and continue Parker's legacy. Give him a chance

The disconnect of Fury's that you point out here is the same as the reason Schism (and the following events) seemed so ridiculous to me. The same adult characters (e.g., Fury, Wolverine) are so inconsistently written over how they treat young heroes--par for the course (genre convention) or horribly irresponsible (realistic take)--that they all wind up looking like hypocrites.

The fact is that teen and pre-teen superheroes are not going anywhere. They are popular. The violence they face is metaphorical. They are not intended to be treated in a brutally realistic fashion (e.g., Kick Ass). That may work as the exception, but not the rule.

Where it does work, you get Jason Todd & Bucky and the effect of their deaths on their mentors. That's appropriate because then the adult theme is centered on an adult character, and even when these sidekicks return they are adults themselves. They also stretched those character arcs out for years. It wasn't a full reversal a few issues after Jason's or Bucky's death. But in this context the reader gets thematic whiplash. At least with the X-Men stuff it's a number of different authors doing their own take, but what's Bendis' excuse?

This is one of the reasons that I wish Peter was still around. It would have been nice if somehow peter ended up being depowered or disabled, then the series restarts after a time-skip, and he could serve as a friend/mentor to miles, like the relationship between Bruce and Terry. 13 is a little too young to be a solo hero. Damien is young, but he had his dad and dick with him most of the time. Hitgirl was also young, but she was with her dad too.

This, to me, is very similar to when Damian Wayne was announced as the new Robin. Damian is younger than Miles but has been groomed by the league of assassins to be a Killer turned Superhero. Why can't Miles be trained in a similar fashion? The second it was apparent that there was a new Spider-Man on the streets, Fury should've brought him in for training. This kid should not be operating on his own at this age without some sort of training. The superhero world is dangerous and one mistake can cost you your life. Plus, the less experienced you are the more likely you are to make mistakes. I am not saying that Miles doesn't have the right to be a hero, he has the ambition and he has the heart, and I do want to see him be a hero. What I'm saying is that he needs to be more careful, makes sure he knows how his powers work, and learn when to make good and bad calls in fights. If he wants to train on his own that's fine too, it would show him taking initiative and prove to Fury that he can be a hero, but if he's not careful than JJ will be printing another "Spider-Man is dead" Headline before long.

@maxicere: I feel the same way and i also never bought into the whole Ultimate universe.

is fury not giving training cuz hes busy with these 'children'?

Haven't read any of Ult Spider-Man's comics yet but I doubt that when Peter first became Spider-Man was any more experienced that what Miles is now.

@fodigg: Very well-said.

He does need training. He needs the proper conditioning to be an able successor to Peter Parker. As of right now he's just a work in progress as a superhero.

Honestly the Ultimates and Shield's "Training" doesn't seem that effective. It pretty much got peter killed, and it doesn't really seem to have done much for the ultimates either. Most of the team training they did previously was rendered useless since half of the teamates that did the training were killed off in either the ultimatum wave or that vampire thing.

Also the new ultimates don't seem to have much or any synergy. The only active heroes that would have had shield training together would be thor, scott lang, black widow and iron man, who haven't been doing much teamwork lately. And maybe fury and hawkeye, but Fury seems way too busy for fieldwork. The best trained super team out there right now is probably hawkeye/Jean's black ops team despite their inexperience they at least have the original members they were trained with and their original leader, Jean.

My point is that most of the ultimate U could complain about not having enough "official" training, not just Miles. The ideal place for Miles to get training would be a school like the Xavier academy, and even though the school isn't around anymore he could still get in touch with some of their surviving teachers. If he really got lucky Fury could place him on Jean's squad, or at least get her to tutor him. But since spider-man and "luck" don't usually go hand-in-hand it's doubtful.

Plus thanks to the ultimatum wave and the vampire thing the ultimate u is very short handed when it comes to heroes. With all the stuff that's going on right now the only heroes that aren't busy are Sue Storm, Ben Grimm ( who haven't been mentioned in forever), Spider Woman, and Miles. That's literally it. Nova might be avilable but if he is he's probably not on earth anyway. This isn't the main universe where the x men and avengers are on 4 different missions simultaneouly in 5 different comic books. If miles didn't stop omega red it's doubtful that anyone would have.

Is Miles inexperienced, yes. Extremely so. But so what. He's got the tapes, which is more than peter had, and that's all he's gonna get for now. Peter was just as good of a solo hero as any of the ultimates (who have caused just as many problems as they've solved) and he did it FOR FREE, with no government financing while learning things as he went along. Being a hero in the ultimate U is just as hard whether you're 13 or 33. Miles is just as prepared as 99% of heroes in the ultimate U were when they started out. So yeah Miles is as ready as he's ever going to be.

I thought this was going to be a stupid pc stunt to add "diversity". I am glad to be wrong! Very well written and I care about the characters. (Ganke is a little annoying though) Love the art too!

I think Miles will make a great Spider-man once he learns what to do. I think most people don't want a black Spider-man. While I do miss the old Peter Parker and it was sad that he died, I am really enjoying the Miles as the new Spider-man even though it has been a very slow start.

here's a simple program for spider-man Morales

1. strength and speed training with steve rogers

2. field tactics and quick calculated thinking- iron man

3. specific skills to a spider based hero-spider-woman

4. at least two years of this and studying under...whoever the biggest genius is in ultimate U, honestly they've killed so many I can't even remember who's NOT dead

my point is, unlike peter who didnt have the option of training, and was about what 16-17? he was too rebellious at that point, but catch Miles at 13 and fresh to it, he'll just see it as apart of his beginning. first the avengers taught me everything I know, then Iinsert future major event. but he will be great and the only thing that really killed spider-man was being heroic, but let's be real, not fast enough and also didn't see an opportunity to save cap without the chance of dying. miles needs to be molded into a fighter by nature instead of one by instinct and reflex as well as expand his genius level mind, and he'd be the best spider-man ever.

Miles Morales, not yet a man, but such a Spider-man!

It is a bit much... I mean the kid is probably still in the middle of puberty. His voice will be cracking when he interrogates a bad guy.

I like everything about Miles, and the progression of this series. I agree there needs to be a younger writer for Miles

You might say this: while Miles is in over his head, he's pitting himself against all of Peter's old enemies and newer. If he'll remain without guidance, he'll remain and be five times the Spider-Man anyone could ask for in a... well, Spider-Man.

YOU CAN STATE YOUR RACISM IN ANY FORM YOU WANT BUT IT IS STILL RACISM. WHY CANT HE BE SPIDERMAN? BECAUSE OF A LACK OF EXPERIENCE? OH, BECAUSE PETER PARKER HAD 40 YEARS WORTH OF EXPERIENCE WHEN HE STARTED RIGHT. OH, AND PETER PARKER HAD SO MUCH GUIDANCE...SIKE. SO NOT TRUE.

Fury probably figures Miles is going to do the Spider-Man thing anyway. At least this way he can keep an eye on him. And I wouldn't be suprised if the costume had a tracking device in it and maybe some hidden protective measures.

I'm really digging that art work

I don't see anyone training him for a while. Let us get to know Miles first before the book is filled with guest stars. The learning to be Spider-man is the fun part of the book so far.

@FoxxFireArt said:

It is far more interesting to read about a character becoming a hero than starting out as the hero. That's similar to what you see in manga, such as One Piece and Naruto. You're following the hero on their journey.

I think those are Bendis's best stories. The evolution that his characters go through make for an amazing story. Miles Morales is no different.

@primepower53 said:

Peter was young and inexperienced, too, and he learned how to become a great hero in his own right. I don't see why Miles can't do the same.

That might be the reason Nick Fury is not pushing for him to be trained. The moment Peter was trained he got killed.

@sora_thekey: @sora_thekey said:

@FoxxFireArt said:

It is far more interesting to read about a character becoming a hero than starting out as the hero. That's similar to what you see in manga, such as One Piece and Naruto. You're following the hero on their journey.

I think those are Bendis's best stories. The evolution that his characters go through make for an amazing story. Miles Morales is no different.

@primepower53 said:

Peter was young and inexperienced, too, and he learned how to become a great hero in his own right. I don't see why Miles can't do the same.

That might be the reason Nick Fury is not pushing for him to be trained. The moment Peter was trained he got killed.

That last part is vital.

@LOWJACK2001: True