The Spider-Verse films, and the recent PlayStation Spider-Man video games, further develop this version of Davis, using Uncle Aaron to represent the dangers posed by Miles’ new adventure. When Uncle Aaron (voiced by Mahershala Ali) dies in Into the Spider-Verse, Miles learns about the loss that binds all the Spider-People together.
Across the Spider-Verse continued that theme in its cliffhanger. After an adventure that paired him with an alternate universe Hobie Brown, now the radical Spider-Punk, Miles landed in yet another reality, one in which Jefferson died, Aaron still lives, and Miles is the Prowler.
Looking at the first images from the movie, Beyond the Spider-Verse will certainly carry this story further. The alternate universe Prowler will be a sort of dark mirror of our Miles, showing what he could become should the Spot complete his mission of vengeance and kill Jefferson.
That’s quite an upgrade for the Prowler from his humble comics origins, both in the mainline and Ultimate universes. Despite the similarities to their masks, Spider-Man and the Prowler were never foils to one another. Peter never felt the same urge to use his inventions for selfish gain, and thus moralized to Hobie more than he related with him. But Beyond the Spider-Verse will alter that dynamic by making the Prowler as literally another version of Miles Morales, aka Spider-Man. The Prowler is now the manifestation of everything that could go wrong for Miles, the suggestion that maybe he doesn’t actually have the ability to continue doing the right thing in the face of tragedy, as Miquel O’Hara claimed in Across the Spider-Verse. Maybe his leap of faith will result in disaster.
That’s a huge upgrade for the Prowler, and a welcome one at that. After years of sitting on the sidelines, the Prowler will finally climb to the top. Well, in two years, that is.
Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse releases June 4, 2027.