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Peter Not Miles Away From An Up-'N'-Coming Spider-Man

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by Vince Brusio

Some people will advise you not to meet your idols. The purpose in telling you this is that they don’t want to ruin the image of your hero. Some heroes don’t live up to your expectations in the flesh. So the question is, what if they do? Miles Morales is faced with that situation, and in this PREVIEWSworld Exclusive interview with writer Brian Michael Bendis, we learn a little about what fallout might be in store when two webslingers meet face-to-face in Generations: Miles Morales & Peter Parker Spider-Man #1 (JUL171013).

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Vince Brusio: Concerning the genesis of this story, if we look at the cover of this book, it calls to mind Spielberg’s Back To The Future where Marty McFly is given the opportunity to spy on himself. Did that machination or any other type of time-travel scenario figure into the initial plot you devised for Generations: Miles Morales & Parker Spider-Man #1 (JUL171013)?

Brian Michael Bendis: To me the machination was an amazing opportunity to have Miles and Peter meet at a very specific time and share something that will illuminate and change them both going forward.  It was one of those magnificent ideas that allowed all of these characters to discover truths about each other and if we do our thing right, the readers new and old will discover some cool stuff too. 

Vince Brusio: It’s explained to us in the solicitation text that Peter Parker learns he has a doppelgänger. Miles Morales is in the background of this “doppelgänger” scenario. Meanwhile, Peter is on the front cover of the book, besieged by paperwork related to his school studies. He’s dealing with bullies at school, and an ailing aunt. It’s a lot of different variables all playing together at once. Seeing the dancing dinnerware singing “Be Our Guest” in Beauty & The Beast comes to mind. It’s like, what do you pay attention to first? What supposed to come from all of this chaos?

Brian Michael Bendis: Who says any of it has to come first?  This is what Peter Parker’s life is like and has been since high school.  He has so much to balance.  So much pressure.  Miles seeing Peter like this is kind of a big deal, it is not how Miles usually perceives the great legendary Spider-Man.

Vince Brusio: We know how both characters compare to one another, as they’re both Spider-Men. But how do they further compare when it comes to how they deal with grief? Peter had to deal with losing his uncle. Miles had to deal with not helping Peter before his demise. So they have more in common than just web-swinging. There’s more depth there between them, yes? Is that subject to more interpretation?

Brian Michael Bendis: To SO much more.  But I also like how they both go accomplishing the ideal of ‘with great power must come great responsibility’ from completely different perspectives and life experiences. This is what Generations is really about, to me, discovering other people’s perspectives. Even people you think you know, even people living right next to you,  they can be seeing and experiencing the world's ups and downs completely differently that you, and if we have more understanding or empathy about that maybe this world would be a more healed place.

People are talking lately about how ‘siloed’ everyone is becoming, only watching news or talking to people who agree with their world view.  Sometimes, most time, you learn more about yourself and your own life by learning and living in the experience of someone different from you.

Vince Brusio: With Ben Reilly back on the scene while the Generations books roll out, it appears there’s some social engineering at play over at the House of Ideas. Much as the Marvel family is being analyzed, so, too, does the Spider-Man family appear to be under the microscope. Are we seeing the early stages of a new family tree being constructed for future study?

Brian Michael Bendis: I think that ship has already sailed. Between the wild success of Miles and Spider-Gwen, and classics like Ben Reilly and Spidey 2099 and so, so, so many others,  even that #$&%#@ Spider-Ham :),  the Spider-Man franchise is as big and surprising as any other mythology in pop culture fiction.  Although dozens of writers have contributed to that, it is editor Nick Lowe who steers this huge ship and makes sure each character has a unique and exciting story to tell.

Vince Brusio: You’ve had your hand in writing the thoughts and dialogue of both Miles Morales and Peter Parker, and both have come to take up permanent residence in the Marvel Universe. So now these two personalities are being juxtaposed in this one-shot, one of the questions we have is what do they accomplish by being put in the same room together? What do they gain as mirror images fighting side-by-side this time?

Brian Michael Bendis: Perspective.  And the kind that could and will change them going forward. This is a big, big, big formative time in Miles Morales’ life and super hero career.  It is not an accident that Generations and Spider-Men II are happening at the same time as a huge story in Legacy.  What is about to happen to Miles and the Spider-Man franchise is as ballsy as when we first introduced him.  These are the beginning chapters. All leading up to his massive animated movie next year.

And all this comes from fan support and love.  It is why I love comics. 

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Vince Brusio writes about comics, and writes comics. He is the long-serving Editor of PREVIEWSworld.com, the creator of PUSSYCATS, and encourages everyone to keep the faith...and keep reading comics.

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