SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli, Elisabetta D’Amico, Justin Ponsor and VC’s Cory Petit’s Spider-Men II #3, on sale now


One of the Marvel Universe's biggest mysteries of the past few years has centered around the identity of the 616 incarnation of Miles Morales. The original Spider-Men miniseries — which took placed back when the two arachnid-themed heroes occupied separate universes — ended with Peter Parker searching for information on his world’s Miles, and while we didn’t see what he discovered at the time, it was something that was enough to shock the well-traveled hero.

RELATED: How Generations & Legacy Turn Miles Morales’ World Upside Down

In the first issue of Spider-Men II, we learned that the shocking discovery Peter made was, literally, nothing — there is no public record in the Marvel Universe of a Miles Morales, or at least a counterpart to the Miles Morales from Earth-1610. While that might seem like an underwhelming reveal, Spider-Men II #3 revealed a very interesting reason for that, tying 616 Miles — or Prime Universe Miles, if you want to be pedantic — to one of Spider-Man’s biggest enemies.

Cell Mates

Spider-Men II #3 reveals that many years ago, Wilson Fisk — not yet The Kingpin but instead known by the nickname “The Undertaker” — was sent to prison where he shared a cell with Miles Morales. Miles was in prison for a crime he didn’t commit; he was covering for his cousin, and in doing so he was doing Kingpin’s boss, Don Rigoletto, a huge favor. Fisk entered the prison solely to keep an eye on Morales and make sure that he made it through his prison stint, as which point he would be compensated for his troubles by the Don.

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However, Fisk and Rigoletto have their own enemies, both in and out of prison, and one criminal had paid Morales a hefty sum to kill Wilson Fisk in his sleep. As sign of good faith and of trust in that what Fisk says is the truth, Morales chose to give this information — and the money — to Fisk. The future Kingpin accepted the gesture, but told Morales to keep the money as a thank you from Don Rigoletto.

While they were only in prison together for a short time, Morales and Fisk bonded deeply. Thus, when an attempt was made on the latter’s life by an MGH-addled inmate seeking revenge, Morales came to the rescue, taking a knife across the face for his troubles. After dispatching the would-be assassin, the two friends help each other to the infirmary, a new bond forged in the heat of battle and with Wilson Fisk pledging an eternal debt of gratitude to Miles Morales for saving his life.

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Kingpins

In the years that followed, Miles Morales and Wilson Fisk rose through the ranks of Don Rigoletto’s organization together, becoming considerably wealthy along the way. The pair eventually decided it was time to take the Don out of the equation. Initially, they planned to just have the Don show deference to the new head of the family, but when Fisk points out that its not himself he has to show deference, to but Miles Morales, the Don refuses. His exact words are, “If this is the new face of the family then it ain’t my family.” which could be a reference to Miles’s scars, but is more likely a racist refusal of allowing an Afro-Latino man rise to a powerful position in the mob.

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It’s implied that Fisk and Morales kill Rigoletto in order to take over the organization, but that would be a significant change to Marvel continuity and the origin of The Kingpin. Don Rigoletto was originally introduced — and killed off — in Frank Miller and John Romita Jr’s iconic miniseries Daredevil: The Man Without Fear. In that story, he was presented as a powerful yet somewhat moral man who refused to allow the seedier parts of criminal enterprise to enter his own organization, and was killed by Wilson Fisk who took his place as the Kingpin of Crime.

RELATED: Miles Morales Has Been Written By A Person Of Color – And That Matters

Following the takeover, Fisk and Morales discuss their future, with Fisk noting that people have started to call him Kingpin, and Morales asserting that he thinks it’s probably going to stick. Miles admits that he wants to get out of the life and retire somewhere peaceful with his wife Barbara, and as a way to repay his best friend for saving his life in that prison bathroom so many years ago, Fisk tells Miles that he can make that happen. As an added bonus, he knows someone that can make it look like Miles never existed, allowing him to retire peacefully.

Miles vs Miles

While we’ve learned a good deal about 616 Miles Morales and how he disappeared off the grid to the point that there’s no trace of him ever existing, there are still a lot of questions to be answered, mostly regarding his family and background. It’s not hard to notice that 616 Miles doesn’t look at all like Ultimate Miles, which calls into question whether the 616 Miles has Jefferson Davis and Rio Morales for parents. There’s also the cousin mentioned by Fisk, but as far as we know our Miles doesn’t have any. The only uncle or aunt we’ve seen was Aaron Davis AKA The Prowler, and he died in a fight with Spider-Man. But if this universe’s Aaron Davis didn’t become The Prowler, and this universe’s Miles Morales didn’t become Spider-Man, there’s a good chance he perhaps has a child who grew up alongside Miles.

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There’s also the possibility of the most underwhelming reveal the series could have; this is just a man also named Miles Morales, with no connection to the Miles we know other than that they share a name. Heck, DC Comics has two superheroes called Hal Jordan (Look it up -- Airwave is Green Lantern’s cousin, also called Hal!) and Miles Morales is hardly an uncommon name. At a time when our Miles is undergoing a crisis regarding his heroism and capacity for evil and violence, it wouldn’t be surprising for this series to introduce the possibility of a life of crime for Miles only for him to discover they aren’t actually doppelgängers. Whatever the truth is, there’s only two issues of Spider-Men II left, and we’re anticipating the first full Miles v Miles confrontation.