Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Spider-Man: No Way Home turned out to be all that was promised and more — and anyone who watched it in a theater over the weekend will have heard the cheers and gasps at various plot developments. After this, the Spider-verse is truly open for business, though there’s one particularly popular webhead who hasn’t yet joined the MCU.
This is the beloved Miles Morales. He was already popular from the comics, but propelled to the A-list by the incredible Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. But while he didn’t appear in No Way Home, some key dialogue absolutely teased his arrival.
Warning: Spoilers to follow.
Towards the end, Jamie Foxx’s Electro has finally admitted defeat. While chatting with Spider-Man, he says he never really hated him and respects that he’s from Queens and helps poor people. His only problem is that, as he put it, “I just thought you was going to be Black.”
Spidey apologizes, only for Electro to muse that there’s “got to be a Black Spider-Man somewhere out there.” This is a none-too-subtle reference to Miles — and a possible hint that Sony and Marvel Studios are lining him up for a sequel.
It’s also worth remembering that Miles was almost directly referenced as far back as Spider-Man: Homecoming. In that film, Donald Glover played Aaron Davis, who is both Miles’ uncle and the villainous Prowler. In a deleted scene, we even saw Davis apologizing to Miles for not being able to make their meeting as he’s webbed to a car.
My thinking is that Sony and Marvel Studios know they’ve got another monster Spidey hit on their hands a few years down the line with Miles, but why rush things? We’ll likely see a few more Holland performances before introducing Miles to the MCU — unless he really is on the way out as he’s hinted — but it’d be great to see a slightly older Holland Spidey teaching this newcomer the ropes.
In the meantime, Miles will next star in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse on October 7, 2022.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is now in theaters.