Spider-Man: Miles Morales: Every Villain’s Comic Book Origins

Every good superhero needs a good supervillain to fight, and Miles Morales is no different. Spider-Man: Miles Morales may be shorter than its predecessor, Marvel’s Spider-Man, but it always packs the bad guys.

If you’ve been wondering who is who in this gallery of motley thugs and what their comic book origins are, wonder no more. Here is the origin of every villain from Insomniac comic Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

[Ed. note: This piece contains spoilers for the plot of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.]

Simon Krieger, CEO of Roxxon

Image: Kurt Busiek, Patrick Zircher / Marvel Comics

Created by: Kurt Busiek, Patrick Zircher
First impression: Iron Man: Iron Age # 1 (1998)

In the movies, the death of Tony Stark’s parents was part of a plot by Hydra’s forces, but in the comics, it was something much more mundane: corporate sabotage. Simon Krieger was one of the Roxxon board members who orchestrated the murder of the Starks. These board members were disappointed when it turned out that young Tony Stark was good enough to run the business on his own.

Krieger later attempted to kill Tony in a plot that involved pretending to be him Face / Off style and trying to pay Iron Man to betray him (at a time when most people thought Iron Man was Tony’s mysterious bodyguard).

Krieger’s real function in Spider-Man: Miles Morales is the head of Roxxon. In the comics, the energy company – largely made up of unsustainable oil and gas stakes, but with a drive to penetrate all markets – is an eternal corporate thorn alongside the heroes of the Marvel Universe. .

Rhinoceros

Created by: Stan Lee, John Romita Sr.
First impression: Amazing Spider-Man # 41 (1966)

One of Spider-Man’s dumbest villains, Rhino is super strong, super durable, and super goofy, drawing his powers from a mixture of gamma radiation and a bulky supersuit. There is still a bit of pathos in the story of Aleksei Sytsevich, whose gimmick often included that the costume was fused to his body so he could never take it off.

He’s one of those villains who swings back and forth across the supervillainy line, sometimes breaking through walls with his costume horns, sometimes doing his best to walk straight and narrow.

In Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Rhino is back after getting a beating from Peter Parker in Marvel’s Spider-Man. He is one of the main villains in the game and is, as usual, a pawn of forces far greater than himself.

The Prowler

Created by: Stan Lee, John Buscema, John Romita, Jr., Brian Michael Bendis, Sara Pichelli
First impression: The Amazing Spider-Man No. 78 (1969), Ultimate Comic: Spider-Man # 1 (2011)

The alias Prowler has belonged to many people over the years, but it started with Hobie Brown, a hardened teenager who planned to break into premises as a supervillain, then take off his costume and return the stolen goods for an award. He was foiled on his very first attempt by Spider-Man, and then became a recurring ally of the wall-crawler.

Fittingly, Aaron Davis continues that swing between good and bad as Miles Morales’ supervillain / former supervillain / relapsing supervillain uncle. In some versions of Miles’ origin, the spider that delivered his fateful bite was stolen goods that Aaron kept in his apartment.

In Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Uncle Aaron continues to walk that line between good and evil. While Aaron certainly makes many costumed appearances, the game also explores the relationship between Aaron and his late brother, Miles’ father Jefferson Davis.

The handyman

Image: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko / Marvel Comics

Created by: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko
First impression: Amazing Spider-Man # 2 (1963)

A villain who can make just about any gadget out of any piece of electronics, The Tinkerer – aka Phineas Mason – is both a solo operator and an engineer hired by other villains, making their extravagant equipment, weapons and gadgets.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales reinvents the Tinkerer as the leader of the Underground, a group of techno henchmen trying to bring down the Roxxon Corporation.

The Kingpin

Image: Stan Lee, John Romita Sr./Marvel Comics

Created by: Stan Lee, John Romita Sr.
First impression: The Amazing Spider-Man # 50 (1967)

You know who the Kingpin is! He was in the first game – not to mention Netflix Daredevil series. Wilson Fisk is New York’s crime lord, he’s built like a cube of disdain, and he’s a usual threat to Spider-Man (although, arguably, he’s more of the Archnemesis of Daredevil).

He has a brief cameo in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, from prison, where we left him at the end of Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Venom

Created by: David Michelinie, Todd McFarlane
First impression: It’s complicated, but in 1984 or 1988 depending on how you count it

You also know who Venom is! The character started out as a bizarre black suit that Spider-Man got from a strange machine during a space war, and then turned out to be a clever alien looking for a partner to eat living flesh. The Symbiote and Spider-Man went their separate ways, and on the rebound, the adorably violent gooey creature grabbed disgraced reporter Eddie Brock.

The two bonded over their mutual hatred of Peter Parker and fought him for a bit, but have since settled into a sort of eternally unlucky anti-hero duo. There’s also this whole falling space god thing right now, but don’t worry about that.

In the world of Insomniac Spider Man games, it appears the symbiote is given a rather different origin, as an experimental treatment Norman Osborn derived to keep his terminally ill son – Peter Parker’s best friend Harry Osborn alive. Spider-Man: Miles Morales reminded us that Harry’s symbiote still floats, and it seems likely that this will be a major part of the next Peter-centric episode of Insomniac’s Spider-Man franchise.