[center][b][h1][color=red]S P I D E R - M A N[/color][/h1][/b][b]Miles Morales[/b], 15 (b. 1952)
[b][sub]Based in Harlem, New York City[/sub][/b]
[color=gray][sub]Active since approximately...a few hours from now[/sub][/color]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/T1NsFPa.jpg[/img][/center]
[INDENT][h3]Character Concept[/h3][hr]
[color=999999]Miles Morales is a child who is the face of the changing America in the 1960s. Born to a Puerto Rican immigrant mother and an African American father, his existence is a sign to the ruling class that slowly but surely, America is becoming a new country. Growing up in such turbulent times, Miles still retains the optimism of his teenage years, and believes all the strife he sees will lead to a better country in the end. Still, he sees the strains that such times have on his family, with his mother, Rio Morales, seen as little more than hired help at her job and his father, Lincoln Davis, seen with suspicion in his own community for becoming a police officer. Nowhere is the tension more obvious than between Lincoln and his brother Aaron, who sees his brother's profession as the ultimate betrayal to their people. 

His great intellect and aptitude for chemistry has landed him a spot at Manhattan Visions Academy, a new school created by philanthropist and Industrialist Harold Osborn, CEO of Oscorp Industries and son of the former mob boss known only as "the Goblin". Osborn's goal is to show there is a future in integrating schools, and as a private academy, Visions can do just that. There has been a backlash to the school, and white enrollment is much lower than expected. Still, Osborn presses on, hoping to rehabilitate his family name and using his father's ill gotten gains for good. Though his intentions are good, his naivety on goings on at his own company may prove to be his downfall.

At Visions, Miles has met his friends Ganke, the son of Korean immigrants, and Phineas, a Jewish boy born to parents who escaped Nazi Germany. Together, they believe they're unstoppable. The trio love science fiction, fantasy, and tinkering in Phineas' dad's workshop. Also at Visions is Gwen Stacy, the daughter of Captain George Stacy, Lincoln's boss. 

The stage is set. With America as a powder keg ready to blow, Miles will learn what it takes to be a hero, and will do his best to protect the city of New York from tearing itself apart.[/color]

[center][youtube]https://youtu.be/qFfnlYbFEiE[/youtube][/center]

Miles is not a character I initially found very compelling. The initial Bendis run was just too similar to Peter, in my opinion, and did little to differentiate itself outside of some interesting new abilities for Spider-Man. But since the Spider-verse movie and the PlayStation Video Games, I think Miles has really come into his own as a character. He's the perfect Spider-Man for the setting, being a multiracial character at a time when life was full of strife and upheaval. The rich story telling of a kid struggling to be a hero for a city, even for those that would hate him if they saw his face, is interesting and could lead a lot of places. I'd also love to explore a similar mentor situation like we saw in Spider-verse, but with a Peter Parker that is more legend than anything.

Through his group of friends and family, integral parts of all SPider-Man stories, I'd like to explore how the turbulent times affect different races, genders, and age groups differently. 

[h3]Key Notes[/h3][hr]
[hider=Family and Friends]
[list][*]Rio Morales - Miles's mother and a chambermaid at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. She immigrated to New York with her parents in the early 40s from Puerto Rico. She is a loving, doting mother, though struggles with her long work hours and often worries for her son's safety.
[*]Lincoln Davis - Miles's father and a Harlem police officer. Lincoln served with distinction in Vietnam, and when he returned saw an opportunity to further his family's acceptance into society by joining the newly integrated Harlem police force. Davis is a staunch believer in a united America, and Doctor King's dream. Still, judgement from his community, some of whom see his profession as a betrayal, weighs on him.
[*]Aaron Davis - Miles's uncle and a bar tender at Harlem bar. Also a Vietnam vet, Aaron did not escape the terrible conflict unscathed. He is missing the lower half of his right leg and part of his left hand. His experience in Vietnam radicalized him, and he is a devote follower of Malcom X's teachings.
[*]Ganke Lee - Miles's best friend and the son of Korean immigrants. He is also a student at Visions Academy.
[*]Phineas Einstein - Another friend of Miles's at Visions, Phineas is a Jewish American boy and a whiz with mechanical design.
[*]Gwendolyn Stacy - One of the few white, protestant students at Visions, Gwen is the daughter of Cpatain George Stacy, Lincoln's boss.[/list][/hider]
[hider=Allies]
[list][*]Peter Parker/The Spider - A WWII era vigilante with power similar to Miles, Peter has become a recluse, walling himself off from his wife and daughter. 
[*]Mary Jane Watson - Peter's estranged wife and reporter for the Daily Bugle.
[*]May "Mayday" Parker - A New York comic book artist who publishes fictionalized accounts of her father's exploits as the Spider. Though she resents her father for being distant, she respects his crimefighting career.
[*]J Jonah Jameson - While no fan of vigilantism, the Irish American Jameson knows that not long ago his people were discriminated against. In turn, the editor of the Daily Bugle is a staunch supporter of Civil Rights.[/list][/hider]
[hider=Enemies]
[list][*]Adrian "The Vulture" Toombs - One of Norman Osborn's former lieutenants, the aging Toombs still has a large slice of New York's underworld in his proverbial talons. 
[*]Otto Octavius - A former Nazi scientist who assisted on NASA's rocket programs after the fall of the Third Reich. Believed to be rehabilitated, Octavius is now the lead researcher for Oscorp. Though he has a good public image, he is secretly a monster obsessed with genetics.
[/list][/hider]

[h3]References / Sample Post[/h3][hr]
[indent][indent][b][sup]Monday. January 1, 1968[/sup][/b][hr]The cold winter air whips around me as I stand in the alley behind my apartment building, my breath emanating like a puff of smoke with each exhale. What brought me out here after three days of fever and night sweats I'm still not sure. But after I had a book stick to my hands at school for a good hour and a half this morning it has me thinking that the spider that bit me wasn't just any spider, and the "flu" I had wasn't a flu at all.

Approaching the wall in front of me, I look around to make sure no one is watching. If what I think is about to happen actually happens, the last thing I need is someone yelling about a black boy who's a mutant up and down the street. I've got enough problems as is. Don't need the Purifiers showing up in Harlem looking for me. 

Tentatively, I place my right hand on the wall, before the left, then my left foot. Closing my eyes and hoping for the best, I take my right foot off the ground. Cracking my eyes open, I see the foot sitting a few inches off the ground, and my other limbs sticking to the wall without a problem.

"Holy shit," the amazed chuckle escapes my lips.

I take a few more tentative...steps, I guess, up the wall, and before long I'm slinking past the second floor windows of the building. I can smell Mrs. Collier's oxtail simmering from here, and my stomach rumbles. But I'm too engrossed in what's happening to worry about dinner right now. I'm climbing up a wall. I'm climbing up a wall with no help, just bare hands and sneakers. It's the most incredible feeling I've ever had.

Before long I'm on the roof of my building, overlooking Harlem. The sea of lights spreads out around me, and I realize that nothing is ever going to be the same again. Whether I like it or not, I've stepped into something heavy, and I'm going to have a bigger target on my back than I already do if I use these gifts the way others do.

But as fireworks start to go off in the neighborhood, leftovers from the night before, I have to wonder if I can afford not to go through with the far out plan rattling around in my brain.

[b][sup]Thursday. December 28, 1967[/sup][/b][hr]The gleaming white interior of the Oscorp Research labs causes my jaw to drop. I've been to the Plaza, where Mom works, but not even that place is as sparkling clean as the lab. Plus the Plaza might have the best bars and restaurants in town, but it doesn't have a new prototype nuclear reactor that could help usher in a new age of American energy independence. That's way more boss than
Trader Vic's.

"Man, are you seeing this?" Ganke Lee, my best friend, bounds up and slaps me on the shoulder. He may be more excited than I even am. "This is some Manhattan Project stuff! NASA level!"

"Bro, quit geeking out," I laugh as I notice Gwen Stacy roll her eyes at Ganke. "You're gonna get us in trouble."

"This is even cooler than NASA," Phineas Einstein, no relation, adds. "This is Starship Enterprise level."

I can't stifle a chuckle as the two of them begin to imitate Sulu and Spock, though Ganke has always struck me as more of a Scotty than Sulu. 

Before I can plead for the knuckleheads to calm down, a man on a platform above us clears his throat, drawing our attention. I look up to see Harold Osborn, CEO of Oscorp and the benefactor for our school, Visions Academy. He's dressed in a sharp, navy suit, and his dark hair is slicked back. If he wasn't so generous, he'd be uncle Aaron's very definition of "The Man", not that his generosity would sway Aaron Davis's mistrust of Osborn's kind.

He smiles welcomingly, "I'm so glad so many of Visions' finest decided to come on this trip. I know it's your Christmas break, but this is the slow time at the lab and I wanted to make sure you all got to see the amazing work we have going on here. So, I won't take much of your time, and I'll hand it over to the real genius behind Oscorp, Doctor Otto Octavius!"

A murmur goes through the students. Octavius is a genius, and a famous one to boot. He defected from the Nazis before the end of the war, and has worked on NASA's rocket program before coming to Oscorp. That we were going to get a lecture from him was legitimately exciting.

The man who wheels out next to Osborn isn't what I expect, however. Octavius is wheel-chair bound and scrawny. He looks more like something out of a comic book than a real person, with a bowl of greasy brown hair hanging over his lab goggles. He smiles down at us with a crooked, ugly looking grin, "Hello. Velcome to Oscorp Labs...I can see some of zhe...future geniuses of our country have come to grace us vith a visit."

I've heard that tone before. Sneering condescension of a white man insulted that some colored kids were allowed into his place. Octavius may be a genius, but he ain't no progressive, that's for sure. I try to hold back a sour look, but out of the corner of my eye I can see that Ganke couldn't do the same.

"You are here for a tour of our new reactor," Otto continues motioning towards a door to our right. "If you vould please go through zhere. I vill show you the future of American superiority."[/indent][/indent]

[/INDENT]