Peter Parker Is Spider Man Miles Morales Is Miles Morales

2021catchphrasesemi-active

"Peter Parker Is Spider-Man, Miles Morales Is Miles Morales" is a catchphrase pushed by X user @Nerdrotics starting December 2021 to argue that Miles should not replace Peter as the main Spider-Man4. The line exploded in late 2023 when Insomniac Games confirmed Miles would take over as the lead Spider-Man in its PlayStation series3, drawing heavy accusations of racism against people who used it.

spider man memesfandom discourse memescatchphrase memesculture war memesmarvel

Overview

"Peter Parker Is Spider-Man, Miles Morales Is Miles Morales" is a short refrain fans post whenever Miles Morales is pushed toward the top slot of the Spider-Man mantle4. It typically appears as a standalone tweet or a quote-post attached to news about Miles taking a bigger role in comics, film, or video games3. The shape of the line, insisting Peter "is" Spider-Man while Miles "is" only himself, treats the Spider-Man identity as belonging to Parker specifically rather than as a legacy title anyone can inherit.

Miles was introduced in 2011 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli in Ultimate Fallout #4, created inside Marvel's now-defunct Ultimate universe after that reality's Peter Parker was killed off2. From the start his stories rhymed with Peter's while drawing on a different family, borough, and community background1. Critics of the catchphrase read it as a coded rejection of a Black and Puerto Rican Spider-Man; users of it frame it as a comics-lore argument about who owns the name.

How It Spread

Through 2022, Nerdrotic kept reworking the line. On October 25, 2022, he posted "Miles Morales is Miles Morales and Steve Rogers is Captain America," a jab at Sam Wilson picking up the shield in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which cracked 4,000 likes4. On December 8 that year he landed the final phrasing, "Peter Parker is Spider-Man Miles Morales is Miles Morales," and other X accounts including @The_Epic_Mike and @YellowFlashGuy repeated it within days.

The catchphrase hit a much larger audience in late 2023 around Marvel's Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac Games. In an October 27, 2023 Gizmodo interview, narrative director Ben Arfmann and advanced writer Brittney Morris described Peter "handing over the reins" to Miles as the main Spider-Man of the Insomniac Games Universe3. On October 28, X user @capeshitsucks blamed people who use the phrase for the game's poorly received Miles Morales Adidas suit in a post that cleared 58,000 likes4.

On November 5, 2023, a @CultureCrave post summarizing the Insomniac news drew over 67,000 likes and was quote-tweeted with the catchphrase by commentator Lauren Chen. The next day, YouTuber Melonie Mac posted a clip backing the phrase and calling the shift an attempt to make Miles the "real Spider-Man"4. Replies calling her take racist pulled tens of thousands of likes each, with one @Gelzazz reply asking, "Is it so hard for white people to say he is Spider-Man?"

How to Use This Meme

The line is typically dropped as a reply or standalone post whenever Marvel, Sony, or Insomniac shows Miles in a role that used to be Peter's, or whenever a fan argues that both are equally Spider-Man3. People who defend Miles often counter with a 2015 Stan Lee clip in which Lee said Spider-Man's full-face mask was designed so kids of any race could picture themselves under it4.

Frequently Asked Questions

Peter Parker Is Spider Man Miles Morales Is Miles Morales

2021catchphrasesemi-active

"Peter Parker Is Spider-Man, Miles Morales Is Miles Morales" is a catchphrase pushed by X user @Nerdrotics starting December 2021 to argue that Miles should not replace Peter as the main Spider-Man4. The line exploded in late 2023 when Insomniac Games confirmed Miles would take over as the lead Spider-Man in its PlayStation series3, drawing heavy accusations of racism against people who used it.

spider man memes fandom discourse memes catchphrase memes culture war memes marvel

Overview

"Peter Parker Is Spider-Man, Miles Morales Is Miles Morales" is a short refrain fans post whenever Miles Morales is pushed toward the top slot of the Spider-Man mantle4. It typically appears as a standalone tweet or a quote-post attached to news about Miles taking a bigger role in comics, film, or video games3. The shape of the line, insisting Peter "is" Spider-Man while Miles "is" only himself, treats the Spider-Man identity as belonging to Parker specifically rather than as a legacy title anyone can inherit.

Miles was introduced in 2011 by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli in Ultimate Fallout #4, created inside Marvel's now-defunct Ultimate universe after that reality's Peter Parker was killed off2. From the start his stories rhymed with Peter's while drawing on a different family, borough, and community background1. Critics of the catchphrase read it as a coded rejection of a Black and Puerto Rican Spider-Man; users of it frame it as a comics-lore argument about who owns the name.

How It Spread

Through 2022, Nerdrotic kept reworking the line. On October 25, 2022, he posted "Miles Morales is Miles Morales and Steve Rogers is Captain America," a jab at Sam Wilson picking up the shield in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which cracked 4,000 likes4. On December 8 that year he landed the final phrasing, "Peter Parker is Spider-Man Miles Morales is Miles Morales," and other X accounts including @The_Epic_Mike and @YellowFlashGuy repeated it within days.

The catchphrase hit a much larger audience in late 2023 around Marvel's Spider-Man 2 from Insomniac Games. In an October 27, 2023 Gizmodo interview, narrative director Ben Arfmann and advanced writer Brittney Morris described Peter "handing over the reins" to Miles as the main Spider-Man of the Insomniac Games Universe3. On October 28, X user @capeshitsucks blamed people who use the phrase for the game's poorly received Miles Morales Adidas suit in a post that cleared 58,000 likes4.

On November 5, 2023, a @CultureCrave post summarizing the Insomniac news drew over 67,000 likes and was quote-tweeted with the catchphrase by commentator Lauren Chen. The next day, YouTuber Melonie Mac posted a clip backing the phrase and calling the shift an attempt to make Miles the "real Spider-Man"4. Replies calling her take racist pulled tens of thousands of likes each, with one @Gelzazz reply asking, "Is it so hard for white people to say he is Spider-Man?"

How to Use This Meme

The line is typically dropped as a reply or standalone post whenever Marvel, Sony, or Insomniac shows Miles in a role that used to be Peter's, or whenever a fan argues that both are equally Spider-Man3. People who defend Miles often counter with a 2015 Stan Lee clip in which Lee said Spider-Man's full-face mask was designed so kids of any race could picture themselves under it4.

Frequently Asked Questions