In Defense of Miguel O’Hara 

Why Spider-Man 2099 is an Anti-Hero, Not a Villain

Since the release of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, viewers have debated whether Miguel O’Hara, also referred to as Spider-Man 2099, is the villain. Although Miguel exhibits bouts of anger and makes questionable choices throughout the film, he is an anti-hero, not a villain, because he displays traits associated with an anti-hero, has good intentions, and fights for humanity’s well-being.

According to the article “What is an Antihero? Definition, Types, and Examples” by Alvin Park on YourDictionary.com, antiheroic traits include the following: morally complex, jaded, stubborn to change, and imperfect but well-intentioned. Park adds, “Antiheroes often do good things, but they don’t achieve good in the same way a hero does. An antihero’s backstory is typically revealed slowly to show that they do have a good side” (Park). Simply put, the anti-hero is not totally good, but they are not totally bad either. 

An example of an anti-hero is Joel Miller from The Last of Us. Joel loses his daughter during the cordyceps outbreak and becomes a bitter man working as a smuggler in a quarantine zone. He has to transport Ellie, a child immune to the cordyceps fungus, to a hospital so they can find a cure. Joel exhibits several anti-heroic qualities while traveling with Ellie. He is jaded from the trauma of losing his daughter and surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, and he is stubborn, refusing to open up to Ellie about his past. Joel takes Ellie to the hospital and kills many people along the way to protect her, which in the beginning, is something he does out of obligation. It is only later in the game and in the HBO series that he grows to care for her. 

In the case of Miguel O’Hara, he is similar to Joel Miller because he has a gruff personality and shares other anti-heroic traits such as moral complexity, stubbornness, and being imperfect but well-intentioned. Like Joel, Miguel feels an obligation to complete a certain task. He is vocal about this responsibility in the opening scene of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse when he aids Gwen Stacy in defeating the Vulture. Gwen says she and Miles saved the multiverse, but Miguel counteracts her statement: “You left a hole wide enough for guys like him to randomly get shot into the wrong dimension. Now, I’m stuck putting everybody back where they belong for all of time and space collapses.” This line reveals another one of Miguel’s anti-heroic traits: being jaded or overworked or exhausted. Sending villains and other anomalies back to their correct dimensions is surely a task that can drain the life out of anyone, even someone with superhuman abilities like Miguel. 

It is no secret that stress and exhaustion can take a toll on a person’s mood, which is probably one of the reasons why Miguel can be unpleasant to be around. The other reason is the loss of his daughter. Joel and Miguel hardened after losing their daughters. Such a tragedy can cause mental and emotional damage. An article from the Grief and Loss Center of North Texas entitled “How Grief Changes Us: Forever and For Now” by Karynn Arnold mentions that one of the effects of grief is “Personality changes like being more irritable, less patient, or no longer having the tolerance for other people’s ‘small’ problems.” Another effect is “Feeling more anxious, afraid or fearful for the future as we wonder what’s next or where we go from here, or waiting for the other shoe to drop” (Arnold). Miguel undergoes a change in personality between the post-credit scene in the first film and the second film. At the end of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Miguel has a lighter and more optimistic tone in his voice. However, in the sequel, his voice sounds more serious, and he is irritated easily. It is worthy of note that at the end of the first film, Miguel commenced his mission across the Spider-Verse to recruit other Spider-People. He had not yet experienced the hardships of keeping the multiverse together and losing his daughter. It is during Miguel’s Spider-Verse travels that he finds a world where he has a daughter. He learns that that version of himself is killed, and so replaces him to be with his daughter and have a chance at a happy life. However, by replacing the dead version of himself, Miguel says he broke a “canon event,” which is an event that must occur in every Spider-Person’s life. Examples of canon events are getting bit by the radioactive spider and losing someone close to them. For Miles, that someone is looking to be like his father since it is a canon event for a police captain to die, and Miles’s father is to become captain in two days. Miguel explains the canon event to Miles when he pulls up an image of a police captain saving a little boy. “Event ASN-90: a police captain close to Spider-Man dies saving a kid from falling rubble during a battle with an arch-nemesis.” At this point, Miles had previously disrupted a canon event on Earth-50101, where Pavitr Prabhakar lives. Miles broke the canon by saving Inspector Singh. Because the canon was disrupted, a gaping hole appeared in the city––the first sign of their dimension unraveling. Miguel warns Miles about the consequences of disrupting canon events based on his experience, which destroyed his daughter’s universe. The scene depicts Miguel running through a falling city with his daughter in his arms. People disappear into thin air left and right. Miguel’s daughter clings to him as she also begins to disappear. She pleads for her father to help her, but he is powerless and watches in horror as his only child and the world around him vanishes. Considering this event and Arnold’s point about how grief can make a person more anxious or fearful about the future, it is no wonder why Miguel is so concerned with keeping canon events in motion. One can assume that Miguel was so angry when meeting Miles because he witnessed the fatal consequences that come with breaking a canon event. He does not want Miles to make the same mistake he did, which led to loss and devastation. 

After Miles learns that his father has to die, Miguel tells him he has a choice. “You have a choice between saving one person and an entire world––every world.” This scene is also the first time Miguel shows sympathy to Miles because he knows what it is like to lose someone he loves. He puts his hand on Miles’s shoulder and tells him: “We all want to live the life we wish we had. Believe me, I have tried, and the harder I tried, the more damage I did.” When Miguel says this, he is not aggressive toward Miles. He is concerned he will cause the ruination of another universe, which is why he attempts to imprison him temporarily. “You let him leave, he’ll only do more damage,” Miguel argues. He is visibly unhappy with his decision and even apologizes to Miles saying, “Sorry it had to end like this, kid.” However, because of his past mistake, he believes that preventing Miles from saving his father will ensure the safety of his world. 

In the film, it is clear that Miles and Miguel have a strong difference of opinion. Miles thinks he can save his father and the universe, but Miguel is fervent in the belief that both cannot be done. A YouTube creator named Grant Keegan discusses the contradicting mentalities of both characters in his video titled, “Miguel O’Hara vs Miles Morales: Who is Right? | The Philosophy of Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse.” Keegan dissects Miles and Miguel under two philosophies: Kantianism and Utilitarianism. The former, founded by Immanuel Kant, states that every person’s life has value and “Should never be used as a means to an end.” Keegan applies this philosophy to Miles since he wants to save his father despite the risk of his universe collapsing. Miguel’s mindset correlates with Utilitarianism, a philosophy Jeremy Bentham and Stuart Mill upheld in which “The maximum amount of good for the maximum amount of people is the preferable choice” (Keegan). Miguel knows it will be a difficult decision for Miles, but he dreads the consequences that will arise if he does not interfere. In the scene where Miguel is first shown in his lab, he even says, “I don’t always like what I have to do but I know I have to be the one to do it. I’ve given up too much to stop now.” Miguel says outright that he does not like some of the things he does, which would include stopping Miles and canon events. He lost a life where he was happy, but the repercussions he suffered motivate him to save people the way he could not save his daughter and others who vanished with her. A villain would use their suffering as a weapon for destruction, but Miguel uses it for the greater good. 

It would be incorrect to call Miguel a villain because he simply does not fit the criteria. He does not have evil motives, nor is he  “A deliberate scoundrel or criminal,” in reference to Merriam-Webster’s definition of a villain. He opposes Miles but a better title for Miguel’s role would be the antagonist. Some might think a villain and an antagonist are the same, but that is not always the case. Based on the article “Antagonist vs. Villain: What’s the Difference” by author and Yale graduate Hannah Yang on ProWritingAid.com, “Antagonists are plot devices that create obstructions and challenges for your protagonist, while villains are evil characters with malicious intent.” Furthermore, “A story’s villain is always an antagonist, but not every antagonist needs to be a villain” (Yang). Writer Sean Glatch from Writers.com. makes a similar point. Glatch’s article, “Anti-Hero Characters: Writing the Unheroic Protagonist,” states the following:

It’s important to note: anti-heroes are not necessarily “bad people.” They might even have a strong sense of justice, goodness, and love for humanity. But, because they disagree with the world at large, and because they are often lonely in their own unique views, they are forced to make difficult decisions, or even to do bad things for the greater good (Glatch). 

Although Miguel’s tactics are debatable, his intentions serve a greater purpose. He shows concern for humanity which is the opposite of what a villain would do. If anyone in the film fits the criteria for the villain, it is The Spot. Spot describes himself as Miles’s “nemesis,” which Google’s English dictionary defines as “The inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall.” Spot commits criminal-like actions such as robbing an ATM, and fuels himself on malicious motives like plotting to destroy everything Miles holds dear. In the scene when Spot takes power of the collider in Mumbattan, he shows Miles a harrowing vision of what he has planned and tells him, “I am going to take everything from you like you took everything from me.” Perhaps some people focus more on Miguel as “the villain” because of his anger issues, guilt, stress, and unhealed trauma. Additionally, his animalistic features such as venomous fangs, red eyes, and claws are traits affiliated with danger. Also, because Miles is a likable character and the hero, no one wants to see him in distress. However, when it comes down to Miguel and The Spot, Spot is more dangerous to Miles. He may not be as physically intimidating as Miguel, but he is capable of doing much more damage.

Miguel O’Hara may struggle with fits of rage and make choices that contradict the film’s protagonist, but he is not the villain. His motives are well-intentioned. He does not seek to inflict evil or cause destruction but to protect and maintain the lives of others.