Tag Archives: Miles Morales

Aug 9 2026

Top Ten Most Wanted MCU Spider-Man Team-Ups

One of the main features of the Spider-Man films that take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) are that many MCU characters interact with Spider-Man. This made the MCU Spider-Man films unique since the previous films took place in their own universes because Sony Pictures, which owns the rights to live-action Spider-Man films, were not able to feature other Marvel Comics characters not associated with Spider-Man.

The meetings Spider-Man had with MCU characters were something of a mixed bag. On some films, the MCU references and character appearances felt intrusive and did not mesh well with Spider-Man. Other times, as seen with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, the appearances of MCU characters and their interactions with Spider-Man were natural and added to the story. Here are ten other Marvel characters that the MCU Spider-Man should team up with; keep in mind that this list is geared towards characters Spider-Man has not met yet and characters that are currently alive in the MCU,,,or in another universe.

10. Cloak and Dagger

The young runaway duo made their debut in the comic book Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #64 and quickly gained a cult following. Eventually they had their own TV show that was not connected to the MCU, but the characters crossed over with another non-MCU Marvel TV show, Runaways. Aside from that the TV show was quickly cancelled and forgotten.

However, the characters are compelling enough to return and become part of the MCU, but recast with younger actors because the actors from the original TV show are aged out. Since they are closely associated with Spider-Man in the comics, they should be featured in a future Spider-Man film where he would serve as kind of a mentor and try to help them.

9. Rocket and Groot

Some of the most memorable moments from Avengers: Infinity War were the interactions of Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy. In the film, Spider-Man met, briefly fought and ultimately teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy. Except he did not meet the full roster. Rocket Raccoon and Groot by that point in the film were off on their own separate adventure. So a story where Spider-Man properly meets and teams up with Rocket and Groot is warranted. For that matter, he may as well team up with the new Guardians of the Galaxy in an outer space adventure.

Actually, Spider-Man’s experiences in space demonstrated his ability to adapt to different environments. Sure he is better suited to operating in cityscapes but he held his own in outer space. It would also be amusing to see Spidey and Rocket trading insults with each other as they use their superior engineering skills to build new devices to help them fight the bad guys. Plus, Groot would be a perfect tree for Spidey to swing from.

8. Wolverine

This is one of the most popular team-ups in comics and for good reason. Wolverine is a savage and caustic character who liked to pick fights with Spider-Man, who proved that he was quite a match to Wolverine’s fighting skills. Once they stopped fighting, the duo turned out to have an engaging buddy-cop dynamic with their opposing personalities.

This kind of opposites-attract chemistry would be perfect for a bromance road film featuring these two heroes. It would be similar to Deadpool & Wolverine where Deadpool’s non-stop banter drove Wolverine insane. The same thing could happen in a Spider-Man/Wolverine team-up where Spidey’s quips and running mouth would be enough to drive Wolverine into a berserker rage. This would be perfect if they’re facing off against an army of disposable henchmen.

7. Ms. Marvel

Kamala Khan would be a great team-up opportunity for Spidey. He represents New York while she represents New Jersey, so the two neignboring superheroes would have a lot in common when it comes to their locales. As seen in her comics and TV show, Ms. Marvel is a huuuge fan of superheroes and while Captain Marvel is her favorite it would be easy to see her relating to Spidey since he’s from across the river.

It should be considered that both heroes are young, eager and have unique powers that would work well in a film. The intense banter would be hilarious to watch especially connsidering that she probably outdoes him when it comes to running her mouth. Who knows, they could even develop unrequited crushes for one another to make things interesting, though we know Peter’s heart belongs to MJ.

6. Deadpool

Another popular team up in comics is Spidey with the Merc with a Mouth. The two superheroes vaguely look similar although one is a deranged and violent killer while the other is your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Given Deadpool’s penchant for violence and profanity, such a meeting would land Spider-Man in his first R-rated film!

This team-up would give Deadpool great material to break the fourth wall and quip non-stop about Spider-Man and his complicated live-action film and TV rights. It should be as hilarious as his commentary on the MCU and Marvel Studios in Deadpool & Wolverine. Also, as with Ms. Marvel, despite his gift for gabbing, Spider-Man would have a hard time keeping up with Deadpool’s mouth.

5. Miles Morales

This is so obvious. Marvel Studios and current Spider-Man actor, Tom Holland, are eager to introduce the next generation of Spider-Man to the MCU, But Sony Pictures has so far refused to allow this to happen (aside for a couple of vague references) and prefer to keep Miles Morales in his own animated film series. This is regrettable since Miles played a major role in the Secret Wars comic books and it is hard to see how the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars would proceed without him.

Still, we can always hold out hope that the ultimate team-up of these two Spider-Men can happen in live action. Sure the animated films are genuine classics but it would be so satisfying to finally seeing Miles Morales in a live-action film. Such a team-up would be a guaranteed box-office hit and a win for fans everywhere.

4. Thor

Aside from Black Widow and Hawkeye, Thor is the only OG Avenger who has not met Spider-Man (he most likely met Black Widow and Hawkeye off screen during the events of Captain America: Civil War). Thor would introduce Spider-Man to the epic cosmic scale of the MCU with outlandish worlds where Spider-Man would demonstrate his gifted intelligence to adapt and thrive in a location outside of his comfort.

Thor would feel a kinship with Spider-Man for his heroic and plucky nature. Meanwhile, Spider-Man’s amazed reaction to Thor, his power and Asgardian trappings would be worth the price of the movie ticket alone. Plus, we would get to find out if Spider-Man is actually worthy enough to lift Thor’s hammer. He is as far as we’re concerned!

3. Venom

Tom Hardy, who portrayed Eddie Brock/Venom in the Venom film trilogy, always wanted to have his anti-hero meet Spider-Man. The two characters were fierce enemies before becoming uneasy allies in the comics, and Hardy hoped this would happen in the films. Sadly this has not happened to date. The best we got was a cameo of Spider-Man appearing on a TV screen in Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Brock appeared in a post-credits scene in Spider-Man: No Way Home but never met Spider-Man.

Sony Pictures at one point planned to have the fourth MCU Spider-Man film feature Venom and a storyline involving Venom’s arch foe Knull, but that never came to be, which was for the best. The storyline of Peter donning the Venom suit was done in Spider-Man 3 but could be remade to feature Hardy as an MCU variant of Brock who ends up with the Venom symbiote. It could lead to a new series of Venom films set in the MCU where he and Spider-Man could fight then team up together.

2. Daredevil

Technically the two New York City-based heroes met onscreen already in Spider-Man: No Way Home, but only in their civilian identities. It was hoped that Daredevil would have appeared in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but unfortunately, that did not happen, which is not surprising since he is currently in jail. But the film did have more than a few references to the world of Daredevil.

If the two heroes were to team-up in a future film, it should be against their common foe, Wilson Fisk aka the Kingpin. He made his debut in The Amazing Spider-Man #50 but became more known as a Daredevil villain years later. Vincent D’Onofrio and Tom Holland expressed their hopes that Kinpin and Spider-Man would confront each other but aside from a couple of references that has not happened. Come on Marvel Studios have the three characters interact with each other in a future film!

1. Human Torch

It had to be Johnny Storm. He and Spider-Man headlined the very first issue of Marvel Team-Up and years before the two often met each other in the comics. At first the two young hotheads didn’t get along well, but were able to put aside their differences to fight their enemies. It was not long before the two developed grudging respect for each other which turned into a genuine friendship that was so deep that Johnny handpicked Spider-Man to replace him on the Fantastic Four if needed.

One regrettable thing about Fantastic Four: First Steps was that it was not set in the 616 MCU reality where Spider-Man exists, which prevented any meetings between the Human Torch and Spider-Man. However, there is the hope that the upcoming Avengers films will be the perfect vehicle for these two young heroes to meet, argue and become best bros just like in the comics. Also, if Marvel Studios greenlights another FF film, it definetly should feature Spider-Man, even if all he does is argue with Johnny Storm; it could be as hysterical as his interactions with the Punisher in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Other MCU characters to consider:

Beast, Black Panther (Shuri), Blade, Falcon Joaquin Torres), Gambit, Ghost Rider, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones, Kate Bishop, Kitty Pryde, Korg, Loki, Luke Cage, Man-Thing, Moon Knight, Mystique, Namor, Nightcrawler, Okoye, Quake, Rogue, Shang-Chi, She-Hulk, Stature, Storm, The Thing, Werewolf By Night

Are there any other characters who should be considered to team-up with Spider-Man? Leave a comment.

Jun 4 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Embarks On A Stunning, Visual Journey Throughout The Spider-Verse

When it was announced that the release date for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was delayed, there was reason for alarm. Originally the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was supposed to have come out last year, but its release was pushed to this year. Often such significant delays mean that the production of a film is troubled and the finished product winds up being a disappointment. Thankfully, that is not the case with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which excels past Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in so many ways in terms of story and visuals.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opens with Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld) recounting her life as Spider-Woman (or Spider-Gwen) in her own universe and why she left it to explore other universes with different variants of Spider-Man and Spider-Woman. After the lengthy prologue, we meet again Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), the Spider-Man of Universe 1610. He has the typical Spider-Man struggles of juggling his civilian life as a teenager with that of fighting crime as Spider-Man.

On his way to meet his parents, Rio (Luna Lauren Velez) and Jefferson (Brian Tyree Henry), Spider-Man comes across a supervillain called the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), whose body is covered with removable spots that are portals throughout inter-dimensional space. For example, if Spider-Man punches him in the chest and there is a spot there, Spider-Man’s fist will go through the spot and emerge behind Spider-Man to end up hitting the superhero instead.

The Spot is obsessed with getting revenge on Spider-Man because he blames the superhero for his dilemma. It turns out he was one of the scientists present in the first film where Miles and other Spider-powered heroes destroyed a collider machine that allowed travel between universes. The Spot gained his powers after being caught in the explosion of the collider and we also find out that the scientist was partly responsible for Miles becoming Spider-Man.

After the Spot is defeated and humiliated by Spider-Man, he gains the ability to travel throughout the multiverse and seeks out other colliders in those universes to empower himself even more. This decision will not only endanger the multiverse but severely affect Miles’ personal life.

As the Spot explores other realities, Miles is visited by Spider-Gwen, who is now part of the inter-dimensional Spider-Society that guards the Web of Life and Destiny by seeking out dimensional anomalies throughout the multiverse. She was looking for the Spot, who has become an anomaly traveling throughout several universes. Miles soon joins her as she returns to Spider-Society headquarters on Earth 928 and meets numerous variants of Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, including their leader, Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac).

Spider-Man 2099 explains to Miles that all the universes are intertwined in a delicate metaphysical web with canon events, which are important moments in time for those universes. Disrupting those events will eventually unravel universes and this affects Miles in a crucial way after learning that in all of the Spider-Men and Spider-Women universes have canon events that involve the deaths of distinct police captains. Miles deduces that his father, who was just promoted to a captain, will soon die. He comes into direct conflict with the Spider-Society since he resolves to save his father at all costs, canon event be damned.

In this day and age of overhype from fans and critics it is easy to dismiss praise for many films. However, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse lives up to the hype because it is truly one of the finest animated and superhero films ever produced. Like the first film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is a visual feast that incorporates different animation styles and frame rates. The best examples of this are with how Spider-Gwen is represented with soft watercolor palettes, while Spider-Punk (Daniel Kaluuya) is animated with harsh punk rock art whose clothing is animated at a different frame rate than the character himself. In other examples, the heroes fight a Vulture (Jorma Taccone) from a Renaissance-styled universe looks like a Da Vinci sketch that has come to animated life with sepia colors; we also meet Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider (Adam Sanberg), who is animated as a ‘90s-style character with overripe muscle lines and bright colors.

The visual canvas of the film is very busy with wild animation and numerous Easter eggs. Some scenes feature actual panels from classic Spider-Man comics and even images from live-action films. It will take numerous viewings of this film for anyone to fully spot all of them. Each scene is so painstakingly animated and colored, which leaves us with a film that is just dazzling to the eyes.

Of course, all of the visuals would be meaningless without compelling story and characters, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse also excels in this area. So much emotion is conveyed that is either subtle or outlandish. Just like the first film, this sequel is a coming-of-age yarn only with our hero having harder choices to make in his life as he grows into adulthood. Anyone is readily able to relate to Miles’ ethical dilemma of the needs of the many outweighing those of the few and we would probably make the same choice he made. What also helped with the film’s emotional stakes is that it took time to develop Miles’ relationship with his parents, which is full of angst and love. We understand their point of view as they struggle to relate to their son who is growing up to be a man.

Another character who has her own emotional arc is Gwen, who feels alienated and alone in her world. Unable to connect to her father, she in a sense runs away, only in this case she runs away from her universe. The deepening friendship she has with Miles is a true emotional anchor in the film and feels so natural as these two alienated teens are able to connect to one another.

Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), who served as a mentor to Miles in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has a reduced role in this film, which is regrettable. Still, it was a delight seeing him again and what he was been up to. Hopefully, he will have a larger role in the second sequel coming next year.

As many have learned, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ends on a cliffhanger and it is an intense one. But fear not, Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will come out in theaters in March 2024, which is less than a year away and we were able to handle the wait between these films. Given how Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is much better than the original, which in itself was a classic, we can only hope that Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse will excel past this sequel or at least stick the landing.

 José Soto

 

Dec 16 2018

Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse Swings & Soars!

Sony’s latest entry into their burgeoning Spider-Man cinematic universe, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, is a boon not just for the film studio but for Spider-Man films in general. This is not a small feat given Sony’s recent spotty record with their own Spider-Man films.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse follows the adventures of Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), a young middle schooler who gains the spider-like powers of his hero Spider-Man (Chris Pine) in a universe similar to the Marvel-616 and the live-action films. This universe’s version of Spider-Man is killed after trying to stop the Kingpin’s (Liev Schreiber) dangerous machine which breaches dimensions. As Miles struggles to honor his hero and grow into his role as a new Spider-Man, other versions of the hero from different universes start appearing. He forms an uneasy teacher/student relationship with an older, jaded version of Spider-Man/Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson), who has suffered a series of downers in his life like divorce, poverty, and is out of shape. Together, the two work with other Spider folk like Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) and Spider-Man Noir (Nic Cage) to find a way to return to their proper dimensions and destroy the machine before it irreparably destroys all universes.

The film has a wild and kinetic animated style that carefully combines 3D animation with conventional line and dot comic book art to create an organic and  moving comic book come to life. Adding to the effect were numerous word panels that conveyed characters’ thoughts and complimentary sound effects, just like in the comics. Producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller (remember them? They were the directors fired by Lucasfilm), along with directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman, pulled off this loving ode to Spider-Man and superhero comic books that will be remembered for a long time.

But as great as that sounds what makes Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse soar are its characters and story. It is too easy for a story like this about parallel universes and derivative characters to go off the rails, but the film gets us involved with not only Miles, but the other versions of Spider-Man, particularly the older Parker. Even though he is jaded, Parker is still a heroic person and is protective of Miles, though the younger Spidey wants to prove himself. What is impeding Miles, are his own insecurities stemming from his awkward relationship with his father and his inexperience. What was great to see is that Miles does not become an instant hero, he has to grow into his role and learn not just how to swing, but about responsibility and sacrifice. Remarkably, in this crowded film, the other Spider heroes have their own moments to stand out and shine, and this goes for the supporting characters. The only exceptions to this and a nitpick about the film, are the villains, who are a bit one-dimensional. But they server their purposes and help move the plot. Overall, the film moves along at a brisk pace and is quite exciting and fun.

As expected, there are too-many-to-list references to Spider-Man films and his history. Many of them will leave you on the floor laughing, especially with the recreations of infamous dancing scenes from Spider-Man 3. Of course, the Stan Lee cameo was one of the better ones and there is a loving, heartfelt dedication to the departed Lee and Steve Ditko at the end that is worth hanging around for. Adding to that is a hysterical post-credits scene starring a couple of versions of Spider-Man that features Stan Lee voicing J. Jonah Jameson. It has to be seen to be believed, it’s that great!

It’s hard to believe, but Sony delivered quite possibly the best Spider-Man film since Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2. After the debacle of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, it is safe to say that the film studio has found an amazing (pun intended) avenue for their own spin on Spider-Man films.  Hopefully, this can be the beginning of classic animated films that rivals anything that their competitors can come up with…just as long as Lord and Miller are left alone to work their magic. I already look forward to seeing other versions of Spider-Man joining the fray in a sequel.

This animated film is the best surprise of the year not only with superhero films, but films in general. As 2018’s most dazzling animated film, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse will make any true Spider-fan smile and rejoice. Do not take this statement lightly, in this year of outstanding animated and superhero films, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is an instant classic.

José Soto