ACAB includes interdimensional spiders from the future.
When Miguel O'Hara tried to manipulate the genetics of former Spider-People to create a new superhero, he accidentally turned himself into the best Spider-Man in the Multiverse.
Originally just a cameo in the original Spider-Verse, Miguel O'Hara received a much more important role in the sequel. Not that anything that bio up above says about him made it into the story, mind you; but it's not from the comics, either, so it must be something that had been worked up in the story meetings and later got dropped? Across the Spider-Verse famously was doing rewrites and reshoots well past the point any animated movie should, so it's entirely possible.
There was a Spider-Man 2099 in the first series of Spider-Verse 2 toys, but since there was no Build-A-Figure in that series, I didn't have to get him. (And he was one of the easier characters to find, too.) And now he's back in Series 2 with almost no changes, but suddenly he's worth picking up? Well, yeah. How'd they manage that? It's all about the pack-in.
No, we don't get a little holographic LYLA - they saved that
for the second run of Spider-Gwen, for some reason. What we do get is an unmasked Miguel head, which is something none of the existing Spidey 2099 figures have ever had. He's voiced in the movie by Oscar Isaac, making him the first actor to get Marvel roles from all three studios who were splitting the license at the time: remember, in addition to being Moon Knight for Disney, he was Apocalypse for Fox. (Obviously for the purpose of this, we're not counting Stan Lee.) The Miguel head is just like we saw in the movie, broad and flat with strong cheekbones and wavy hair blowing back.
Since the figure reuses the Series 1 sculpt, we know Arlen Pelletier did the work. The torso has been remolded, because this version doesn't get his tattered little capelette, so they had to remove the slot
where that got glued in before. But the rest is all the same. The edges of the skull-spider pattern on his chest are sculpted in, and there's an all-over "techy" pattern in the red areas of the suit to keep this outfit looking futuristic instead of like it's just spandex. He has the long, angular spikes or fins coming off the underside of his forearms, and like other rehashed figures in Series 2, he's now wearing his "gizmo" thing. Remember what we said about the second movie having late rewrites? Anything as important as those watches should have been finalized early enough for Hasbro to include them on the toys from the start, but here they are getting added on after the fact.
The colors on this release are more saturated than the original The red has less yellow in it, and the blue is darker. His skin is so pale it's almost white, but then, he doesn't seem like the type who
would get much sunlight, does he? Shame they didn't do a second unmasked head with his fangs bared. Fortunately, if you like the older colors, the human head can be swapped over there, and it's not like this figure's alternate hands are any different than before - still just fists or open. Make sure the gizmo doesn't fall off when you're trading them.
Spider-Man's articulation is... certainly present. He has all the joints you'd expect - swivel/hinge ankles, no shins because Hasbro is stealing money from your pocket, double-hinged knees, swivel thighs, balljointed hips, swivel waist, hinged chest, swivel/hinge wrists, double-hinged elbows, swivel biceps, swivel/hinge shoulders, barbell head - but his exaggerated proportions don't look too hot when he's moved. Even the SH Figuarts version of the character (which also had an unmasked head, for the record) had to tone down the cartooniness to make him as flexible as they wanted.
Spider-Man 2099 wasn't the only character brought up for a cameo at the end of Into the Spider-Verse, but the creators picked him because fans had been so vocally disappointed to see that he wasn't in the main story at all; meaning it's entirely possible the Spider-Society in Across the Spider-Verse might have been led by someone else had character choices been different. His animated design doesn't stray too far from the comics, making this a decent stand-in if you don't already have one of those, but I really feel bad for anyone who got him in Series 1 and now sees a better version hanging on the pegs in Series 2.
-- 03/17/25
Is Miguel as bad as he seems, or is he being manipulated by someone else? Tell us on our message board, the Loafing Lounge.
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