Peter Parker Is Spider-Man, Miles Morales Is Miles Morales

Submission 9,677

Part of a series on Catchphrases. [View Related Entries]

Editor's Note: This entry contains spoilers for Insomniac Games' Spider-Man 2; read at your own caution.

About

Peter Parker Is Spider-Man, Miles Morales Is Miles Morales is a catchphrase used online to protest the idea of Miles Morales replacing Peter Parker as the new main Spider-Man. The phrase was popularized in 2021 by content creator Nerdrotics and spread over the following years, inspiring accusations of racism towards those who support the idea that Morales can't replace Parker. In November 2023, controversy surrounding the phrase increased after Insomniac Games announced that Morales would be the "main" Spider-Man in its video games going forward.

Origin

While it's unconfirmed who first used the phrase, the earliest notable use of it was posted to X^[1] (formerly Twitter) by user @Nerdrotics on December 5th, 2021, writing, "Spider-Man is Peter Parker. Miles Morales is Miles Morales," garnering over 1,500 likes in two years (shown below).

The sentiment was echoed by other X^[2]^[3] users that month as a way of showing that they did not want Peter Parker replaced by Morales, with some calling Morales a "tokenized" Parker, while other X^[4] users criticized Nerdrotics and his take.

On December 6th, Nerdrotics then elaborated on this point during an unlisted YouTube^[5] livestream (shown below, left), expanding on it further during a December 13th YouTube^[6] livestream (shown below, right), saying that his motivation behind the tweet was to "state the perception of the character" based on his perception of owning a comic shop.

In the video, he says that most people will say Peter Parker is Spider-Man and will call Morales by his name, elaborating, "it doesn't mean Miles Morales isn't a Spider-Man," then naming other alternative Spider-Men, like Ben Reilly. He then says, "Will Miles Morales become the Spider-Man? I guess we'll find out in a century if comics last that long." He also added that he's ambivalent towards the character of Miles Morales and thought he was "fine" when introduced by Marvel.

Spread

On October 25th, 2022, X^[7] user @nerdrotic made a similar post to his 2021 Miles Morales post, writing, "Miles Morales is Miles Morales and Steve Rogers is Captain America," referencing Sam Wilson replacing Captain America in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, garnering over 4,000 likes in a year.

On December 8th, he again posted to X,^[8] "Peter Parker is Spider-Man Miles Morales is Miles Morales," garnering over 6,600 likes in a year. The phrase continued to spread over the following weeks. On December 10th and 23rd, X^[9]^[10] users @The_Epic_Mike and @YellowFlashGuy posted the phrase, garnering over 300 likes and 1,100 likes, respectively, in a year (shown below, left and right).

The phrase was gradually associated with racists among some as it gained viral spread, with critics believing that those who support it don't want to accept Morales as Spider-Man because he is Black.

For example, on October 3rd, 2023, X^[11] user @Nerdrotics again posted, "Why do you think Miles Morales is Miles Morales?" garnering over 1,600 likes in a month. On October 26th, YouTuber TurfNation posted a video claiming it's racist to not accept Morales as Spider-Man, garnering over 4,500 views in two weeks (shown below).

On October 28th, X^[12] user @capeshitsucks posted an image of the controversial Miles Morales Adidas suit from the 2023 Spider-Man 2 video game, writing, "you can tell that a 'Miles Morales is Miles Morales' mf designed this costume," garnering over 58,000 likes in two weeks (shown below, left).

On October 31st, 2023, X^[13] user @AquariusKudo reposted a post asking, "What is your least favorite misconception about Miles Morales?" writing, "Do I even have to say it," with many assuming he was referring to the phrase, garnering over 8,200 likes in a week (shown below, right).

In an October 27th Gizmodo^[14] interview, the writers of Spider-Man 2, which allows players to be both Peter Parker and Miles Morales' Spider-Man, discussed Parker "handing over the reins" to Morales to make him the new main Spider-Man going forward in their "Insomniac Games Universe" of Spider-Man games.

On November 5th, the @CultureCrave X^[15] page made a post writing, "#SpiderMan2 writers confirm Miles Morales is now the main Spider-Man in the Insomniac universe 🕸️" garnering over 67,000 likes in four days. That day, X^[16] user @TheLaurenChen quote-reposted it, writing, "Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Miles Morles is Miles Morales," garnering over 5,400 likes in four days (shown below).

"The idea of a two Spider-Man story was always really essential to this game. I think pretty early on, we knew that we wanted to have that moment of handing the reins over. And as we developed it, as we started to lay down more track leading up to that moment, it just felt more and more right."

Melonie Mac's November 2023 "Miles Morales Is…" Post

On November 6th, 2023, YouTuber^[17] Melonie Mac Go Boom posted a video supporting the phrase, garnering over 24,000 views in three days (shown below). She posted the clip of her saying the phrase to X^[18] that day, garnering over 4,000 likes in the same span of time.

In the video, she claims that Marvel has been trying to "shoehorn Miles Morales into Peter Parker's Spider-Man space," saying they're trying to make Morales the "real Spider-Man" and pushing Parker out of the frame. She then talks about Morales taking over for Parker in the Spider-Man 2 Insomniac game, saying people will know if they "ingested enough soy to play the game." She says it's common in modern writing to have an existing character "overshadowed" by a "woman" or someone who is "not a white male."

Melonie received significant backlash to her post on X, with some calling her take racist. For example, on November 8th, X^[19] user @sarlicgauce posted, "You’re right! Miles morales is miles morales! That is his name!! But did you know he is also the--superhero commonly known as spider-man!! Really makes yuo think," garnering over 26,000 likes in a day (shown below, left). On the same day, X^[20] user @Gelzazz posted, "Is it so hard for white people to say he is Spider-Man?" garnering over 99,000 likes in a day (shown below, right).

On November 9th, Melonie then made a post to X^[21] responding to the backlash, writing, "So my Miles Morales is Miles Morales video clip made a lot of people mad," along with a meme showing an anime character yelling "I'm a bigot!!!" garnering over 1,700 likes in under a day (shown below).

Stan Lee's Opinion

Often, during arguments about Miles Morales being Spider-Man, supporters of Morales as Spider-Man will use a clip from a 2015 interview between Marvel founder Stan Lee and Larry King (uploaded to YouTube^[22] in 2018), during which Lee claims that the "best thing" about Spider-Man's design is that he's fully covered, so kids, despite their race, can imagine anyone of any race under the suit (shown below).

"You know, one of the greatest things about Spider-Man's outfit is he is completely covered, so any kid could imagine he's Spider-Man because no color of the skin shows. He could be black under that he could be red he could be yellow he could belong to any race."