Could Miles Morales Makes His MCU Debut in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man?

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has just been released, and fans and critics alike are already in love with this bold new take on everyone’s favorite Wall-Crawler. The series explores the life and adventures of high school student Peter Parker and his early days as the crime-fighting Spider-Man. Peter is also surrounded by a new group of friends, including Nico Minoru, Pearl Pangan, Lonnie Lincoln, and Harry Osborne, as well as Harry’s father Norman. While the series is undeniably modern, it takes numerous cues from the classic Stan Lee and Steve Ditko run on The Amazing Spider-Man comic book series from the 1960s.

The series was initially set to take place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and depict Peter’s formative years as an aspiring superhero, leading up to the events of Captain America: Civil War, wherein the character made his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut. However, the series was later confirmed to take place in its own continuity. While fans may have been disappointed at the lack of direct connections to the massive franchise, this also opens up all kinds of interesting narrative possibilities. This has also prompted speculation about which characters could appear. While it’s still early in the season, there are at least a few potential hints of one fan-favorite character to show up: Miles Morales.

Foreshadowing or Coincidence?

The very first episode of the series sees Doctor Strange duking it out with a Symbiote creature which destroys Midtown High School where Peter attends. Peter leaps in to help Strange capture the alien entity but is bitten by a spider that emerged from one of Strange’s portals. Right off the bat, this implies that the spider is from somewhere in the multiverse. If that sounds familiar to you, it’s because the spider that bit Miles in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was also from somewhere in the multiverse. This may simply be the show’s creators tipping their hats to a franchise from another studio, but it’s also possible that this could be setting up something bigger further down the line.

Something else that’s worth speculating about is the fact that, after Peter is bitten by the other-dimensional spider, it lands on the backpack of another student. The identity of the student is not revealed, so it could belong to anybody. Could it belong to Miles? Or maybe that backpack belongs to someone who knows Miles and that’s how it gets to him? This was obviously intentional on the part of the show’s creators, so it’s safe to get at least a little excited about where that thread leads. Even if it doesn’t result in Miles getting bitten, it opens the door to plenty of other Spider-Man-related characters.

And there’s one more little hint at the possibility of Miles making an appearance in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, this one found in the show’s theme song, “Neighbor Like Me.” Listen closely and you’ll hear the lyrics, “spectacular, ultimate, he’s amazing.” Hardcore Spider-Man fans will recognize these adjectives, as they are obviously references to the comic book series The Spectacular Spider-Man, Ultimate Spider-Man, and The Amazing Spider-Man. And fans who really know their comics will tell you that Ultimate Spider-Man is the series that introduced the Miles Morales version of the character. Again, this may be nothing more than a subtle reference, but it could hint at the specific source materials from which the show’s creators drew inspiration.

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Let’s Be Real

There’s a very good chance that this is nothing more than wishful thinking; after all, Sony is currently using an animated version of Miles Morales for its Spider-Verse films, and may not be too willing to share the character with Marvel Studios. Still, the MCU has treated fans to plenty of surprises over the years, so even if none of these Easter Eggs point to an appearance by Miles, they could still be pointing to some wild plots later in the series.

Miles may not be seen in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t see him in the MCU. Marvel Studios head honcho Kevin Feige said at D23 Brazil in 2024, per Gamerant, that, “Miles will appear in the third Spider-Verse movie, which is in production. I hope that, shortly after that, he can enter the MCU in live-action.”