Get under the mask of Spider-man 2099
After that dazzling first trailer, meet Miguel O’hara: the futuristic webslinger who will appear in the Spider-verse sequel
HE’S FROM THE FUTURE
Spidey is about to get futuristic. Spider-man 2099, aka Miguel O’ Hara — glimpsed briefly in the post-credits sting of 2018’s Spider-man: Into The Spider-verse — is set to take steal scenes in upcoming sequel Across The Spider-verse (Part One). Created for the comics by artist Rick Leonardi and writer Peter David in 1992, Miguel is an Irish-mexican geneticist living in a future New York (known as ‘Nueva York’), who accidentally becomes Spider-man while researching the original hero’s powers.
HE’S VERY DIFFERENT FROM PETER PARKER
In the comics, Miguel is nothing like the original Spidey — not just in terms of his origin, but how he goes about his web-slinging. He’s unceremonious and cagey, mostly only trusting in his holographic artificial intelligence sidekick Lyla (voiced in the films by Greta Lee). Plus, Miguel lacks Peter Parker’s teenage angst, and shies away from Parker-style snarky quips during his punch-ups.
HE’S BEING VOICED BY OSCAR ISAAC
An avowed Marvel comics fan (he also has X-men: Apocalypse and Moon Knight on his CV), Oscar Isaac is delightfully canny casting. In the brief time we had with him during the first film’s uncredited sting, Isaac nailed that balance of charm and prickly cynicism you’d expect from Miguel — and it’s a tone he’s apparently keen to push further. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, the actor claimed he had one condition for taking the role in the sequel: “Don’t make me boring.” A Spider-man from a dystopian cyberpunk future will surely be anything but.
HE’LL BE A KEY PART OF THE NEW FILM
Miguel’s role in Across The Spider-verse is likely to be instrumental — as the post-credits sting from the first film teased, he has mastered the art of the “autonomous multiverse jump”, allowing him to hop between universes at will. But, going off the recent and gorgeously animated first-look trailer, he could be even more adversarial than the grumpy old Peter B. Parker (voiced by Jake Johnson). Miguel’s brief appearance in the new teaser — body-slamming Miles, and throwing him in mid-air — suggests another toughlove mentor-mentee relationship.