In this review of Miles Morales: Spider-Man #31, the fight against Agent Gao and her magical weapon commences…
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #31
Writer: Cody Ziglar
Art: Luigi Zagaria
Main Cover: Frederico Vicentini
Variant Covers: Sara Pichelli, Frederico Blee Frany
Page Count: 22 pages
Release Date: March 19, 2025
This review contains spoilers.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #31 begins as Agent Gao enters her hideout with new armor and a sword that fires energy beams. She reveals that a mysterious benefactor offered her power as long as she agreed to kill Spider-Man, and she agreed. Seeing the sword’s strength, Deadpool sets his sights on it to defeat Death Grip.
Spider-Man and Deadpool fight against Gao, while Shift and Ellie take on Midas and Output. Anansi helps Miles reinforce the front of his suit just in time to absorb power from the sword’s blast, charging it with power. He and Deadpool manage to turn the tide of the battle with his newfound speed.
Meanwhile, Ellie and Shift work together to fight their enemies. When Midas grabs Shift and tries to hold him down, he changes and grows extra arms and heads, slamming her into the ground. When Output tries to help Midas, Ellie grabs him and does the same.
Gao gets up and continues to fight Miles and Deadpool, but now Ellie and Shift are in the mix. She is no match for all four and suddenly vanishes, claiming that this fight was only the beginning.
With the sword in his grasp, Deadpool apologizes to Shift for the shooting, though he covers it with a joke. Ellie offers a sincere apology, and Shift makes it clear that she is forgiven while her dad isn’t.
Ellie and Deadpool take the portal home, and Miles webs up Output and Midas to be collected later. He and Shift head off for a heart-to-heart, where Shift tells Miles that he likes doing what Miles does and that he wants to do it as Shift. He made many good friends at school and saved people for the first time, but he laments that he did it pretending to be Miles and not himself. He even admits that he is upset that everything he has was given to him by someone else, including his name.
Miles apologizes for putting Shift in that position, tells him they could probably get him into school, and shows him a picture of his Granddad. His name was Jaime, and Miles offers it to Shift as his new name, which he happily accepts.
Meanwhile, Gao returns to Ares, the God who gave her the sword and her armor, who makes it clear that he is upset that she lost. He can’t fight against Anansi himself, so he strives to gather more champions and take a more direct approach. Many hours later, Thor answers Anansi’s call to him. He tells Anansi that his presence in this world is a declaration of War, which is why Ares struck. It is a tense conversation and ends with Thor returning home in a flash of lightning and thunder as Miles Morales: Spider-Man #31 ends.
Analysis
I’ve enjoyed this run of Miles Morales a lot, and this issue is no exception. Miles Morales: Spider-Man #31 was full of fun, combat, character, and story, wrapped into a neat little bow for the reader. It felt like nothing was sacrificed, and I enjoyed every turn of the page.
With four characters and three villains fighting an epic battle, I was worried that we would lose characters throughout the scenes, but I was pleasantly surprised. Not only does the fight feel epic and balanced, but the essence of each character shines through every moment they’re on the page. There is plenty of humor sprinkled into the dialogue, but it doesn’t feel like it compromises any of the weight of the fight. If anything, it adds to it.
Deadpool’s quips are sprinkled into moments where he’s pulling off powerful moves. Character dialogue brings the reader back into the fight. Miles is alerted by Anansi just in time to protect himself from another beam from Gao’s sword. All of these moments and more serve to pull the reader back into the fight in a way that works perfectly with the narrative and personality of each character.
The only downside is that if the reader comes into this from Miles Morales instead of Deadpool, a few minor points might confuse them that aren’t explained or recapped. It’s not enough to truly pull you from the story, and you can put the pieces together enough after the fight is over, but the questions pop up so early in the issue that it feels like a long time to wait for answers others already have.
Every character shines in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #31, but Shift, now known as Jaime, takes center stage. His moments with Eleanor are genuinely funny, and his transformation during the fight is awesome. However, the best moment for him is after the battle, when he confesses to Miles that he wants to live life as himself, and Miles helps him take the first step. It’s a wholesome moment that feels like a payoff to a setup the reader never knew they were experiencing.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #31 ends the team-up and perfectly sets up the next part of Deadpool’s and Miles’ individual stories. Deadpool now has the weapon he needs to take on Death Grip, and the suspenseful conversation between Anansi and Thor is the perfect way to leave the reader anticipating God War.
Miles being Anansi’s champion truly feels like it’s come full circle with the appearance of Thor and Ares, and you can feel the tension between Thor and Anansi throughout their conversation. The story feels ready to move on to its next arc, and I hope it lives up to the anticipation.
Final Thoughts
Other than a small omittance of information, Miles Morales: Spider-Man #31 is full of fun, action, and character development that will hook in the reader and leave them anticipating the next set of stories.
