Spider-Man 2099 (vol. 2) #5
On Earth-98120, Spider-Man 2099 paces around Avengers Mansion. He tells his teammates (Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Wolverine) that he is worried about some impending danger but doesn’t know what it could be. Captain America assures Spider-Man that his fellow Avengers will be by his side no matter what. That’s when the Inheritor known as Morlun comes crashing through the wall.[1]
He easily fights off Wolverine and then consumes the life-force of Captain Marvel, leaving Genis-Vell a withered husk on the ground. He then reveals that he has come for Spider-Man and quickly overpowers the wall-crawler and prepares to consume his life energies.
On Earth-616, another version of Spider-Man 2099 — this one trapped in the modern era — suddenly feels like an ice-pick was wedged into his brain. He was busy trying to catch a gang of thieves fleeing in a stolen helicopter. He quickly recovers and takes down the crooks. As he lands the helicopter on a nearby rooftop for the authorities to clean up, Miguel can’t shake the feeling he felt as it felt like somebody killed him. However, he is totally fine and wonders what could make him feel that way.
Back on Earth-98120, Morlun has finished consuming the Spider-Man 2099 in that reality. That’s when he notices that he is being observed by yet another version of Spider-Man 2099, this one a former member of the Exiles.[2] When that Spider-Man closes his portal, Morlun encourages him to flee, looking forward to the eventual hunt. When Wolverine and Captain America try to stop him, Morlun teleports away. Relieved that their foe is gone, the two Avengers discover that Genis is still alive and drag him to the infirmary for medical attention.
While on Earth-6375, this Miguel O’Hara is horrified that his attempt to contact his multiversal counterparts has led Morlun directly to him. His lover, Mary Jane, asks if that’s a bad thing. He explains that he heard about Morlun during his travels with the Exiles but their paths never crossed. He is immensely powerful, powerful enough to scare Miguel. He was hoping to use his leftover Exile technology to contact other versions of himself and gather a group to fight Morlun, but now it is too late and they need to get away. Now Miguel figures his only hope is retreating to Earth-616 a reality that Morlun is afraid of returning to because he died there twice.[3] This doesn’t make any sense to Mary Jane, but Miguel is getting annoyed with her constant questions, telling her they don’t matter. When she demands that she go with him to this other reality, Miguel realizes that she isn’t going to take no for an answer.
Back on Earth-616, the Miguel O’Hara stranded there reports to Alchemax where he works under the guise of Miguel O’Mara. There he meets with his grandfather, Tiberius Stone, and tries to convince him that hiring a criminal like the Scorpion, as Alchamx did when they attempted to sell Spider-Slayers to Trans-Sabal, is a bad idea. When Stone asks Miguel for a better idea, Miguel is fo flustered he suggests building a prison. Their boss, Liz Allan, overhears this and thinks that it is a wonderful idea. Miguel rolls with this and continues to sell the idea to Liz, who thinks now might be a perfect time to work on the idea after Park Industries botched their recent attempt to do the same thing.[4] Suddenly, Miguel screams in agony.
This is because in the reality of Earth-96099, Morlun has killed another alternate version of Miguel. His father, Gabriel, attempts to pull a gun and shoot Morlun but the bullets cause him no harm and he quickly snaps Gabriel’s neck.
This death is also felt by the Miguel O’Hara on Earth-6375, making him even more desperate to get to Earth-616. He has just finished building the portal that will bring him and Mary Jane to Earth-616 and powers it up, hoping he can find the Miguel O’Hara who lives there.[5]
Back on Earth-616, Miguel assures Liz that he is fine and runs to the elevator. There he asks his virtual assistant, Lyla, what’s wrong but she cannot give him a definitive answer. O’Hara figures that it is something spider-related and as the elevator goes up to the roof he changes into his Spider-Man costume. On the roof, a dimensional portal opens in front of Miguel and he finds himself face-to-face with the Spider-Man 2099 of Earth-6375. That Miguel is relieved to see that he has managed to reach Earth-616, unfortunately before he can cross over Morlun arrives and quickly drains his life force. He then dumps the lifeless husk into the arms of the Spider-Man on Earth-616. However, Morlun appears to cross over the dimensional threshold and the portal soon closes. Miguel then pulls the mask off the dead Spider-Man and is shocked to see his own face looking back at him. Confused by everything that is going on, Miguel decides the best course of action is to seek out Peter Parker, the Spider-Man of this era.
… This story is continued in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #9
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man 2099, Morlun, Spider-Man 2099 (Earth-6375), Mary Jane Watson (Earth-6375), Liz Allan, Tiberius Stone, Avengers (Earth-98120: Spider-Man 2099, Wolverine, Captain Marvel, Captain America), Spider-Man 2099 (Earth-96099), Gabriel O’Hara (Earth-96099)
Continuity Note
Not much is really known about this version of Spider-Man 2099, only that he was part of various Avengers pulled out of the Multiverse to fight the Time-Keepers in Avengers: Forever #12.
This version of Miguel O’Hara is a divergent version from Earth-6375. His reality diverged from the baseline Earth-928 when Proteus invaded his reality. With his true identity revealed to the world, this Spider-Man 2099 joined the reality hopping Exiles. See Exiles #75-76. He remained on the team for some time until he was split up from the team. He ended up in the modern era of his home reality and ended up retiring as Spider-Man and pursuing a relationship with that era’s Mary Jane Wason, see Exiles #99.
There is a bit of exposition on Morlun here on display:
The first time Morlun tried to kill the Spider-Man of Earth-616, the web-slinger injected himself with radiation something that is lethal to Inheritors. See Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #30-35.
The second time Morlun went after the 616 Spider-Man, Peter Parker had just become a host for the Other and he slaughtered Morlun. See Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #1-4, Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #19-22, Amazing Spider-Man #525-528.
Miguel doesn’t know how Morlun keeps cheating death. It’s later revealed in Scarlet Spiders #1-3, that the Inheritors download their minds into cloned bodies whenever they physically die, effectively making them immortal.
Liz is referring to how Parker Industries attempted to sell the NYPD on the idea by creating a device that would de-power Electro. Although they succeeded in their goal, the demonstration was a disaster. See Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #1-6.
This Miguel O’Hara mistakenly refers to the prime Miguel as being from Earth-616. However, this is not correct. The Miguel that is stranded on Earth-616 comes from Earth-928 as specified in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Alternate Universes 2005.
