Ultimate Spider-Man, Miles Morales, is one of the most noteworthy characters to come out of the past decade, and Miles has a striking number of commonalities with one of Milestone's heroes, Static. While they were developed two decades apart, Static predicted many of the traits that would come to define Miles Morales.
Static (whose real name is Virgil Hawkins) was created by Denys Cowan, Dwayne McDuffie, Michael Davis, and Derek T. Dingle. He debuted in 1993's Static #1. While he was named after the lawyer Virgil D. Hawkins and his superhero name was inspired by the James Brown song "Static." The hero's personality, as Dwayne McDuffie explained, the hero's personality was inspired by Marvel's Spider-Man. He was a smart teenaged nerd who solved problems with his intelligence as often as his powers, and whose quick-witted banter made him a fan-favorite.
Before discussing how Static and Miles Morales are similar, it is important to examine the origins of Static's powers. He was present at an event known as the Big Bang, where police used a mutagenic gas to disperse rival gangs. Despite this, he is not affiliated with any gang and has a strong family support network. After the mutagen gave him powers over electricity, technology, and magnetism, he became a superhero to help people.
Meanwhile, the Ultimate Universe's Spider-Man, Miles Morales was created by Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, making his debut in 2011's Ultimate Fallout #4. He was bitten by a radioactive spider, giving him the usual Spider-based powers as well as bio-electricity and invisibility. At first, he hated having these powers, but after Peter Parker was killed, Miles took it upon himself to become the new Spider-Man to fill the gap left by Peter's passing. Beyond all this, he is smart and charismatic, attending a prestigious charter school, Brooklyn Visions Academy.
At face value, these two heroes have quite a lot in common. Both are smart, charismatic Black teenagers given electrical powers they did not ask for after encountering a mutagen. They were both inspired by Peter Parker in some way (although in Static's case, his creators were the ones inspired). As young heroes, they have served under older mentors who showed them the ropes, and they both have black skin-tight costumes. Each frequently uses banter while fighting, and at school, each struggles with feeling awkward despite their charisma. They also both have strong ties to their communities and loving but chaotic families.
While both characters are untied by elements of their past, they're well on their way to becoming A-list superheroes in their own rights. Between Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and last year's Spider-Man: Miles Morales video game, Miles is already one of Marvel's most visible heroes, and he'll only become more so in route to his live-action cinematic debut.
While Bendis couldn't use Static as part of his run on Young Justice, Static is set to return, along with the rest of the Milestone Universe, in an upcoming digital-first series by Vita Ayala, ChrisCross and Nikolas Draper-Ivey.
Ultimately, both of these heroes serve as refinements and reinventions of the kind of wise-cracking teenage hero that Spider-Man made popular. Like Spider-Man, both characters have been major critical and commercial hits and have personalities that clearly resonate with fans, cementing both of their places in superhero infamy.
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