Summary
- The newest episode of Daredevil: Born Again includes a slight reference to Miles Morales.
- Matt Murdock lists off a number of police reports about the White Tiger, one of which comes from “Officer Morales”.
- This is our first hint to his father, Jefferson Morales, in the MCU.
Daredevil: Born Again’s newest episode is a courtroom drama with a vigilante at the center, Hector Ayala. Accused of killing a cop, Matt Murdock rips off the band-aid and reveals to the world that he is in fact the famed vigilante White Tiger, calling on those he saved to testify to his character and prove that he’s incapable of reckless murder.
To put objectivity and legitimacy behind his defense, Murdock also cites several police reports. One of which was filed by none other than “Officer Morales”, giving us our first hint to Miles Morales’ father in the MCU.
Kingpin also referenced Spider-Man in the first episode.
However, not everyone is convinced that this is a Miles reference, claiming that he would be “Officer Davis”, not Morales. But it’s worth noting that he changed his name in the comics to Jefferson Morales because the Confederate President of the same name was an advocate for slavery and even owned over 100 slaves himself. Into the Spider-Verse likewise stuck with Jefferson Morales, cementing it as his official name from here on out.
Every Miles Morales Reference In The MCU
“Officer Morales” is far from the only nod to Miles in the MCU. Spider-Man: Homecoming featured an entire scene with his uncle Aaron Davis (ie the Prowler), played by Donald Glover, who even mentioned his “nephew”. A deleted scene had Davis call him and directly refer to him by name as “Miles”, and while this was cut from the film, Kevin Feige later confirmed that Davis was still referring to the future wallcrawler nevertheless.
Related
Daredevil: Born Again’s Big Death Shouldn’t Be A Fakeout
Comics are too comfortable raising the dead, and I hope Daredevil: Born Again bucks that trend after its gutwrenching opening.
Two movies later, in the Brazilian dub of No Way Home, you can hear chatter outside of Peter Parker’s apartment between who appears to be Rio and Miles Morales, with Miles even being name-dropped. Leaker Daniel RPK later claimed that Amy Pascal and Kevin Feige plan to introduce Miles Morales in Spider-Man 4, explaining why he might share an apartment complex with Peter. Though whether that idea will stick, given that it was only hinted at in one dub, remains to be seen.
Nonetheless, Miles Morales, Aaron Davis, Jefferson Morales, and Rio Morales have all been alluded to in the MCU at one point or another. If the rumours pan out, maybe we’ll see them all together in the upcoming Tom Holland sequel.
