Afro-Latino Spider-Man? Miles Morales To Replace Peter Parker In Marvel Comics This Fall

It is confirmed that Afro-Latino Miles Morales, created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, will take over as THE Spider-Man in the Marvel Universe this fall. When the comic relaunches later this year Morales will be the face underneath the mask, not the familiar Peter Parker, and star in his own story simply titled "Spider-Man."

Miles made a big splash on the Marvel scene when he took over the lead as the Ultimate Universe's Spider-Man after that earth's Peter Parker died. Since then the character has built a large fan base from all backgrounds and has reinforced the notion that anyone can be a superhero. Anyone familiar with Spider-Man recognizes him as a goofy heterosexual Caucasian male. Morales, by contrast with that description breaks all of Spider-Man's "core elements," as he is a half-black, half-Latino bisexual teenager.

Overall Miles has been accepted by many longtime fans, but Bendis reveals the reason behind making Morales Spider-Man after this summer’s "Secret Wars" series ends is to resolve any ambiguity about the character’s worthiness for the role. Bendis gushes over the news in an interview with Marvel saying,

"This is a very big deal to us. Miles is our baby. Sara and I had a baby! [Laughs]. And for our baby to have grown up and flat-out earned his place in the Marvel Universe, as Spider-Man, is frankly so much more than we could have hoped for when we first sat down to design him and his life. When it became clear that I was going to follow Miles into this new adventure, I was really hoping that Sara would see the value in it being both of us that do this together. I was thrilled that she agreed immediately."

As for what's coming for young Miles in his new series Bendis reveals there will be a few surprises but overall remains coy saying,

"I don’t want to spoil too much because Secret Wars is far from over and there are surprises coming both in the main series and the ULTIMATE END series. But I can promise you there will be surprises. I can promise you that the status quo for Miles will be very different. Some people already know that he is a member of the All-New All-Different Avengers. That’s just the beginning."