Fans who can’t wait for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse to arrive in theaters in June can get their Spider-Verse fix with a brand new YA novel by award-winning novelist and comics writer Alex Segura, Araña and Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow. Dark Tomorrow may not specifically be set in the world of Across the Spider-verse, but it is a perfect primer for Oscar Isaac’s character, Miguel O’Hara. And the book even features a surprise appearance from another familiar Spider-Person.
IGN recently had a chance to speak with Segura about the novel and how it draws on the Spider-Verse lore from the comics. Read on to find out more about that cameo and how the book handles the dynamic between two of Marvel’s most prominent Latino heroes.
Warning: some general spoilers for Dark Tomorrow ahead!
Dark Tomorrow’s Spider-Verse Cameo
The Marvel Press release is not directly linked to the upcoming Spider-Verse sequel. Rather, it’s a Marvel Team-Up-style adventure set in its own continuity featuring two figures in the extended Spider Fam, Brooklyn-born teenager Anya Corazon (Araña) and the web-slinger of the future, Spider-Man 2099 (aka Miguel O’Hara). The future Spidey, created in 1992 by Peter David and Rick Leonardi for Marvel’s 2099 comics line, teams up with the teenager for a time-traveling journey that bounces between present-day New York City and O’Hara’s Nueva York.
Another essential member of the Spider-Family also makes a surprise appearance. Gwen Stacy, AKA “Ghost-Spider,” joins the story for the third act.
“I’d never written Ghost-Spider before, but I felt like Gwen would be a good complement to Miguel and Anya,” he says. “And so it just adds this random third element that I think readers aren’t expecting. To have another key player show up like literally halfway through the third act and become integral to the story felt like a fun curveball, especially in an era where I feel like readers and viewers alike kind of know coming into things what’s going to happen. I liked having a few surprises in there.”
Writing Two Latino Marvel Heroes
Dark Tomorrow gave Segura the chance to take a break from his crime novels —his latest, “Secret Identity,” set in the 1970s comic book industry, just won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Mystery/Thriller category — and play in the Marvel sandbox again. The Cuban-American writer was excited to do a story focused on Anya Corazon and Miguel O’Hara, two of Marvel’s most prominent Latino characters.
“These two Latinx Spider heroes, Miguel and Anya, they’ve never really teamed up in a meaningful way. They’ve always been part of bigger battles, like the big [2014-15] Spider-Verse crossover,” notes Segura. “I felt like there was a really interesting dynamic there. She could learn from him and he could learn from her at the same time. So I really wanted to explore how they play off each other.”
When Spider-Man 2099 debuted, Miguel O’Hara made history as the first Latino Spider-Man (the character is Irish-Mexican). It was a distinction that had a huge impact on Segura as a young comics reader.
“For me, Miguel was a game-changing moment as a comic fan,” he says. “When you grow up in Miami, you’re surrounded by Cubans, because it’s Miami. So you never feel that sense of ‘other’ but as a reader, you kind of do because every superhero was, you know, a white guy. It feels very similar.”
“And so to see a Latinx superhero at the time being Spider-Man,” he continues. “And not just a kind of Spider -Man, he was Spider-Man of that era, felt really cool. And so he was at the top of my list when we were talking about characters I would want to write about, just because I feel a great connection to him.”
The Continuity of Dark Tomorrow
Because the novel exists in its own continuity, Segura was also freed from maintaining strict adherence to comics canon.
“I’m kind of plucking them out at different times. Anya in the novel, I kind of pick up at the beginning, like she’s just gotten her powers,” he says. “She’s still figuring out what to do.”
Segura unearths some familiar baddies from Spidey’s B-list to sprinkle across the story, like Stegron the Dinosaur Man.
“I loved him as a kid. “Wow, there’s a dinosaur man. It’s not just the Lizard,”” he says. “As a writer, you’re in the trenches writing these things for days and days. And sometimes you throw characters like that in the story just to keep yourself engaged.”
The story’s true big bad is another deep cut from the Spidey archives, Judas Traveller. There is also a macguffin called El Obelisco (“the Obelisk”) that could grant him worlds-shattering power. When Anya winds up in the future, she tries to find that era’s Spider-Man. Instead, she finds a broken, wounded man in Miguel O’Hara. Having lost the people he loved most, O’Hara hung up the Spider suit and lives like a recluse in his ivory tower.
“I liked the idea of him being out of the game, like just having given up and hitting rock bottom in terms of how he felt and whether he was ready to be a hero again,” Segura says. “Whereas Anya is kind of on the rise. She’s just gotten her powers. She’s figuring out what to do. I really wanted to have these two characters have like a meaningful relationship, because I feel it makes sense for them to connect on that level.”
The relationship between Anya and Miguel is the lynchpin of the story, as the new kid on the block helping the jaded, burned-out hero find his way back. It reflects the relationship between Miles Morales and Peter Parker in Into the Spider-Verse.
“You have Miles in the original and the great duality where the younger version, the younger Spider-Man, is the one who’s actually got their act together more than the original,” Segura says.
That difference in personality and perspective is where Segura, who enjoyed a long tenure at Archie Comics, often found the moments to inject the trademark Spidey humor and wisecracks.
“I’ve always said that writing a funny Archie story is ten times more challenging, because it’s a whole different muscle in your brain, as opposed to action or drama,” says Segura. “I just tapped into the comics I loved to read as a kid and I was a big Spider-Man reader. So I kind of channeled Peter Parker or that sarcastic vibe, through Anya. Miguel’s humor is a little different, it’s a little bit darker. And he tends to make more jokes as Miguel as opposed to when he’s Spidey so playing with that was a lot of fun. I think we got just the right amount of zingers in there without overdoing it.”
Araña and Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow from Marvel Press is out now.
For more on Across the Spider-Verse, check out Daniel Kaluuya’s comments on “the throughline” of the sequel, learn why Spider-Man 2099 is the perfect villain for this film, and see all the details from the latest trailer.
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