The Across The Spider-Verse Fan Theory That Has Fans Second-Guessing Miguel
Contains spoilers for "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse"
The Spot may be the start of Miles' problems in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," but he soon finds himself on the wrong side of pretty much every Spider-Man ever. Leading the charge with the Spider-Society is Miguel O'Hara, a.k.a. Spider-Man 2099. He may not be a full-blown villain, but he's certainly an antagonist, who insists Miles allows his father to die so that he can adhere to Spider-canon. Miles obviously wants to save his father's life, resulting in an epic chase between all of the Spider-People, with Miguel getting downright vampiric to try to stop him from returning to his reality.
Fans will see how all this plays out when "Beyond the Spider-Verse" comes out on March 29, 2024. In the meantime, fans are frantically coming up with theories to figure out how all this will play out. Some have come up with a pretty intriguing theory concerning Miguel, namely that he's not exactly who he says he is. In the film, he mentions how he took the place of a different version of himself in another dimension, but that universe eventually fell apart. What if this suggests someone took Miguel's place?
If the "Spider-Verse" films wanted to, they could introduce the idea of the Inheritors into the franchise, which would be an amazing deep cut for long-time Spider-Man fans.
Who are Marvel's Inheritors?
The Inheritors are a clandestine group from Earth-001 that consist of totemic hunters. This means they feed on the life force of Totems, or entities that connect the human and animal kingdoms. This naturally makes anyone related to the Spider-Verse a prime target for them, and in Marvel Comics, they've even targeted the spider deity, Master Weaver. They were successful in that endeavor and used Master Weaver's powers to travel throughout the multiverse to target all of the Spider-Totems.
Various versions of Spider-Man managed to lock the Inheritors away in a separate dimension, but they escaped in the 2018 crossover event, "Spider-Geddon." This sees the Inheritors once again pursue the Spider-Army, and interestingly enough, it features Miles Morales as the lead character. However, it's an epic crossover series that includes plenty of other Spider-People, including Spider-Gwen and Ben Reilly.
The Inheritors aren't exactly the most well-known Spider-Man villains. Certain members have appeared in the "Spider-Man Unlimited" and "Marvel: Avengers Alliance" video games. But The Spot was also a C-list villain before getting a chance to shine in "Across the Spider-Verse." With Miles and the Spider-Verse having a comic book history with the Inheritors already, it's possible they could factor into a future storyline.
Could Miguel O'Hara be an Inheritor?
Spider-Man 2099 has always taken a darker tone than Peter Parker's Spider-Man (likely a result of him being created in the early '90s when every comic book had to be dark and gritty). And that carries over into "Across the Spider-Verse," where he's definitely more ruthless than his variants. He almost bites Vulture during their fight, and Peter B. Parker even jokes how Miguel O'Hara isn't as funny as the other Spider-People. While most of this is within Miguel's realm as far as his comics, some fans theorize he could be an Inheritor in disguise or working on behalf of them.
In the official Reddit discussion thread of the new movie, u/AverageAwndray posits the thought, "Like could it be possible that he's some sort of Inheritor?" A lot of people shared that sentiment, and his far more antagonistic attitude would definitely fall within the Inheritors' camp. Redditor u/captainrex offers this, "Miguel working with the Inheritors would break my heart, I originally got that vibe too honestly. I'm not sure what I think now, but I trust this creative team with whatever direction they want to take it."
Then again, "Beyond the Spider-Verse" has its work cut out to wrap up all of the loose plot threads from this film. Redditor u/Phionex141 points this out but makes a case for why it could still work: "If they introduced the Inheritors as well I'd think it was a little much, but if anyone can pull it off in a good way these movies can." It would certainly make for an engaging twist or perhaps even set up other "Spider-Verse" installments beyond the next one. Either way, "Beyond the Spider-Verse" is going to be epic, no matter how Miguel's character arc shakes out.