Should the Miles Morales Games Take Inspiration from the Comics?

This was meant to be uploaded in December 2021 but for some reason never did. Please take that into consideration when reading.

Personally to me Miles Morales is a more engaging Spider-Man overall then Peter Parker. Maybe it's a recency bias or just the face I loved into the Spider-Verse but Miles feels like such a good character unique enough that he doesn't fall into the massive shadow a character like Peter Parker would have. However, the one issue I have is the Spider-Man mythos doesn't have a lot for Miles to call his own. Antagonists like The Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus etc are all associated with Peter Parker it makes more sense when you look at how the Miles Morales game created a new version of The Tinkerer in Phin Mason (a younger gender swapped version of the original Phineas Mason which I think they should incorporate into the comics) instead of being able to pull a ready made villain. Compare that to the Sinister Six from the first Spider-Man game all classic villains (well maybe not Mr. Negative but he was still an existing villain). It creates an issue of what does Miles have in the mythos to call his own.

It got me looking into it a bit more as someone who doesn't get comics regularly with no comic stores locally I normally get graphic novels in bulk so I am far behind but as clickbait articles do they provided me a first look at the character Tiana Toomes. For those that don't know Tiana goes under the alias of Starling and is the granddaughter of Vulture which was an interesting dynamic. I read that writers likened her to Black Cat in terms of her relationship to Miles which I think is a good idea. More character based around the mythos of Miles and their interactions. While it's not a villain more an anti-hero it's a start if these characters van be written in a meaningful way Miles can have his own roster of allies and villains eventually. It's stupid to think this can be done right away. Rome wasn't built in a day and a rouges gallery and allies around Miles shouldn't be rushed. Nobody likes a badly written character let it be natural. The game worked its villain into Miles' story well and even used the Aaron Davis Prowler for this as well. These powered threats as well as Simon Kreiger were all antagonistic forces built around the story of Miles not character knows for their battles with Peter airlifted into the story like how Rhino is.

However, I do think that while characters like Starling are a good starting point it can lead to issues down the line. Starling is a character related to the Vulture which is fine as a rare occurrence for a character centred in Miles' story to be related to one synonymous with Peter it's important to not become the norm. If Miles has a rouges gallery set up of for example a new Doctor Octopus which is the child of Otto and a new different colour goblin (I mean where is the Blue Goblin we've had Green & Red) then what do we gain? You can see a Spider-Man fight a Doctor Octopus or a Goblin (well multiple of them) already you have to make character that fit for Miles and around him. I know that characters like Ultimatum have been created with this idea in mind but a character like that can't be used in the game due to his origin of being the Miles from the original Marvel universe of Earth-616. The games themselves can't use a character like that without major rework as they (for the moment) do not deal with alternate dimensions and the multiverse. I do like the idea of villains like this as they do work well for comic version of Miles however it limits what the games can take inspiration from which I mean they didn't really need to help crafting Phin or developing Simon Kreiger to be villains for Miles but still would the original Spider-Man game have worked as well without the iconic villains it could pull from.

While I talk about expanding the Miles Morales mythos we have several new entries in that. In recent years we have had comics that have shown Miles getting his own symbiote (which I do believe will be eventually written as its own character again as stated above this would be another one tied to a big Spider-Man villain so you hope this wouldn't be the path all Miles centred villains take) as well as his own clone saga. Focusing on the later while it is very early post that story it did treat us to several new character for Miles (I mean you don't get more close to a character then being his clone) in Selim, Mindspinner & Shift. Now while two of these characters were killed off (in Selim & Mindspinner) I have no doubt they will be back at some point under new costumes and identities much like Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider & Kaine. Shift continues to be a character featured and developed as of the time of writing this so not a lot in the grand scheme of things is known on these characters. I have personally held the belief post Venom the next big arc for the games will be an amalgamation of both Clone Sagas (and if Venom is playable like I speculated in my 'Spider-Man 2 PS5: Hopes and Expectations' I'd expect a side story for him maybe to introduce Symbiotes in their full extent to the games universe) so characters like Shift and Ben Reilly will be introduced. For Miles this can only be seen as a positive 3 characters based around him one of which turns into and ally and two of which stand currently as villains. All have unique looks (expect Selim who really just is Miles with knives but that could change) it just adds some bulk to his rouges gallery. For me personally I'd hope Selim at the least gets resurrected sooner rather then later, give him a different costume and a new look away from just being Miles and we have a new villain for him sorted, the backstory done now is just to flesh the character out as himself not just a clone. The same could be done for Mindspinner and Shift who's powers give them unique looks already it's just a case of making them characters in their own right instead of just clones. 

Back to the symbiote now. Since the introduction of Knull in 2018 and through to King in Black in 2020/21 symbiotes have become a focal point of comic stories which is a positive to me I like Venom a lot. Using the Marvel fandom website the symbiote that binds itself to Miles originally made its debut in August 2019 so it's just a little over 2 years old which is nothing for a comic book character and while it was killed at the end of Absolute Carnage I have no doubt it will be back as with every other character in history. While it may take time I have no doubt this symbiote will return and find a new host to be part of the rouges gallery for Miles. Now while I had stated before there's an issue if all characters that surround Miles are just offshoots or relations to characters associated with Peter it might be an issue I think an exception can be made for a symbiote. Marvel has made them their own species and there a lot of them now and with Miles having close encounters with one it makes sense to have it come back. Again not everyone has to have close ties to existing characters but in certain cases it can help and aid the story, besides it could always be the case that it now binds to someone in Miles life (not Ganke) maybe someone how went to Brooklyn Visions Academy with or someone they write in to take the symbiote. Either way a symbiote villain for Miles makes sense and I feel it is something that is on the way.

All in all a question about should the games take reference from the comics is a misleading as it is vague. Both can take inspiration from the others. While the comics have been able to introduce new allies build into the Miles mythos in Starling the game managed to work new villains into the Miles mythos like Phin Mason (while she might not be fully an antagonist more on a middle ground the point still stands). 

Perhaps I am being too harsh. These things take time to develop. I'm asking for a character who only joined the main line continuity in Marvel 616 roughly around 4 years ago going from just replacing Peter Parker taking his villains to his own character to have a fleshed out in depth gallery of allies and enemies. These sort of characters take time to develop and fit into the story. Marvel (at least on the outside looking in) mainly focusing on major cosmic events as opposed to the friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man of old where these sort of characters would be seen more. However, I do feel steps are being made in the right direction. Starling, the 3 clones and the symbiote are all new characters which are Miles centred characters they aren't created for Peter which Miles now deals with and can prove to be valuable additions to the story of Miles Morales and Marvel as a whole.

Maybe the ideal place is some middle ground between the two when it comes to a mythos built around Miles one which the comics can use but also one the games which don't (at least for the moment) feature any multi-dimensional shenanigans can use as a point of reference. However, the most important thing is patience. Nobody likes rushed poorly written characters so the pace they are going at is fine for the moment providing these new additions continue to be developed. Maybe if we get a second Miles Morales game they team at Insomniac will create a new villain for the game which much like the Phin Mason Tinkerer should and could be incorporated into the comics as how Starling could be incorporated into the games. As with anything like this time (and a lot of it) will tell what they do. 

So for full clarity I finished writing this on 16th November. The day after I discovered Marvel are doing a new series for Miles Morales. However, this is on the basis of it being a what if series reimagining Miles as different Marvel heroes such as Captain America and Wolverine. At first I found this quite annoying as while I understand What If stories are a key part for Marvel hell the concept just got an animated series it just doesn't help what I've stated above. However, looking at the What If series it does it in the chaos creates opportunity. My hope is that these series can create some original villains in this not just change a Cap or Wolverine villain and just change who they are. It creates a chance to see how concepts and characters work against Miles. I don't expect the change in power or costumed identities to change Miles so it would be a nice way to develop and see what sort of villains stick and if they're good and received well you can just move them over somehow to 616. While it is an annoying outcome and one I wish was different I don't think this what if series should be discarded in regards to helping flesh out the mythos around Miles.