What happened to a Black Spider-Man/Woman in No Way Home (2021)?

   Many, like me, may have been disappointed with the lastest Marvel Spider-Man film, No Way Home (2021).  When seeing the previews and hearing about the cinematic venture, especially the story’s trek into the Multiverse, I immediately thought about our Latinx wall-crawling crusader.  How could I not?  Spider-Man:  Into the Spider-Verse (2018) is all about traveling through parallel universes, meeting other Spider-People and them coming together to do what?  Realign the Multiverse/Spider-Verse, so the various Spideys can return to their rightful plane.  In Into the Spider-Verse, such a realignment results in the death of Peter Parker and the rise of Miles Morales as Spider-Man in a parallel universe.  How could this important
Afro-LatinX hero not appear in another storyline about Spider-Man standing at the crux of events that will either destroy or redeem every universe in the Multiverse?  Moreover, with a plot and visual renderings that splinter time and space, was this not an apropos venue for allowing the animated character to interact with his counterparts across the franchise?  How could I and others not be offended by such an erasure when such concerted efforts were made to integrate three, other, cinematic versions of our friendly, neighborhood web-slinger?  Of course, when actually watching No Way Home, I became increasingly more excited and moved closer to the edge of my seat when Andrew Garfield’s Amazing Spider-Man (2012, 2014) met Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man (2002, 2004, 2007), and the two sought out Tom Holland’s grieving personage.  Of course, Miles would show up soon!  Right?  WHAT A LET DOWN when there was not only no appearance of Miles but not even a cameo mention of his name!  Electro’s snide comment—played by Jamie Foxx— “There’s gotta be a Black Spider-Man somewhere out there” (No Way Home) was not enough and, quite honestly a cop-out to the problem.  


    Really, Marvel?  You couldn’t even figure out a way to write Miles out of the script, meaning have Tom’s, Tobey’s, or Andrew’s rendition meet him in the Multiverse, OR mention having crossed Miles’s path in their own treks across the Spider-verse?  Such questions are all the more pervasive, when seeing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) navigate digital/animated universes in addition to “real” planes.  Furthermore, Stranges’s [I]n the Multiverse of Madness called attention to a Black Superhero in the portrayal of Captain Marvel/Spectrum/Photon when he, America Chavez, and the Scarlett Witch traveled to another parallel reality.  Thus, when filming No Way Home, Marvel missed an important opportunity, one that makes even more sense as a possible predecessor to filmic stories about Riri Williams/Ironheart and Shuri in Wakanda Forever (2022), Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s depiction of Black Adam (2022), or Ava Duvernay’s CW viewing of Naomi (2022).  Where was Miles Morales and, seriously, how could you leave him out of the Spider-Man franchise?  What a problematic oversight, not only in terms of the representations of Spider-Man/Woman and Black heroes in the Marvel Universe but, also, when thinking about the promise of inspirational representations of a Black, male child/adolescent hero. Along these lines, it is important to consider the rise in such characterizations recently:  Netflix’s Dion (2019-Season 1 and 2022-Season 2) or Kin (2018) and Cyborg’s position with the Teen Titans (cartoon) and Justice League (films).  Obviously, such an oversight in No Way Home was intentional, and such an erasure becomes all the more problematic, when contending with the existence(s) of a Black Spider-Man/Woman in the comic’s history. 

    Thanks to BlackComicLords.net (BCL), I have discovered that there are other Spider-People of African-descent—not just Miles Morales—and to my purposes and concerns, these individuals are Black women/girls.  In a YouTube video, “Black Spider-Woman Decades before Miles!  Spidey Stories #11,” we are reminded of two, original Spider-Women.  The popularly known character with her own cartoon that aired on tv from September 1979 to January 1980 (disneyplus.com), Jessica Drew, first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32-Spidey Super Stories comic in 1978.  However, prior to her introduction, there was an interesting friend to Peter Parker and fan of Spider-Man.  Valerie, the librarian, debuted in August of 1975 (Decades before Miles), and she took center-stage in the August, Issue #11 of  Marvel Comics and The Electric Company Present Spidey Super Stories:  Doc Ock and Spider-Man in a Fight to the Finish (BCL Ladies Live).  As our Black Comic Lords narrator for “Decades before Miles” explains with supporting visual evidence, Peter left his costume hanging from a rooftop.  It falls into Valerie’s lap.  Taking full ownership, she adds suction cups to the gloves and heels, develops her own webbing, and takes to the streets, helping Peter defeat the Vulture.  The book ends with her declaring, as she swings from an apartment window:  “So look out, Crooks.  Here comes Spider-Woman!” (Decades before Miles)  What an amazing find?  I had no knowledge of Valerie, until coming across this video homage on the BCL YouTube channel.  


    Moreover, in another BCL presentation, attention is given to two modern day Spider-Women;  both happen to be Women of Color.  In a BCL Ladies Live conversation (Episode 4) in October of 2022, viewers are given information about Valerie the Librarian and introduced to two characters from the Edge of Spider-Verse series:  Spider-UK 2022 and Spinstress, who was also introduced in 2022.  The commentators do not mention No Way Home, but acknowledge that prior to Jessica Drew’s character, there was another Spider-Woman, significantly but problematically, an athletic individual with no super-human abilities—akin to other depictions of Black people in comics in the 1970s—who were able to fight alongside superheroes, often helping to defeat the super-villain.  For them, it is not only noteworthy that Valerie has been lost to the Marvel Universe—especially when friendships and other, peripheral characters have been unearthed over the years—but that Spidey Super Story issues were co-sponsored by Marvel and The Electric Company carries further importance.  (BCL Ladies Live)  In the book’s conclusion, Valerie defeats the Vulture—who has subdued and tied up Spider-Man.  The encounter takes place in front of an imagined rendering of the actual Electric Company Theatre, where the show was recorded and produced in New York City.  In essence, the librarian who by the very nature of her vocation is linked to knowledge and learning is depicted as an African-descended Spider-Person in a collaborative issue between a comics publication and one of the strongest and most reputable televised educational outlets for young people at the time.  Clearly, the writers were thinking about knowledge/information-gathering and the tackling of ignorance when introducing Valerie into the storyline.  Not only can women be superheroes, but a Black woman and a librarian can—not just within the fictional pages of the comics but arguably in real-life too—be the hero!   


    Next, the BCL Ladies reveal our new millennium Spider-Women who traverse the Spider-Verse.  First there is Spider-UK '22, Zarina Zahari, who debuts in Edge of the Spider-Verse #2 (2022).  She is not to be confused with the 2014 Spider-UK, William “Billy” Braddock of Earth 833, who premiered in Amazing Spider-Man #7 (2014) where an Edge of the Spider-Verse appeared and was killed in Spider-Geddon #1 (2018).  Zarina is especially important, the BCL discussants highlight, due to her full representation of diversity.  She is a Black British Muslim, thus uncoupling presumptions around “race,” ethnicity, and culture while also presenting a female Spider-Man.  (BCL Ladies Live)  Interestingly enough, this Zarina is not seen in trailers for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) (Baculi), although the African-descended Jessica Drew--voiced by Issa Rae--has similar powers to Spider-UK '22. 


    The second character, Spinstress, is “fashioned after a Disney princess.”  She is Princess Petra and her Fairy Godmother is the Goblin.  Spinstress appears in Edge of the Spider-Verse #4 (2022) (BCL Ladies Live), and not unlike the construction of Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009), Brandi as Cinderella (1997) or H.E.R. in the 30th Anniversary Celebration of Belle from Beauty and the Beast (2022), the comic provides youth with a Black princess to admire, one who chooses to be a hero over a romantic love-interest.  


    Unquestionably, the largest producers of popular comic fiction—Marvel and DC—continue to diversify their cast of characters and storylines.  Unfortunately, Marvel—-now owned by Disney—-missed an opportune moment with this most recent, Spider-Man film, requiring People of Color to yet, again, wonder if racist bias led to Miles Morales’s absence from No Way Home.  For such an impression is a likely and logical inference when considering the other African-descended Spider-People who have existed—or now do exist.

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Spider UK'22-Zarina Zahari                      Spinstress-Princess Petra

Works Cited
The Amazing Spider-Man.  Director Marc Webb.  Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment/Laura Ziskin Productions, 2012.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  Director Marc Webb.  Marvel Enterprises/Avi Arad Productions/Columbia Pictures, 2014.

Baculi, Spencer.  "First Trailer for 'Spider-Man:  Across the Spider-Verse' Confirms Black Spider-Woman." Bounding Into Comics.  Bounding Into Comics, 2022.  https://boundingintocomics.com/2022/12/13/first-trailer-for-spider-man-across-the-spider-verse-confirms-black-spider-woman/. Accessed 11 January 2023.

Batman vs. Superman:  Dawn of Justice.  Director Zach Synder.  Warner Brothers/Atlas Entertainment, Cruel and Unusual Films, 2016.

Black Adam.  Director Jaume Collet-Serra.  Warner Brothers/New Line Cinema/DC Entertainment, 2022. 

Black Panther:  Wakanda Forever.  Director Ryan Cooler.  Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures, 2022.

Beauty and the Beast:  A 30th Celebration.  Director Hamish Hamilton.  ABC.  December 15, 2022.

“Black Spider Women!  BCL Ladies Live Ep. 4.”  October 22, 2022.  Black Comic Lords.  YouTube.  Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Id4TSymQy4Y

“Black Spider-Woman Decades before Miles!  Spidey Stories #11,”  Black Comic Lords.  YouTube.  Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUbwF0a_mgw

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.  Director Sam Raimi.  Marvel Studios, 2022.

Justice League.  Director Joss Whedon.  Warner Brothers/RatPac Entertainment, DC Entertainment, 2017.

Justice League.  Director Zach Synder.  Warner Brothers/RatPac Entertainment, DC Entertainment, 2021.

Kin.  Directors Jonathan Baker and Josh Baker.  Summit Entertainment/21 Laps Entertainment/Hurwitz Creative, 2018.

Naomi.  Creator Ava Duvernay.  CW, Season 1  (2022).​

The Princess and the Frog.  Director Ron Clements and John Musker.  Walt Disney Animation Studios/Walt Disney Pictures, 2009.

Raising Dion.  Creators Carol Barbee and Dennis A. Liu.  Netflix, Season 1 (2019) and Season 2 (2022).

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella.  Director Robert Iscove.  BrownHose Productions/ Citadel Entertainment/Storyline Entertainment, 1997. 

Slott, Dan.  Amazing Spider-Man #7.  Marvel.  October 8, 2014.

Slott, Dan, and Chris Giarrusso, Ramsey Hassan, Mallory Rosenthal.  Edge of the Spider-Verse #2.  Marvel.  August 17, 2022.

Slott, Dan, and Jordan Blum, David Hein, Tee Franklin.  Edge of the Spider-Verse #4.  Marvel, September 21, 2022.

Spider-Man.  Director Sam Raimi.  Columbia Pictures/Marvel Enterprises/Laura Ziskin Productions, 2002.

Spider-Man 2.  Director Sam Raimi.  Columbia Pictures/Marvel Enterprises/Laura Ziskin Productions, 2004.  

Spider-Man 3.  Director Sam Raimi.  Columbia Pictures/Marvel Studios/Laura Ziskin Productions, 2007.

Spider-Man:  Across the Spider-Verse.  Directors Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.  Sony Pictures Animation/Marvel Entertainment/Arad Productions, 2023.

Spider-Man:  Into the Spider-Verse.  Directors Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman.  Sony Pictures/Columbia Pictures/Marvel Entertainment, 2018.

Spider-Man: No Way Home.  Director Jon Watts.  Columbia Pictures/Pascal Pictures/Marvel Studios, 2021.

Spider-Woman.  Creators Stan Lee and Marie Severin.  Marvel Productions, 1979-1980.

Salicrup, Jim.  Spidey Super Stories #32.  Marvel.  December 27, 1977.

Teen Titans.  Creators David Slack, Bob Haney, and Bruno Premiani.  Warner Brothers Animation/DC Comics/Williams Street, 2003-2006.

Thomas, Jean.  Spidey Super Stories #11:  Doc Ock and Spider-Man in a Fight to the Finish.  Marvel, May 27, 1975.

A Black Jessica Drew - from Spider-Man:  Across the Spider-Verse trailer (2023)