Why Spider-man is not a legacy character

[Frontier]

That's the problem with legacy characters, that Marvel introduces as a replacement. I like Miles, and I liked him most on the Ultimate universe. In 616 they constantly need to wave him in front of us and scream "LOOK! HE IS MORE CAPABLE THAN PETER, HE HAS MORE POWERS", to uphold his status as the successor to Peter.

It's kinda like it was with Ben, when he fought Venom in the 90's and won. Peter couldn't do it, but Ben? Yeah, he could. He's legit.

That's why Miles will always seem to me a bit like Gary Stu/Mary Sue. Him being a Spider-Man is more important, than Miles Morales, and everybody knows, that Spider-Man is the person inside the costume, not mask itself.

Just look at X23 - she wasn't introduced as Wolverine's replacement, and over the years - she became like a daughter to him, a worthy successor of his legacy. It was a natural progression for the character, when she jumped into costume and became the all-new Wolverine.

That's not really so much an issue in Miles' solo book where it's just Miles having his own adventures with Peter occasionally showing up. He's not treated like a successor, just an independent alternate Spider-Man.

His solo has also been focusing more on his civilian life.

[Username taken]

I don't want to derail the thread but I will say this; the discussion around Spider-man not being a legacy character is interesting but the talk around Miles is a non-starter.

Why? Because the ship has sailed. Miles has a successful comic book series, had a successful oscar winning movie and has been in a huge video game.

I don't know if people have kids here but when my kids see Miles, they just see him as "Spider-man" and Peter as "Spider-man". To a generation of kids, there's already multiple "Spider-mans". It's already happened and it's not really a problem.

Honestly, outside of a very few people on some corners of the internet...I think its been generally accepted.

[Dzika_Sowa]

I don't want to derail the thread but I will say this; the discussion around Spider-man not being a legacy character is interesting but the talk around Miles is a non-starter.

Why? Because the ship has sailed. Miles has a successful comic book series, had a successful oscar winning movie and has been in a huge video game.

I don't know if people have kids here but when my kids see Miles, they just see him as "Spider-man" and Peter as "Spider-man". To a generation of kids, there's already multiple "Spider-mans". It's already happened and it's not really a problem.

Honestly, outside of a very few people on some corners of the internet...I think its been generally accepted.

Well, I don't see any problems as long as Peter stays the original Spidey. I'm sure no fans really want a Barry Allen / Wally West situation.

[Frontier]

I don't want to derail the thread but I will say this; the discussion around Spider-man not being a legacy character is interesting but the talk around Miles is a non-starter.

Why? Because the ship has sailed. Miles has a successful comic book series, had a successful oscar winning movie and has been in a huge video game.

I don't know if people have kids here but when my kids see Miles, they just see him as "Spider-man" and Peter as "Spider-man". To a generation of kids, there's already multiple "Spider-mans". It's already happened and it's not really a problem.

Honestly, outside of a very few people on some corners of the internet...I think its been generally accepted.

I think more people are accepting of Miles as an individual Spider-Man in his own right than they are pairing Peter and Miles together.

[Username taken]

I think more people are accepting of Miles as an individual Spider-Man in his own right than they are pairing Peter and Miles together.

Exactly.

Marvel has wisely not had the interact too much in each other’s titles.

[Username taken]

Well, I don't see any problems as long as Peter stays the original Spidey. I'm sure no fans really want a Barry Allen / Wally West situation.

The thing with Wally and Barry is the way DC handled it.

DCs (or rather Dan Didio’s) mindset was there could only be one (1) Flash and that was Barry Allen. This was crazy because Wally West had been Flash almost as long Barry Allen was. Wally West was THE Falsh for a generation. The two Flashes could have co-existed like they do now (although it seems Barry Allen has been shunted off into another multiverse or something) but Didio wanted his childhood favorite back, logic be damned.

DC erased Wally West completely and when they brought him back, they turned him into a murderer and then became some Dr Manhattan like being. DC all but destroyed Wally as a character and even now his title isn’t selling all that well due to all the crap thrown at him.

Marvel has been much more careful with Peter and Miles. They haven’t denigrated Peter to make Miles look good and vice versa. And they haven’t really interacted with each so much in their individual titles so they’re just co-existing with Peter being the “main Spider-man”.

[9th.]

Sooner or later y'all are going to have get over this concept. I'm not saying you can't have an opinion on things but the fact is Marvel decided he was, like a long time ago. Spiderman is not just a character he's a whole franchise. Also if the problem is Miles just say that, you don't have to dress it up and dance around it. At least put his name in the title.

[Frontier]

Marvel has been much more careful with Peter and Miles. They haven’t denigrated Peter to make Miles look good and vice versa. And they haven’t really interacted with each so much in their individual titles so they’re just co-existing with Peter being the “main Spider-man”.

Well, unless you watch the cartoons. Anyone remember Kid-Arachnid ?

Sooner or later y'all are going to have get over this concept. I'm not saying you can't have an opinion on things but the fact is Marvel decided he was, like a long time ago. Spiderman is not just a character he's a whole franchise. Also if the problem is Miles just say that, you don't have to dress it up and dance around it. At least put his name in the title.

I don't think it's just a Miles issue.

Like, what do you do with Spider-Man and Ghost Spider? Or Spider-Girl? There really isn't a clear relationship or dynamic there beyond an occasional team-up which is fine for the comics but I feel like there's an expectation that you have to incorporate them all together in adaptions somehow.

[9th.]

Well, unless you watch the cartoons. Anyone remember Kid-Arachnid ?

I don't think it's just a Miles issue.

Like, what do you do with Spider-Man and Ghost Spider? Or Spider-Girl? There really isn't a clear relationship or dynamic there beyond an occasional team-up which is fine for the comics but I feel like there's an expectation that you have to incorporate them all together in adaptions somehow.

Who's Spider-girl now? I'm drawing a blank, but it looks like occasional team ups is exactly what they're going for right now actually. I'd also bet they're going to show up in most future adaptations as well since the Spider verse movie was so popular and Ghost-Spider seems to be a cosplay favs she at least has some marketability.

[Frontier]

Who's Spider-girl now? I'm drawing a blank, but it looks like occasional team ups is exactly what they're going for right now actually. I'd also bet they're going to show up in most future adaptations as well since the Spider verse movie was so popular and Ghost-Spider seems to be a cosplay favs she at least has some marketability.

Anya Corazon.

I think it worked in Spider-Verse because it was a movie and it was all about a one-off adventure about sending the other Spiders back instead of having them stick around in Miles' world.

[Kaitou D. Kid]

Spider-Verse does have each Spider in their own world, but it honestly doesn't feel like it. Miles doesn't feel like the only Spider in that world, not even by the end. And, I mean, that's kinda the point, isn't it? "I'm Spider-Man, and I'm not the only one... Not by a longshot." The implication being "There are others out there like me."

So if anything, ITSV proves the opposite. At worst ITSV might prove there needs to be some reasonable distance between the Spiders so they don't feel like they're always running into each other... But you can also do that if you separate them by cities or city areas.