Summary

• Miles Morales is thriving with new powers and mentorship, making it possible that he could leave behind the Spider-Man persona.
• In issue #13, he showcases impressive swordsmanship while fighting the Buzz Boys gang.
• Miles' growth, training, and newfound confidence indicate that he no longer needs Peter Parker and is ready to claim his own identity as a superhero.

Warning: Spoilers for Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #13 ahead!Although the Spider-Man brand is usually cursed with bad luck, Miles Morales is on top of the world: he's got new powers, he's more confident than ever, and he's been taken under the mentorship of some of Marvel's best and brightest. In fact, Miles is doing so well that he's laying the groundwork to potentially leave the Spider-Man life behind and claim his own identity.

As part of the "Gang War" event, Cody Ziglar, Federico Vicentini, and Bryan Valenza's Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #13 sees Miles in the thick of things, having to fend off both Frost Pharaoh as well as Bumbler and Vespa's bee-themed "Buzz Boys" gang. When cornered by Bumbler's troops, Miles intimidates them by bringing out his new venom-saber powers, flashing back to his training under Misty Knight and Colleen Wing.

While Miles protests during his training that he's "really not trying to be a Spider-Samurai or anything," his newfound skill with the blade begs to differ; after a brief fight, Miles conclusively cuts through Bumbler and Vespa with some truly impressive swordsmanship.

Miles Is Ready To "Do His Own Thing" Away From The Parker Legacy

The entirety of Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) emphasizes Miles' newfound growth as he picks up new mentors, talents, and skills. By issue #2, he's being trained by Misty Knight in both detective procedure and fieldwork; issues #10-12 see him Peter Parker has simply vanished from Miles' life for the past six months - a fact that his fellow Spider-Man rightfully rips into him for in Zeb Wells, Cody Ziglar, Cody Vazquez, and Julian Shaw's The Amazing Spider-Man: Gang War: First Strike (2023) #1.

All of this serves to drive home the fact that Miles doesn't need Peter anymore. Miles is in a more stable place in his life than he's arguably ever been, and with that stability, he's finally been able to start exploring new identities for himself. While he may not wind up becoming a Spider-Hunter or Spider-Samurai, Miles has shown that he's just about ready to claim his own identity outside the mantle of Spider-Man - and by extension, outside of Peter's shadow.

Miles' Identity Is His Own To Claim

While Miles will always be linked to Spider-Man, his current steps point to an ever-evolving identity in his future. Having become the face of the Spider-Verse since 2018, the freedom to choose one's identity has become a core tenet of Mile's story. Now more than ever, Miles Morales appears to be increasingly ready to make those choices for himself - regardless of whether those choices include Peter Parker's Spider-Man at all.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2022) #13 is available now from Marvel Comics.