Across The Spider-Verse: Seeing Spider-Man 2099 Is A Full-Circle Moment For Steve Orlando - Exclusive

Spider-Man 2099 is one of the breakout stars of "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," with Miguel O'Hara serving as one of the film's main characters. In the critically acclaimed movie, the '90s spider-hero becomes an intimidating force who will do whatever it takes to prevent canon breaking across the multiverse. But in the comics, he's undergoing a similar reinvention.

While Spider-Man 2099 might be a relatively new face to viewers of the "Spider-Verse" films, the character has a more-than-30-year history in the pages of Marvel Comics, including his most recent run of comics from writer Steve Orlando. Orlando has written several modern Spider-Man 2099 stories, including "Spider-Man 2099: Exodus" with artist Dave Wachter and "Spider-Man 2099: Dark Genesis" with artist Justin Mason, giving Miguel and his future Marvel Universe a starring role in the stories. Orlando told Looper that as a fan of the character, seeing the hero become more popular than ever after his debut in "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" represented a full-circle moment for the comic creator.

In Looper's exclusive interview with Steve Orlando on tackling a new "Astonishing Iceman" series, we also spoke about his excitement on seeing the rise of Spider-Man 2099 as he writes his adventures for Marvel Comics. Orlando called Spider-Man 2099's rise in popularity "surreal," saying nothing was cooler for him as a kid than the 2099 universe and that the adventures of the hero (and the X-Men 2099) were some of his favorite stories growing up. The 2099 universe was something Orlando always wanted to tackle, dating back to his childhood, and he accomplished his goal, his hopes as a youngster coming true in a full-circle moment for the author.

As an adult working with Marvel Comics, Orlando said he wanted to make the 2099 timelines cohesive and evolve Spider-Man 2099's stories while welcoming all readers. "We want to welcome the folks that loved the stuff since the '90s," he said. "We want to welcome the folks that loved every version of 2099 we had, and we want to then push it forward. Cyberpunk has always, to me, been more almost speculative fiction than science fiction. We want to reflect the present in the near future. So, to do 2099 now, yes, we do have to progress it. We do have to evolve it, but at the same time, these characters have been around for 30-plus years because they're awesome."

Steve Orlando, who said he hadn't seen "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" as of the time of our interview due to his busy schedule, revealed his first-ever pitch to Marvel was set in the 2099 universe. At 14, he sent a letter to the publisher about a story involving the 2099 X-Men heroes. Twenty years later, he's shepherded the 2099 universe into the present day for Marvel Comics.

"What could I work up a pitch for so that I [could] send it to Marvel's offices and they [would] definitely hire me, an unpublished writer of the age of 14?" Orlando recalled considering. "That answer was X-Men 2099. I still remember the pitch, and it was going to be about how the events in new X-Men reflect and change the future. That would've been the 10-year anniversary of 2099, so to actually get to write the 30th anniversary was wild."

With Spider-Man 2099 becoming a household name thanks to his appearance in the latest installment of the "Spider-Verse" animated films, Orlando is leading the charge in refocusing the 2099 universe, led by his own Spider-Man 2099-starring stories. The writer's journey from being a major fan of the character to writing them has to feel like quite an impressive accomplishment.

"Astonishing Iceman" #1, from Marvel Comics, arrives at comic book stores and online retailers on August 2, 2023.