#both gwen and peter (the two spider people he trusts inherently end up betraying whether intentionally or not

[faraskyetruther]

Miles being told he’s an anomaly probably not only added to the self-doubt that likely still remained after the spider people in Into the Spiderverse judged he wasn’t ready to be spider-man yet but also to the inherent self-doubt that must exist in replacing Peter Parker. Because if you think about it Blonde Peter Parker with his grad school education and wife represents that image of the perfect white picket fence America. But as an afro-latino teenager Miles isn’t representative of that version of America and can never truly be a like for like replacement of Peter Parker (which is something he appears to be trying to do in the first film with buying the costume, until of course he gets his own suit). And it feels significant thag Miles initially feels unable to live up to the legacy of that Peter Parker.

And already besides the whole spider-man thing, there’s already an increased sense of a similar feeling of not belonging in moving into a more white dominated school which from the glimpses we get of Brooklyn Middle is much whiter than Miles’ old school. And it’s kind of touched on in the first film where Miles talks about the lottery and his father has to remind him he took the entrance exam to and has as much a right to be there (it’s not completely accurate but it’s along the right lines) which links to that sense of otherness and isolation.

So basically what I’m thinking is how Miles being othered by the other spider people links to that feeling of ethnic minorities being othered and being made to felt like they don’t belong in America. Like there’s that scene in Across the Spiderverse where the guidance councillor says Miles can use the fact that he comes from an immigrant family in his college essay, and Rio reminds her that they are Puerto Rican and are still Americans.

Admittedly I may be overly deeping it but in a way it really feels like that way Miles reacts to being isolated by the other spider people in their creation of spider society without him is influenced by a greater sense of isolation in his school society and the US society as a whole. As ultimately spider-man can be considered to be an American hero yet people in the country may not even consider Miles Morales to truly represent that white picket perfection that they believe is at the centre of what makes America America