At first, when I heard Marvel Comics was going to kill Peter Parker, I wasn’t happy. To be honest, I’m still not thrilled they decided to kill the original Spider-Man. Now anyone who knows me knows I was a comic book freak growing up, and along with Batman, Spider-Man was/is undoubtedly my favorite character. I always related to the flawed humanity in Peter Parker, but I digress. With that being said, when I heard they were introducing a new Spider-Man, I had the illest “Cam Face.” Then, I heard he was going to be a biracial dude and my sense of intrigue grew. Now that Marvel has my attention, let’s just see what this half-Black/half-Latino Spider-Man is all about.
According to the good folks over at CNN, the new Spider-Man is a teenager named Miles Morales from Brooklyn. Apparently he’s nerdy (like Parker) and lives with his parents (unlike Parker). Outside of that, I guess they’re saving the good details for the comic books. Now all of that is well and good, but what’s a hero without his enemies? There was no Parker without Venom, the Green Goblin or Doctor Octopus. And what about his allies? There was also no Parker without Mary Jane Watson, Gwen Stacy or Aunt May. To be honest, I can’t separate Peter Parker from Spider-Man, so I’m not sure how this new character is going to work. Who’s going to be his arch nemesis? Who’s going to be his love interest? These factors are just as important as web-slinging from building to building. Remember the whole “flawed humanity” part from the first paragraph? Yeah, it still applies son. They better get this right, because diversity is cool and all until people get bored with the story.
But in the end, I guess I have to give a Black man a chance (© Kanye West). I’ll wait to see what kind of storylines they give young Morales before I dismiss him. But before I go, I have a little message for Marvel Comics: don’t fuck up the legacy of Peter Parker. You’ve been warned.
