Miguel O’Hara, aka Spider-Man 2099, is at the core of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. He debuted in the post-credits scene of Into the Spider-Verse, and has tasked himself with ensuring that “canon events” in each Spider-Person’s life occur as scheduled, usually the traumatic loss that spurs them on to greater heroism.
Unfortunately, this also means he’s adamant that all Uncle Bens and Captain Stacys must be allowed to die as planned, something that Miles Morales refuses to allow. He’s a mysterious figure with vampiric powers quite distinct from other Spider-Men, so could he secretly be another Marvel antihero?
All of which means at least one Marvel fan is convinced that Miguel O’Hara is engaged in some serious Morbin’ Time:
Marvel fans aren’t sold on this theory at all. Replies point out this would weaken Miguel as a character, and make his side of the Spider-Verse canon events argument pointless. In addition, his not actually being a Spider-Person undermines most of his motivations, compounded by Miguel being an established Marvel figure with his own lengthy backstory.
But there’s a competing theory that’s just as likely. Miguel has a red cape, a lot of subtle “M”s on his costume design and a somewhat devilish appearance. Could he actually be Mephisto, on a mission to pervert and corrupt the entire multiverse of Spider-People? We know that Mephisto has a particular passion for ruining Spider-Man’s life, and what better way than to be the supreme architect of the worst trauma to define every single one of them?
Let’s face it, Miguel O’Hara is probably just Miguel O’Hara, and we don’t need any surprise twists as to his true identity. We suspect he’s going to have a moment of crushing realization in Beyond the Spider-Verse that he’s been barking up the wrong web all along, and Miles is going to be the one Spider-Man to show him the error of his ways.