#if i hit ctrl z my whole post vanishes and i can't ctrl y it back huh tumblr? jesus

[nokingsonlyfooles]

Miles Morales & Co. are Fictional Characters Fighting Their Own Narrative Structure, Who Will Win?

Brigitte Empire! She just moved to mainland Europe and could use some clicks and attention, as could I! So, first, let her talk for a bit about how important Miles, and his new take on the franchise are...

And then, if ya got a minute, let me unpack the significance of the plotline he and his friends are stuck with...

And I do mean stuck! There is a literal web of universes involved here, which the Chief Spider Cop has decided is held together only by the sameness of their stories and the commonality of their losses.

All your suffering has a purpose, because if you don't suffer, it all ends, all of it. This web has a lot of spiders in it, and none of 'em are getting out. So what's one father, more or less?

Did you notice how Peter's narrative arc in the Tom Holland Spider-flicks became a cul-de-sac? Like, we skipped the origin story, because we already know it, and that seemed reasonable enough at the time. A good idea, even. Then, in the end, it turns out the whole thing was an origin story, and he's right back where he started, but worse. It's as if the prize at the bottom of your box of Cracker Jack was another, shittier box of Cracker Jack, with raisins or something.

I know a lot of people seem perfectly thrilled with it, but I'm not gonna eat Cracker Jack if I don't like how it tastes, and the MCU version turned on me. These narrative choices were not about telling a good story or being true to the characters we know and love. This was a corporate, profit-driven decision, spurred on by contractual obligations, copyright entanglements and fan reactions.

For a certain (loud) portion of the fandom, Spider-Man is not defined by his personality, or his Spider-powers, or anything intrinsic, but by his circumstances. (To keep this simple, we will be including "has white, male privilege" as part of his circumstances, because any other identity gets parsed as "political" and that's just a mess.) The ideal Spider-Man is a brilliant teenager with a lot of responsibilities, a shitty job, a dead uncle, a hot girlfriend, a guilt complex, and few places to go for help. Any deviation from that isn't a fun new story to explore, it's wrong. And, much like Miguel, they will demand a course correction to get it right - no matter how brutal, stupid, or out-of-character it is.

"Hey, Peter, given how much you love and respect me, you wouldn't break a promise to me and take my agency away trying to keep me safe when I specifically asked you not to, right?" "Ordinarily, no. But Sony needs the option to get rid of you or recast you if you're too expensive, or too ethnic, or too upsetting to the fandom. You get it?" "...Put me down, you Spider-Jerk."

"Listen, Mephisto, I'm not saying 'no,' but could you buy us a drink before we get into anything complicated?" "Honey, he means he wants a retcon." "Oh. That seems like an odd thing for the devil to want. But, OK!"

I could speculate for pages about why that is, but the "why" part doesn't matter much to Miles & Company. Miles is counting down the hours to another "canon event" that will take out his father, and they've all got to decide whether they're gonna risk the fate of the Multiverse or stick to the narrative. There are suggestions that these things are not written in stone, that the story can be changed, but in the end, Miles is trapped in a crapsack universe that he seems to have ruined just by existing in the right/wrong place at the right/wrong time - and he has no way out yet.

This is where Miles' fate changes, when he talks to his universe's Spider-Man, not when he gets bitten by the glitching spider. No more villain colours!

Kinda went too hard on Earth 42 here, in my opinion. It didn't need the grunge filter and the rain. Our Miles' universe had a criminal overlord who killed Spider-Man with impunity, threw a party about it, and invited Peter's widow - who attended! I don't think MJ would've done that unless she didn't have any choice. Two-parent-household and private education aside, our Miles isn't in such a hot place either.

So Miles 42 has braids and a dead dad, and a live uncle, and probably not a lot of options. If his family needs the money, or if anyone in it ran afoul of Kingpin (or whoever's in charge there) for any reason, he's got to fall in line and follow orders if he wants to stay alive. We've all seen what happens when you cross a crime boss.

That's odd, though, isn't it? According to Miguel, Miles was never supposed to be a Spider-Person at all, and yet the canon events are popping up for him right on schedule. Dead uncle? Check!

Dead police captain? Pending!

We've also seen (we think) what happens when you screw up the established Spider-narrative...

Oh, Hobie, my man, you have no idea how right you are, but I think the folks writing your dialogue do. We're dealing with a metaverse, and the meta text is evident. Capitalism eats divergent Spider-Beings. Spider-People exist in movies, comic books, and other products that are sold. If people don't buy them, or if the loud fan faction makes enough noise that it seems like people won't buy them, their universes are toast.

We don't talk about Andrew, ew ew ew. We don't talk about Andrew!

Miles, as a character, doesn't know it, but he's up against interests who only want to see the same story, over and over, forever. His challenge is not to save his dad, that's incidental. He's gotta prove he can be his own person, choose his own path, still tell a good story, and still be Spider-Man. His job is to save the franchise, if he, and the most diverse cast of Spiders ever, can manage it. Because being stuck in a groove like a skipping record in perpetuity will definitely kill it.

No Expectations, right?

Wouldn't it be nice for Spider-Man, and for the people who write, draw and animate him, and for all of us, if we could consume a Spider-story without demanding it land Every. Single. Beat. the same as every other Spider-story, and with no idea what was gonna happen next? Do you remember not knowing what was gonna happen next? Before everything was a remake, a franchise or a reboot? Or, maybe you were just too little to know everything was a remake, a franchise or a reboot. It was nice, though, yeah?

If Miles here sticks the landing in Part 3, he might be able to do that for us. At least, he'll leave open the possibility, and we'll have to see if anyone is able to take advantage of it.

(On a personal note, I kinda feel like these movies are comin' for me. And, like, I'm thrilled - apparently, this is an idea whose time has come - but I'm terrified. Because Sony is gonna deliver its message to a ready-made fandom in real movie theatres with a real advertising budget before my cast of idiots can even figure out The Hero's Journey is tryin' to eat them and their universe too. Oh well, if you like my writing, you might go there and read more. Or at least like and reblog if you want more Spider-stuff. I am paying attention, and I can do a series of deep dives on Spider-choices and the illusion of choice, if ya want.)