Resurrection of Spider-Man

Spider-Man was one of my favorite superheroes growing up because when he wasn’t crawling the skyscrapers of Manhattan, he was your typical teenager.  As Peter Parker, the secret identity of Spider-Man, he had to balance the complexities of the high school hierarchy, strike a balance between part-time work and school, and make time to chase and ultimately catch the high school hotty.  Spider-Man was also different from other superheroes because no matter how often he saved New York City, the city never fully accepted him and J. Jonah Jamison of the Daily Beagle labeled him a public enemy (he’d be a terrorist today). 

Earlier this summer Marvel killed off Spider-Man in their ultimate universe.  They gave him a heroic death as he once again saved the city.  Earlier this week, Marvel announced that starting in September; they’ll be a new Spider-Man in the ultimate universe.  The new Spider-Man is not Peter Parker.  He’s Brooklynite teenager named Miles Morales, who’s half-Black and half-Hispanic.  This will mark the first time in history that a person of color will don the red and blue spider costume.

As a person of color and Spider-Man fan, I’m excited to see how the “new” webslinger in action.  I hope Marvel doesn’t take the cheap route and make him the “Black” Peter Parker, but rather develop him into his own person by giving him a distinct personality and background with his own motivations for wanting to be Spider-Man.  With great powers, comes great responsibility.