Insomniac’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales has story issues, failing to fully explore its most important and interesting characters, but the ending still moves with a powerful display of heroism. It demonstrates the inspiration of self-sacrifice and firmly establishes Miles as a full-fledged super-hero, instead of a mere side-kick. The ending of Spider-Man: Miles Morales also comes with tragedy and redemption, allowing once antagonistic characters to find their inner hero.
The big bads of Spider-Man: Miles Morales are undoubtedly Simon Krieger and Roxxon Energy: every major conflict originates from them. However, while they may be the devil in the background, the immediate antagonists are the Phin Mason and Aaron Davis, both of whom have understandable motivations. Phin Mason, Miles’ dear childhood friend and leader of the Underground, begins war a with Simon Krieger and Roxxon after Simon kills her brother, Rick. Rick, also a friend of Miles, developed Nuform, a new clean energy source Roxxon wishes to commercialize, and uncovered it’s hazardous health effects. He tried to shutdown the project and was killed for it. Aaron Davis, also known as the Prowler, is Miles’ uncle and is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Miles alive. Aaron cannot stand the idea of losing his nephew, especially so soon after his brother, Miles’ father, had died.
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At the end of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, all these plot lines intersect to create an emotional finale. This is then followed up with a tantalizing sequel tease in the middle of the credits and an emotional epilogue that caps Miles’ journey into a hero. Here is the breakdown of Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ ending.
Miles Morales Ends With A Noble Sacrifice
By the end of Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ story, Phin and Miles know each others’ secret identities, and the resulting distrust has shattered their friendship. Miles hopes for reconciliation but Phin, lost in anger, seeks vengeance against Roxxon and doesn’t care if Miles is hurt along the way. Unfortunately for Phin, her plans for vengeance are sabotaged by Simon Krieger. Phin intends to blow the Nuform reactor at Roxxon Plaza, Roxxon’s central location in New York, but Simon Krieger tampered with the reactor and intensified the explosion. Upon detonation, the reactor will wipe out all of Harlem, not just the uninhabited Roxxon building. Phin, refusing to trust Miles, doesn’t realize the truth of what is happening until it is too late and the reactor is critical.
Miles, thanks to his bio-electricity powers, absorbs the reactor’s energy in an attempt to contain it, but it is too much for him handle: he cannot hold in the energy and, just like reactor, he’s about to go critical and unleash it. Moved by Miles’ selflessness, Phin decides to act. She uses thrust-empowered boots to rocket Miles into the sky, giving him the freedom to explode away from the city. The blast, of course, will kill Phin, but she accepts her fate, taking responsibility for her actions, and begs Miles’ to let go. Miles unleashes the energy, survives, and saves Harlem. But Phin dies, seemingly vaporized by the blast.
Krieger’s Fall and Prowler’s Redemption In Miles Morales
With Phin dead and all evidence gone, Roxxon and Simon Krieger appear invulnerable, but, thanks to Aaron Davis, Simon Krieger is indicted and Roxxon’s hold on Harlem ends. Aaron, the complete opposite of his policeman brother, chose the life a of a career criminal. He worked as an independent contractor for the worst of people, including Krieger, and believed self preservation mattered above all else. Miles’ heroism breaks Aaron’s selfish world view and gives him the courage to flip on his employers. The last shot of Simon Krieger is him being shoved into a police car.
Miles Is Established As A Full-Fledged Spider-Man
Throughout the entirety of Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ gameplay, Miles is trying to prove himself to New York City and to Harlem. At the the start of the game, street artists are painting a Spider-Man mural that only contains Peter, but at game’s end, they are painting Miles too. By protecting the residents of Harlem, helping them even with the most mundane of tasks, and saving them from annihilation, Miles endears himself to them and the rest of New York City. When Miles is weak post-explosion, Harlem residents crowd around him and protect him from the probing media. Miles is a true Spider-Man: a hero of the people.
Miles’ transformation into Spider-Man comes full circle in the campaign’s last moments. Miles meets with Peter on a rooftop, just as he did at the start of the game. However, they are there as equals rather than teacher and student. Miles is even drinking coffee upside down just as Peter did at the start of the game (a trick that initially blew Miles’ mind). The final shot before the credits is of Peter and Miles responding to a crime together. Miles, no longer a protegee, but a hero in his own right, leads the way.
Spider-Man’s New Sequel Teased and An Emotional Epilogue
The credits of Spider-Man: Miles Morales offer a quick scene that builds on the sequel tease in the original game. In Marvel’s Spider-Man’s ending, it is revealed that Harry Osborne has a deadly disease and is being treated using a symbiote while unconscious in a vat. Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ mid-credits scene, shot from the perspective of Harry, depicts Norman Osborn demanding Oscorp scientists release his son from the vat, setting the stage for a potentially new villain in the form of a symbiote infected Harry.
After the sequel tease ends, the credits conclude and the epilogue beings. The epilogue starts with Miles placing the trophy Phin and he earned in middle school at the top of a church. Paying tribute to his fallen friend, Miles is coming to terms with his loss. Following this brief cutscene, two side-missions open up. One unlocks the spider-cat costume, as a thankful shopkeeper offers his kitty for play-dates, while the other mission provides the game’s final, and true, ending.
If players swing Miles home, a collectible-based side mission begins. Miles’ mother, Rio Morales, sets up an elaborate scavenger that she and Miles’ father planned for Miles’ previous birthday. Visiting locations important to his family, Miles collects recordings his dad left him, allowing Miles to hear his dad’s voice anew. The final clue takes Miles to the basketball court where he used to play ball with Phin, his dad, and his uncle. Miles reminisces and the game’s final cutscene ensues, showing Miles and his loved ones enjoying a day shooting hoops. Through emotive remembrance, the scene brings Miles journey of loss and heroism to an end with the final moments focusing on those he loves.
Spider-Man Miles Morales hits hard with an emotive ending. The game concludes with a stirring focus on family while offering hints for the upcoming sequel that promises to not only bring Peter and Miles together but also challenge them with a horrifying, and personal, villain. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 cannot come soon enough.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales released November 12th for PS4 and PS5.
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