Miles Morales is a fictional superhero who appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. He is one of the characters who goes by the identity of Spider-Man.
The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli. Bendis and Marvel editor-in-chief Axel Alonso drew inspiration from both U.S. President Barack Obama and American actor Donald Glover.
Miles Morales first appeared in Ultimate Fallout #4 (August 2011) following the death of Peter Parker. He is a teenager of Black Hispanic descent. Miles is the second Spider-Man to appear in Ultimate Marvel, an imprint with a separate continuity from the mainstream Marvel Universe.
Morales is featured in the Ultimate Comics Spider-Man comic book series. He is not the lead character in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated TV series that debuted in April 2012 on Disney XD. After Marvel ended the Ultimate imprint in 2015 Miles was made a character in the main Marvel Universe. His beginning in the main Marvel Universe was with stories under the All-New, All-Different Marvel brand published that same year.
Reaction to the character varied. Some, including Spider-Man’s creator, Stan Lee, approved the creation of a positive role model for non-white children. Others showed displeasure at the replacement of Peter Parker. Some even decried it as a publicity stunt motivated by political correctness, a charge Alonso denied. Alexandra Petri of The Washington Post called for the character to be judged on the quality of its stories, which have garnered positive reviews.
The character possesses powers similar to those of the original Spider-Man, which were derived from the bite of a spider genetically engineered by Spider-Man’s nemesis Norman Osborn in an attempt to duplicate those abilities.
