Why Spider-People Suffer
Subtitled: How âOtheringâ Miguel Killed Hundreds of Cops
I loved seeing Miguel getting othered by his fellow spider-people so casually during this movie, both intentionally and unintentionally, and I believe itâs the reason he convinced everyone their loved ones had to die.
âOtheringâ Moments in the Movie
Iâve only seen the movie twice so I may have missed something more subtle, but here are the moments I remember where the main cast othered Miguel:
Gwen (unknowingly) making a joke (from Miguelâs perspective, re: âYouâre not funny!â) of the fact Miguel doesnât have a spider sense by letting him get decked by the Vulture.
Peter B. Parker commenting, âYouâre not funny, spider-men are funny.â
Miles blatantly in fear of Miguel, on the tram shouting, possibly half-joking, âYou have claws? Dude, are you sure youâre a spider-man?â
These seem like inconsequential, even humorous, moments but I believe theyâre a lot more meaningful to Miguel than he lets on. Itâs not that these moments are massively consequential in and of themselves, but more so that they are part of a persistent, consistent assault on Miguel's Spider-Man Authenticity⢠that began with his veryâŚ
Origin.
In the comics, and what it appears to be in the movie, Miguel isnât a ânaturalâ spider-man. Not in the âbit and changedâ sense. There actually wasnât even a spider surrogate for the virus in Miguelâs origin story. Instead, in Miguelâs universe the lab he worked in was attempting to directly recreate their original, dead-slash-vanished Spider-Man by splicing actual spider DNA with human DNA. This immediately deviates from the âtypicalâ spider-person origin story as, usually, tests were being done on spiders and the subsequent escape, bite, and transformation that followed was a complete accident. The only actual accident within Miguelâs origin story was that it was Miguel at all, every other aspect was more or less exactly what the institute Miguel worked for was actually trying to accomplish.
A pretty notable difference between the comics and the movie is the introduction of Miguelâs injections. From what I know of the comics, Miguel doesnât need to âre-upâ his spider-human powers, but we see in the movie that this Miguel needs some kind of supplement. Whether it be to replenish his abilities or to keep his delicate spider-human balance stable, we donât know yet, but what we do know is that no other spider-person does this and it seems like a private, shameful ritual. A subtle nod to this theory, in my opinion, is Miguelâs âIâm different than themâ line taking place at, or almost at, the exact moment he injects.
So, his origin is âwrong,â his creation was a âmistake,â in some manner he has to supplement is spider abilities, and believe it or not those arenât even the most obvious discrepancies he has from other spider-people. Actually, some of his most noticeable differences lie with hisâŚ
Powers.
Compounding that âothernessâ Miguel already feels within spider society, he doesnât have âtypicalâ spider-person powers, notably lacking a spider sense. This is because he wasnât made the same way other spider-people were. As a literal spider-human hybrid, Miguel derives his powers â talons, paralysis, fangs, light sensitive eyes turned red by super sight â from just some normal, non-radioactive version of whatever spider breed was used in the splicing experiments. The lab didnât actually know what gave the original Spider-Man his distinct powers, and so what Miguel ends up with is a lot more off-putting than other spider-people.
Humans, and even other spider-people (re: Gwen feeling she needs to reassure Miles he doesnât need to âbe afraidâ) are frightened, or at the very least are put-off, by Miguel. I believe this can be attributed at least somewhat (if not entirely) to his powers. Yes, he doesnât have a very approachable demeanor, but I would hazard that that wall he puts up is in response to the reactions he gets to his powers (ex: âIâm a good guy!â âYou donât look like a good guy!â). They arenât the pretty, petite, charming powers that other spider-people have. Theyâre very gritty and raw, and theyâre lifted directly from a species of bug that people are notoriously afraid of. And while itâs true that the other spider-people also have behaviors that associate them with the creepy crawler as well, those spider-people have a way to combat their negative character associations that Miguel doesnât. Theyâre funny.
Humor is an under-appreciated, though well-established, part of a typical spider-person. The movie even goes so far as to call spider-person humor a âcrutch,â but it's more than just making light of dark situations. Humor is how other spider-people connect with their community. This is why despite a persistent hate campaign from the Daily Bugle and calls of vigilantism from local police organizations, spider-people are almost always able to stay in the good graces of the communities they serve. Spider-people, through humor, are able to reassure, console, and win over the hearts of millions of New Yorkers.
So, it is especially obvious to other spider-people that Miguel is distinctly not funny. He is reminded both in comics and in the movie that heâs not approachable like a spider-man âshouldâ be. Miguel doesnât have humor to use as a âcrutchâ to offset his unsettling characteristics and because of that, heâs not well-liked by⌠really anyone.
These perceived shortcomings take a toll on Miguel, and are why he is so convinced of the importance ofâŚ
Canon.
Miguel views canon events as the holy grail of spider-person origins because he didnât have one himself. I donât think Miguel fully believes he is a true spider-man. Not only were his (atypical) powers acquired through a (botched) scientific experiment, and not only is everyone constantly reminding him that heâs not a ânormalâ spider-person, but Miguelâs universe already had its âcanonâ Spider-Man, and he died.
Or, at least he did in the 2099 comics. We canât be certain about the movie-verse yet, but on the assumption it and the comics share a backstory, Miguel knows the full extent of his Spider-Manâs life. Beginning, middle, and end. That Spider-Manâs story is over and done within Miguelâs universe, which means that Miguel isnât a ârealâ spider-man. Heâs a knockoff. He was an accident, a fluke, a recreation.
With this in mind, I feel Miguelâs reasoning for dedicating himself to The Canon is two-fold:
Firstly, I think it stems from the idea that because his universeâs Spider-Man story is âcompleteâ that is how the story must be told. There was a set beginning, middle, and end to the Spider-Man of his universe, and heâs easily able to reference it. Thereâs no guesswork around his Spider-Manâs story because itâs concluded. And to him, that finality is infallible, so he plays it out over and over and over in other spider-verses.
Secondly (most speculatively, but most importantly), but I donât think Miguel has told anyone that he isnât a bitten (or born) spider-person. In his introduction, we donât get the usual âIâm the one and only Spider-Manâ cinematic intro we had with the rest of the main cast (excluding Jess). He keeps his introduction short, sweet, and secretive. This leads me to believe he hasnât told anyone of how he became his universeâs Spider-Man. He might think that if he did, the other spider-people would shun him. He might think they would hate him. He might think they would leave him.
A very, very prominent theme across many of the main castâs stories is that they felt alone in the world until they found other spider-people, and I believe Miguel feels this isolation the strongest of all of them. He set up the Spider Headquarters in his own home universe. He recruited hundreds and hundreds of spider-people to join him and it looks like many of them live there for at least some period of time. I believe heâs so afraid of being left out of the social spider network that he has outright lied about his origin story, calling on the only Spider-Man story he knows the entirety ofâ his universeâs Peter Parker. Then, to cover his tracks he began collecting similarities across every spider-personâs reality, enshrining them in gold, and cementing them as The Canon.
And, unfortunately, what many spider-people have in common isâŚ
Suffering.
Suffering isnât unique to spider-people. Prematurely losing a loved one isnât even unique to spider-people. Sadly, itâs not very uncommon at all, and those moments are often defining in peopleâs lives; they can be even more impactful than the joyful moments. I believe because of their efficacy, tragedies are something that Miguel could most easily use to connect with the spiderverse. Not because these tragedies were meant to happen, not because theyâre a part of some greater, cosmic prophecyâ but, sadly, because theyâre so prevalent in every personâs life.
And most compelling of all, tragedy rarely ever has any reason behind it.
Miguel wasnât able to find some incredible, world-defining Canon Event among the many hundreds of spider-people he metâ he was simply able to find tragedy. The senseless, horrible, incomprehensible moment in every personâs life where theyâve lost someone they cared very deeply for, and no one could tell them why. There was no rhyme or reason to it, their loved one just simply ceased to existâ and what was so insulting about it was that the world didnât end. The planet didnât stop spinning, the sun rose the following day, and no closer came. Everyone elseâs story just continued to be writ, and that was just as painful because it left them alone with their grief in a moment where they felt helpless, hopeless, and inadequate; in a moment that was impossible to reconcile because they wanted so badly, just like all of us, to understand why it had to happen. But there isnât a why. The universe is random and underwhelming and every day a few unlucky people will draw a card that ends their game, completely by chance.
And then Miguel came along and he assigned the importance to that tragedy that the spiderverse, and all of us, felt like it deserved.
Miguel told them that their suffering wasnât random. He told them it wasnât just another case of wrong place, wrong time. He told them there was a purpose to their suffering. All the pain they endured, it had served to make them better, stronger, more resilient. Finally, there was a reason for it to have happened.
Miguel told them they werenât alone. He reassured them that this horrible Thing that seemed to happen to all of them was cosmically indomitable, universally inevitable, and entirely inescapableâ it was Canon. It was the price of power, it was the universeâs exchange. But now, in that tragedy, they would never be alone in their grief again, and that made all the difference.
When Miguel gave them a reason for their hurt, it became a rallying point among the spiderverse. Not only could they alleviate the guilt and the grief their loss has crippled them with, but they had something more tangible to blame it onâ The Canon.
The Canon Miguel introduced to them didnât have feelings, it didnât feel anger or resentment or spite. It didnât hurt them for no reasonâ it was simply the vehicle navigating them through to the landmarks of their lives. And there was comfort in believing that these tragedies were ordained by some unfathomable, all-knowing narrative. And so the spiderverse seemingly collectively decided it was easier to believe in the Canon than it was to believe in an unpredictable universe, untilâŚ
Miles.
Miguel sees his own perceived âflawsâ in Miles.
Miles wasnât supposed to become spider-man in his universe.
Miles has an atypical spider-man origin story.
Milesâ âcanonâ Spider-Man is dead.
For all intents and purposes, he and Miles are likely the most closely related spider-people to one another, but a key difference between them is Miles⌠doesnât care. Sure, Miles is lonely in his own universe; and sure, Miles is overwhelmed by the expectations heaped onto him social and familial; and sure, Miles doesnât even know heâs an accident. But heâs happy. Heâs a happy kid and he was close friends with other spider-people who love and accept him, trained and mentored him. Thatâs not something Miguel had, and he resents of Miles for it.
We still donât know for certain if there were other reasons Miguel chose to isolate Miles, but from what we can gather in Part One, it seems like Miguel only had the âoriginal anomalyâ excuse. Which he used to prevent Miles from interacting with other spider-people, and other spider-people with him. His reasoning doesnât really add up though. In theory, the âdamageâ to the multiverse âcausedâ by Miles was concluded at the end of the first movie. Outside being an anomaly, Miles isnât causing any harm to the multiverse by just existing in it (that we know of currently). So why restrict his access to other spider-people? It certainly wasnât because Miles hasnât experienced a crucial story beat (Dead Police Captain), because as we saw in the movie, Pav hadnât experienced his either. Yet, Pav was allowed to join the spiderverse. From this perspective, there was no actual reason to exclude Miles from the spiderverse when he could have helped the cause.
Instead, for what appears to be no other reason than jealousy (or fear) that Miles was (and would be) so well liked by other spider-people, Miguel isolated him in his own universe for a year and four months, barring him from a society he had every right to join, and forbidding any other spider-person from even visiting Miles.
I think thatâs what it comes down to with Miguel, really. Jealousy that Miles is an anomaly like himself, but unlike Miguel, people donât question Milesâ Spider-Man Authenticity â˘. They donât make a joke of his shortcomings. They donât âotherâ him. They like Miles. No one likes Miguel.
And on top of it all, probably the most infuriating (and frightening) part to Miguel is that Miles isnât ashamed. He isnât ashamed of being an accident; he isnât pouring over his Spider-Manâs history trying to meet made-up expectations; he didnât even parody the spider-people who were right in front of him when he was just coming into his own. Miles decided at 14 years old that he wasnât, and couldnât, be a Peter Parker copy. He accepted himself as his own, unique Spider-Man, and in breaking that mold and allowing himself to take a leap of faith, he became something incredible.
I think that scares Miguel, not only because his entire organization is founded in the belief that all spider-persons must experience specific events, and not because if Miles refuses to follow his story beats then the entire multiverse will unravel, but because if Miles is right and the multiverse can be as diverse and varied as it wants to be, then Miguel has hated himself for so long for no reason.
And I think that fear and jealousy and resentment all comes to head onâŚ
The Tram.
Miguelâs meltdown during the tram scene felt like it came almost out of nowhere. The abuse he hurled at Miles just didn't correlate with what could reasonably be expected of an annoying chase around the cityâ and it was completely unnecessary. By the time it happened, Miguel had already subdued Miles. He was pinning him to the tram, he had already caught him. There was no reason to be so viscous at that point.
Except Miles had just moments ago done what everyone else had been doing to Miguel this whole time. Miles had âotheredâ him.
âYou got claws? Dude, are you sure youâre a Spider-Man?â
The skepticism must have felt different coming from Miles, because Miles was supposed to be like Miguel. They were both mistakes, they were both the product of a dead Spider-Man, they were both supposed to be outcasts, but instead, here was Miles acting like all the others. Treating Miguel as different and lesser, and I think that was the final straw for Miguel.
I wouldnât say Miguel had kept his cool up until that point, but he certainly hadnât set out to hurt Milesâ at least emotionally. In fact, he had previously just been trying to ease Miles into his Canon. Miguel had been trying to console him in the same way he had consoled hundreds of other spider-people before Miles.
But then Miles made a hurtful joke because spider-people make hurtful jokes (a theme, maybe, since hurtful jokes had been what provoked the Spot into a rampage, too: âIâll become strong enough to be your nemesis. Then youâll take me seriously.â) and Miguel, who already saw so much of his own story in Miles, was enraged by his audacityâ dragging Miles down (to him, to his level), pushing his way into Milesâs personal space (look at me, hear me, respect me), and forcing him to listen to just how âotherâ he was too (weâre anomalies, carry the shame of it like I do).
Thereâs really no excuse for it. Miguel was clearly in the wrong. No one should be told they were a mistake, or that theyâre the reason someone else diedâ and especially no one should be made to believe that the value of their life was less than anotherâs.
Itâs horrible what Miguel said to Miles. I do believe Miguel was venting his own self-loathing, but he leveled his abuse squarely at Miles and now Miles is forced to struggle through the aftermath, and thereâs no excuse for that.
Conclusion?
I donât think Miguel is a villain, I think heâs just a damaged man. That doesnât absolve him of the shitty things heâs done, especially to Miles, but I do think it helps to explain them somewhat. Ironically, as much as he feels ostracized from spider society, I think heâs just like every other spider-person. Heâs looking for friendships and acceptance and his happy ending, and above all, he doesnât want to be an outcast. Much of that feeling probably comes from his unwillingness to accept himself as he is and pave his own way as Spider-man.
I hope in the next movie Miguel begins to consider the similarities he has with other spider-people rather than focusing on the differences, because while the Canon may not be real (or maybe it is, guess weâll see in Part Two), the connections he made with others through loss and grief were. He helped the entire spiderverse find comfort in one another and because of him, they arenât alone anymore.
