Miles Morales is Spider-Man, not Peter Parker. At least that's the way it is in the current state of Marvel Comics. Peter Parker's young protege made the jump from an alternate world in the Marvel multiverse to Earth 616 – the comic book company's main timeline where everything is canon. Miles Morales dropped the "Ultimate" in front of his name and became the one true Spider-Man making me and many other fans of the Afro-Latino teenage web-slinger extremely happy. With Peter Parker as his mentor, Miles is primed for the spotlight as New York's friendly neighborhood Spidey. But why hasn't he made it to the silver screen yet?

The upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming is without a doubt going to be a contender for the best Spider-Man big screen franchise ever. However, even if it is, this is Peter Parker's third go at box office success – and just to be honest, it probably won't ever get better than this. With the character returning home from Sony to Marvel Studios there is definitely magic in the air surrounding this version of Pete's story. This movie is another full reboot starting the young hero all the way from his high school days once again. And realistically, it's safe to say that trying to retell this Spider-Man origin story another time after this one won't garner much of a reaction from fans. The story can't continue to be interesting if it doesn't change or progress. Miles Morales is the Spider-Man that most children who read comic books or watch animated series will know and come to love in the following decades. It's important for them and for the culture of comics, that Miles makes his debut after Tom Holland's version of the Pete Parker story. 

                            Photo: Marvel

The Brian Bendis-created Miles Morales has a story that was made for live action. There's a robust cast of characters around him like his parents, friends, and an uncle who's shady dealings are the result of Morales being bitten by the genetically enhanced spider that gave him his powers. He faces his own set of problems that are distinctly different from the Spider-Man before him. There is still the classic balancing act between his identity as a superhero and his responsibilities as a high school going teenager, but there's more there. The familial ties in Miles' life have a much more direct effect on his story. All of his family members have very strong opinions for or against his after school activities. And some of them even try to use his abilities for their own devices.

His story isn't the only thing that he and the old Spider-Man have to differentiate them either. Morales' power set introduce a whole new, and fresh, approach to the original concept of what the character, Spider-Man, can actually do. Because he was bitten by a different kind of genetically mutated spider, Miles has certain abilities that Peter Parker's Spidey didn't. For instance, he has bio-electrokinesis – the power to control the natural electricity produced by his body, which makes for a very powerful offensive weapon and a great way to affect the technology around him. There are a whole host of action scenes that could come from a potential Morales starring Spider-Man film that can't happen if we just keep rebooting and retooling the original web swinging acrobatics that we've seen across the last two franchises. 

Most importantly, this is the Spider-Man we need in Trump's America. When the president-elect of the United States of America is threatening to deport people of Latinx descent who better to come to the rescue of the people in need than an Afro-Latino Spider-Man. This is the very first time in the history of Marvel Comics that the character has been represented as a person of color and it makes sense to honor the canon – because of how much it means to the people of color that are fans of the franchise. The third time's the charm for Peter Parker. He's had his moment. In fact, he's had more than his fair share of screen time. The next Spider-Man film after Homecoming and the follow-up sequels that are sure to come after it should be the story of Marvel's Miles Morales.