The following contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, now playing in theaters.
Ever since his comic book debuted in the 2010s, Miles Morales has become one of Marvel's most important and popular heroes. This has only increased with the success of the animated Spider-Verse movies from Sony, which put Miles in the center of a multiversal storyline. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse notably ended on a cliffhanger featuring a villainous version of the "ultimate" Spider-Man, though this is not the first time the concept has been used.
The comics had their own take on an evil Miles Morales through the character Ultimatum. Introduced as the native 616 Universe version of Miles, this criminal would share nothing but his name with the hero fans have come to know and love. With the animated movies now introducing their own take on a villainous Miles, here's how his 616 counterpart compares.
Marvel's Mainstream Miles Morales Was Nothing Like Spider-Man
Created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli (like the Ultimate Universe Miles), the 616 version of Miles Morales debuted in the crossover series Spider-Men. Beyond the name, however, the two shared nothing in terms of similarities. The 616 Miles was an adult criminal who worked for the Rigoletto crime family, and he didn't seem to have any equivalents to Ultimate Miles' family. Likewise, he wasn't portrayed as Afro-Puerto Rican, thus bearing zero physical resemblance to the other Miles. While in prison, he would befriend Wilson Fisk (a.k.a. the Kingpin) and even earned a scar on his face defending him. This made Kingpin indebted to the young man, and in return, Fisk helped him rise in the ranks of the criminal underworld. The master criminal even secured him a life of peace when the criminal Miles wanted to retire with his girlfriend. Unfortunately, her untimely death sent this Morales down the path of villainy.
The Kingpin informed his associate of how he had his people look in the existence of alternate universes as a comfort following the death of his wife Vanessa. This eventually led to Miles entering the fairly different Ultimate Universe, where he became acquainted with that world's version of his girlfriend, Barbara Sanchez. His exploits also drew the attention of both the 616 and Ultimate Universe Spider-Men, the latter of whom had been transplanted to the 616 Universe along with his family. The knowledge that the two were "equivalents" did nothing to stop 616 Miles, however, as he was hellbent on both reuniting with Barbara and continuing down his crooked path. Stealing equipment from the Ultimate Universe's version of the Avengers, he dubbed himself "Ultimatum" (a possible reference to an infamous Ultimate Universe event) and struck out against the heroic Miles and his family. Given that his vendetta literally stretches across worlds, he, along with Miles' uncle Aaron Davis (aka the Prowler) act as his most personal villains.
Sony's Last Spider-Verse Movie Can Introduce a Version of Ultimatum
The ending for Across the Spider-Verse pulls somewhat from Spider-Men in having an evil Miles Morales, though it does so in a far different manner. Here, this alternate Miles from Earth-42 looks almost identical to his Earth-1610 incarnation, albeit with a different hairstyle. Instead of the villainous Ultimatum, he becomes his world's version of The Prowler and works alongside his criminal uncle Aaron. All in all, his world seems to be one that's fallen upside down due to Miles never being bitten by a spider and gaining powers, as his universe's radioactive spider was transported to Earth-1610 and bit that Miles. Given that the fallout of this will likely be a huge part of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, Prowler Miles will probably be the main Miles variant seen in the third movie. Nevertheless, there's still a way for Ultimatum to show up.
Into the Spider-Verse showed that character-specific variants don't necessarily exactly the same. For instance, the Earth-1610 Peter Parker had blond hair instead of the usual color of hair seen on other versions of Parker. Thus, it could be shown that Miles in that Peter's world was a much different looking and acting man, similarly turning to a life of crime like the version on Earth-42. His being called Ultimatum and utilizing the equipment of Iron Man, Captain America and Giant Man is likely off-limits, however, as those are characters strictly owned by Marvel Studios and Disney. Still, some sort of tongue in cheek reference to the Ultimatum name could be made, and the character's only real purpose would be to showcase how much differently his life could have gone. It's also worth noting that the plot involving Kingpin wanting to reunite with his dead wife was already used in the first movie, so this could further tie Miles to that event if the deceased Barbara Sanchez is mentioned. It might not make him amount to much in the story, but it would cement the fact that the versions of Miles seen on-screen are only one of several that exist throughout the Spider-Verse.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now playing in theaters.