As Miles Morales himself says in the newSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Versetrailer, “In your universe, there’s only one Spider-Man. But there is another universe. It looks and sounds like yours, but it’s not.” Welcome to Marvel Comics' Ultimate Universe, friends. Also known asEarth-1610, the Ultimate run of comics served in part to introduce Miles Morales as Spider-Man back in 2011 after the death of Peter Parker in a completely separate continuity from Marvel’s Earth-616 main story line. Though many of the characters in the Ultimate universe merged into the mainstream universe in the comics in recent years, it looks likeInto the Spider-Verseis more than happy to play in the Ultimate world.
That goes a long way towards explaining the comic book craziness that’s going on in this new trailer. Not only does Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, existing as the OG wall-crawler, web-swing alongside Miles Morales in this world, but Gwen Stacy’s Spider-Gwen joins the party as well. (How many more spider-people are there? As the trailer teased, we’ll find out more atComic-Con!) But while spider-themed superheroes are all well and good, they need some ultimate villains to contend with for the good of the story. A trio of them are teased in this very trailer, but since the Ultimate Universe is slightly less well known, we wanted to break down just what they’re all about.
StarringShameik Mooreas the voice of Miles Morales,Jake Johnsonas Peter Parker,Mahershala Alias Aaron Davis,Brian Tyree Henryas Jefferson Davis,Liev Schreiberas Kingpin,Hailee Steinfeldas Spider-Gwen,Luna Lauren-Valezas Miles’ mother Rio, andLily Tomlinas Aunt May,Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseswings into theaters on December 14th.
Here’s the official synopsis forSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse:
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the creative minds behindThe Lego Movieand21 Jump Street, bring their unique talents to a fresh vision of a different Spider-Man Universe, with a groundbreaking visual style that’s the first of its kind.Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verseintroduces Brooklyn teen Miles Morales, and the limitless possibilities of the Spider-Verse, where more than one can wear the mask.
The Prowler is likely going to be the main villain of this piece due to the character’s personal ties to Miles Morales himself. While Jefferson Davis, Miles' father, was once a reformed crook who straightened himself out once he became a father, Jefferson’s brother Aaron stuck to his criminal ways, embracing the villainous identity ofThe Prowler. That automatically adds some extra drama to the spider-battle here. But while theprevious trailerrevealed Miles Morales chasing down the Prowler through the streets of New York in their iconic costumes, this new trailer shows what appears to be Peter Parker’s version of Spider-Man taking on the Marvel villain. Or perhaps this is Morales in the classic costume paying homage to his fallen hero and mentor? Time will tell.
While my first thought when seeing this battle was, hilariously, “Is thatBruce the gargoyle?”, it quickly became apparent that Spidey’s battle-mate here is theUltimate Goblin.Spoiler:The Ultimate Universe’s mutated version of the Green Goblin actually managed to kill Peter Parker in the alt comics' storyline, so this battle could carry much more weight than the trailer is suggesting.
While we don’t get a good look at Liev Schreiber’s Kingpin in this trailer, there’s a chance that the Wide Boi seen above is, in fact, the criminal mastermind. What exactly is going on in the background here remains to be seen, but it might just be an example of one of Miles Morales' unique powers, like his energy blast.
Another of Miles' powers was briefly on display in this trailer even though it was a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment. You see, Miles can turn invisible / use camouflage to his advantage, as you may kind of see below:
More spider-surprises are in store for folks attending San Diego Comic-Con this year, so stay tuned to find out more!
