Miguel O’Hara (Across the Spider-Verse): Finding Reason in Sorrow

Tragedy is a core trait of Spider-Man stories. That simple fact is one of the most important parts of ‘Across the Spider-Verse.’ The idea that the beloved web-head must endure loss and suffering, and that said sorrow cannot be avoided, is at the very heart of the movie’s conflict.

Our protagonist, Miles, stands against this. He believes that Spider-Man should always try to do the right thing and save everyone. Consequences be damned, the kid is a hero and he’ll always try to help people.

Standing firmly against him is the subject of today’s analysis, as well as one of the most interesting antagonists we’ve ever seen in a Spidey film: Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O’hara.

But why? Why does Miguel try so hard to stop Miles, knowing full well what will happen if he succeeds? Why is this Spider-Man so set on preserving the so-called ‘canon’ that he would do something so heartless?

Let’s have a look, shall we?

The Want: A Daughter’s Smile

At the core of it all is a desire as simple as longing can get: a want for happiness.

Due to multiple factors, Miguel could never get the happy, loving family that he always wanted. At least, not in his universe. Luckily for him, he found another universe. One where another version of him did get that happy family, but tragically died.

So Miguel decided to step in. He slipped in, taking his duplicate’s place, essentially becoming him. In doing so, he finally got what he wanted. A wife, a daughter, and a happy life.

But none of it was his. He stole it. And the universe seemed intent to take back what he’d taken.

With interest.

The Wound: Disrupting a Timeline

By inserting himself into that alternate universe, Miguel accidentally triggered a cataclysmic event that wiped it from the multiverse. It, and everyone living in it. Including Miguel’s new family.

Naturally, this tragedy hit him really hard. Man was finally happy, and he had it all ripped away from him. What was worse: it was his fault. He wanted the good life, and his greed caused a disaster that killed an entire timeline!

Miguel took that grief, internalized it, and tried to find justification in it. Surely the pain had to happen. It wasn’t just some horrible tragedy that occurred because the universe is cold and cruel. Rather, it was an important, necessary event meant to preserve the multiverse.

Just one problem with that: if you think about it for more than not at all, you’ll realize it’s total BS.

The Lie: Preserving the Canon

After the tragedy of his attempt at canon disruption, Miguel devoted himself whole sale to preserving the ‘canon’ of the multiverse. He took the Spider Society he had built and used it to further his ends, bringing hundreds, thousands of other Spider-Men in and convincing them all the same thing: the tragedies of their lives needed to be preserved.

It’s not hard to see why they all agreed. Like I said at the beginning, tragedy has become a core pillar of just about every Spider-Man story. If Miguel found an outside way to justify his loss, then it makes sense that the others would all do the same.

All of them, except for one.

Finally, we come to the reason Miguel despises Miles so much. In his eyes, Miles is an anomaly. A Spider-Man that should not have been, a walking disruption to the canon, living proof that everything Miguel has convinced himself of is a lie.

Maybe he’s jealous that it all worked out for Miles and not him. Perhaps he’s afraid that Miles’ actions will eventually tear the multiverse apart. Or it could just be that he doesn’t even want to think about him, so he tries to keep him away and out of the loop. It could be all of them at once.

The point is, Miguel has convinced himself that the canon of the multiverse is built on loss and tragedy, and that it must be protected. Miles, on the other hand, forges ahead, paving his own path. Miguel has convinced himself that Miles will lead them all to destruction.

When, in reality, Miles is doing exactly what Miguel should be.

The Need: Spider-Man Does Both

Miguel’s eyes are glued to the big picture. He fights not to save one man, but to preserve the safety of the multiverse. Needs of the many outweighing the few and all that.

The problem is, he’s lost sight of what it means to be Spider-Man. Spidey didn’t become the ‘friendly neighborhood’ hero because they were always looking at the big picture. They got that title because they looked out for the little guy. Spider-Man always tries to save everyone, consequences be damned, for the simple reason that it’s the right thing to do.

The whole ‘canon’ thing is clearly nonsense. If it worked as Miguel believes, then Miles’ universe would have gone under ages ago! But he’s convinced himself that isn’t true, because if he’s wrong, then everything he lost was without purpose. If he accepts that Miles is right, then he needs to face the reality of what happened and find a new way to deal with it.

Is that going to be easy? No. Losing someone never is. Spider-Man always falls.

But they always gets back up.

Conclusion

Miguel makes for one hell of an antagonist. A Spider-Man who has lost his way, convinced that his pain happened for a reason. What better enemy could there be for Miles Morales?

Aside from Spot. But we’ll get to him another time.

I can’t wait to see where Miguel goes in the next movie. Will he find redemption? Will Miles and the others show him the error of his ways? Or will he double-down and stand firm as an antagonistic force? Will Miles’ mom shout him into Spanish submission?

I hope it’s the last one.