Marvel Announces ‘Miles Morales: Spider-Man’ Team

The Miles Morales Spider-Man will swing into a new title this winter under just-announced creative team Saladin Ahmed (Black Bolt) and artist Javier Garrón (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Marvel revealed Thursday.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man will depict the teen superhero as a regular teen and street-level hero, who will navigate both his super-powered responsibilities as a costumed crime-fighter and his personal life outside of the red-and-black costume.

“Spider-Man is, in his essential origins, a teenage hero. And Miles will be that Spider-Man: facing threats against the neighborhood rather than the multiverse,” Ahmed told Marvel.com.

“Super Villains, yes, but also other threats that speak to our times. He’ll be doing that while also trying to while dealing with bullies, assistant principals, and canceled teen dates. It’s going to be hard! Part of what we love about Spider-Man is all the crap he goes through. And Miles will be dealing with some dark realities of our modern world. But I also want this book to have a bright thread running through it, because what we really love about Spider-Man is that he keeps us smiling no matter how grim things seem.”

Garrón said in boarding the book he “felt a bit like Spider-Man himself when I was offered the series. It’s a great power but it comes with great responsibility.”

“Miles is the future… but now! You must portray him as the vital character he is in the great design of the Marvel Universe and at the same time keep him human, actual, and relatable as the icon of hope he is too,” Garrón said.

“Spider-Man has always been the most incredible fantasy grounded in the most real world. You have this guy with real problems, set in a real city in the present, with the most amazing powers, villains and adventures. You must hit both notes and that’s what we’re set to do here.”

Ahmed teased one of Marvel’s biggest heroes will act as a “major guest star” in the first arc — but it won’t be Miles’ mentor Peter Parker.

“And looking past that,the question of how Miles as the relatively new kid navigates the Marvel Universe’s world of living legends is a really rich one, and I’m looking forward to exploring it through guest stars and team-ups,” Ahmed said.

Fans can expect Miles to tangle with one of Spider-Man’s most ferocious and recurring foes — the near-unstoppable Rhino — as he steps up to defend his city. Ahmed praised the work of Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis, who created the character with artist Sara Pichelli.

“Bendis has the following he does for a reason. His writing was one of the things that brought me back to superhero comics after years away, so I suppose there’s some intimidation factor,” he said.

“But here as elsewhere in the Marvel Universe, I just try to respect the work of those who came before me while still putting my own stamp on these characters. Marvel stories are built from layers — other creators had to help define Peter Parker further after Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, or we wouldn’t have the Spider-Man we love today!”

Miles Morales: Spider-Man swings onto shelves Wednesday, December 12.