Spider-Man is one of the most iconic superheroes of all time, and for self-evident reasons. They range from his relatability to his inspiring determination to do the right thing to his awesome costume. A standout that nobody can deny, however, is that his powers are a big draw to his character. Seeing Spider-Man flip around and stick to walls is always a joy, and the traditional Spidey powerset has been copied and pasted to plenty of other Spider-characters over the years. However, sometimes, the powers change a little bit in translation, like is the case with the second Spider-Man, Miles Morales. 

In many ways, Miles and Peter both share a lot of the same powers, which makes sense, given that they’re both Spider-Man. However, there are actually a lot more differences than you might expect. Today, we’re going to be looking at the five biggest differences between the two Spider-Men’s abilities, and explaining how and why those things matter. Without further ado, let’s talk Spider-Man.

5) Bio-Electricity

Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics

The most obvious difference between Miles and Peter’s powers is that Miles can generate and control bioelectricity, which he calls Venom. By harnessing this energy, he can unleash powerful bursts called Venom Blasts and enhance his punches and kicks, and even recently learned to generate constructs out of it. Miles can channel his Venom into various shapes, such as a blade or even strands that function just like his webs. Bio-electricity is definitely one of Miles’s most versatile and unique powers, and has helped him out of more than a few jams. The power itself seems to be constantly evolving, so we’ll have to wait and see if it eventually develops into an ability to control electricity itself.

4) Invisibility

Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Yet another power Miles has that Peter doesn’t, the younger Spider is capable of slightly manipulating the electromagnetic spectrum around him. Effectively, this lets him bend light around him to blend in with his environment, turning invisible. Combine this with the natural stealth abilities that come from his enhanced agility and wall-crawling, and Miles can become almost entirely undetectable at the drop of a hat. Peter’s shown that he can be pretty sneaky when he wants to be, climbing walls and moving all but silently across rooms, but Miles literally blending into his environment puts him on a whole other level.

3) Radar Sense

Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics

Both Peter and Miles have their Spider-Sense, which alerts them to incoming danger, but Miles’s power has since evolved. After his Spider-Sense went all out of whack due to his anxiety, Miles learned to center himself and focus his precognitive power, which developed into a kind of radar sense. He’s able to see outlines of the various dangerous elements around him, such as skeletal imagery of several armed thugs in the next room. As of right now, this ability takes all of Miles’s concentration, and while he’s currently the only Spider-person that can do it, it’s entirely possible that it’s in Peter’s wheelhouse, too. Should Miles ever teach this trick to Peter, we could have the Spider-Men cosplaying as Daredevil with stunning accuracy.

2) Radioactivity

Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics

We finally come to something that Peter has that Miles doesn’t: radioactivity. While Peter was bitten by a radioactive spider, Miles was bitten by one enhanced by the Oz formula, which was never stated or implied to be radioactive in any way. Being radioactive might sound like a bad thing, but it’s actually come in clutch plenty of times for Peter. It grants him a far greater resistance to radiation than the average person and makes him toxic to the interdimensional vampire-like Inheritors like Morlun. This has let Peter survive way more radiation than he otherwise should have, like the time he survived a blast from the U-Foes in The Amazing Spider-Man (2018) #75.

1) Immortality

Image Courtesy of Marvel Comics

This is a strange entry on the list, because while it’s not confirmed, Miles may very well be immortal. Everyone knows that the Peter Parker of the original Ultimate Universe died, but what many don’t know is that he came back alongside Norman Osborn in Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #1. The Oz formula that empowered all three of these men came with the added side effect of immortality, resurrecting Peter and Norman soon after their deaths. However, while both of them came back, Harry didn’t, despite also being exposed to Oz. So there’s no real way to know if Miles is immortal until he dies, but there’s still a definite chance of it.

There we have the five biggest differences between Peter and Miles’s powers. Miles all but clears Peter in terms of variety, but that doesn’t make Pete any less awesome. A cheese pizza can be just as good as a supreme, you know? Which Spider-Man powerset do you prefer?

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