Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse Writer Says Oscar Isaac's Spider-Man 2099 Is 'Not The Villain'
The "Spider-Man" multiverse definitely has its fair share of Spider-people, and no film in the franchise has been more enthusiastic about the vast array of Spideys than 2018's "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." The animated movie introduced audiences to a plethora of web slingers; along with the film's main Spider-Man being none other than alternate universe Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), we also got to see everything from Jake Johnson's Peter B. Parker (a far more burnt-out and disheveled version of the OG Peter Parker) to even more obscure versions like Spider-Man Noir (Nicholas Cage), Penni Parker (Kimiko Glenn), and Spider-Ham (John Mulaney). We also briefly meet the original flavor Peter Parker (voiced by Chris Pine) in Miles' universe, but — spoiler alert — he's killed off almost immediately.
The melding of all the "Spider-Man" universes is definitely a big part of the charm of "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," and the upcoming sequel, "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" promises to deliver even more alternative Spider-Man goodness. But there's one specific wall crawler that's got everyone talking. He made a brief appearance in the post-credits scene of the first film in a comical bit that riffs on the popular Spider-Man Pointing meme. Voiced by the always-impressive Oscar Isaac, this Spidey in question is Miguel O'Hara, better known amongst superheroes as Spider-Man 2099.
The recent trailer for "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" showed Spider-Man 2099 looking kind of scary — clawing his way across the Spider-Verse to seize Miles and demanding, "Who do you think you are?!" But despite his bad manners, he's not a bad guy.
Putting the 'moral' in Morales
Many have speculated that Spider-Man 2099 will be a villain in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," but one of the film's producers and screenwriters, Christopher Miller, set the record straight (kind of) about how Spider-Man 2099 relates to Miles Morales. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Miller explains, "He's not the villain of the movie, but he's sort of an antagonist to Miles because they both think that what they're doing is the right thing." From the sound of it, "Across the Spider-Verse" is going to be a morality clash between Miguel and Morales, not unlike the factions that formed in "Captain America: Civil War." As for the true villain of the film, The Spot (Jason Schwartzman) will be taking on that role. Here's to hoping Miles and Miguel can put aside their differences in time to team up against this interdimensional baddie before it's too late.
A bit of background info: Spider-Man 2099 originates from the '90s Marvel 2099 comic series (though hardcore Spidey fans may recall first catching a glimpse of him in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #365), and he is a futuristic version (try 77 years into the future) of Spider-Man. Miguel is a scientist who is trying to genetically modify another Spider-Man into existence for a company called Alchemax (the same Alchemax from "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse"). To be clear, Alchemax is capital-B Bad, and Miguel, through a complex backstory involving drug addiction, is blackmailed to continue working for them. Obviously, because this is a comic book, Miguel eventually ends up accidentally undergoing a mutation that causes his DNA to be mixed with spider DNA, and voilà! Welcome to the multiverse, Spider-Man 2099.
"Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" arrives in theaters on June 2, 2023.