Spider-Man 2099

Did You Know?

• A Spider-Man 2099 animated series was considered in 1999 but not developed due to the similar Batman Beyond premiering earlier that year.
• Spider-Man 2099 appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man episode 'The Spider-Verse' voiced by Freddy Rodriguez, animated in CGI in his own universe.

Publication history

Spider-Man 2099 was introduced as part of the Marvel 2099 line, which depicted future versions of classic Marvel characters in a dystopian America controlled by corrupt megacorporations, with cyberpunk elements. The character first appeared in a five-page preview within the 30th-anniversary issue of The Amazing Spider-Man, followed shortly by his own series. Artist Rick Leonardi designed the character, and Peter David was brought on as writer to develop Miguel O'Hara and supporting cast.

David named the character after his friend, actor Miguel Ferrer. The first issue, written by David, pencilled by Leonardi, inked by Al Williamson, and lettered by Rick Parker, became the highest-selling single issue of any comic written by Peter David. Despite selling over 100,000 copies per issue, the series and the entire 2099 line underwent a shift in early 1996 after editor Joey Cavalieri was fired. David resigned in solidarity with issue #44, and the last two issues were completed without his input, ending with issue #46. A new title, 2099: World of Tomorrow, ran for eight issues as a finale for the line.

Fictional character biography

Miguel O'Hara was born in Nueva York after the Heroic Age, to mother Conchata and abusive father George O'Hara, with a younger brother Gabriel. He attended the Alchemax School for Gifted Youngsters, where he befriended Xina Kwan, a computer specialist. Miguel later cheated on Xina with Dana D'Angelo, his brother's girlfriend, and became engaged to Dana. According to an editorial, Miguel sabotaged his relationship with Xina because her intellect challenged his superiority complex, while Dana was less threatening. Miguel trusts few people, relying on Lyla, an AI assistant created by Xina. After an accident rewrites half his DNA with spider genetic code, he becomes Spider-Man 2099.

Other versions

In The Amazing Spider-Man #439, set 1,000 years in the future, archaeologists find Spider-Man relics and discuss heroes inspired by him, including Spider-Man 2099. A version of Spider-Man 2099 appears in Avengers Forever #12 during the Destiny War and is later killed by Morlun in the Spider-Verse storyline. In the unified Marvel 2099 reality of Earth-2099, Miguel O'Hara is a scientist at Alchemax who hallucinates other realities and becomes Spider-Man after his brother's apartment is destroyed. He later works with the 2099 New Avengers against the 2099 Masters of Evil. During the End of the Spider-Verse storyline, Miguel was controlled by Shathra's wasps until her defeat, then helped establish the Spider-Society. A divergence created by Proteus results in Earth-6375, where Miguel is unmasked and leaves his world before Doom takes power. Proteus later escapes to Earth-928 via a portal.