Meet Miguel O’Hara, Spider-Man 2099

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As one of history’s greatest do-gooders, Spider-Man’s influence on the Marvel Universe far outlived Peter Parker, the mantle’s original holder. Instead, there have been various versions of Spider-Man over the decades, each generally embracing the original’s perseverance and the responsibility that comes with their great power. Hailing from a cyberpunk-inspired future, Miguel O’Hara, AKA Spider-Man 2099, is one such hero. Here’s what you need to know about O’Hara:

THE ORIGIN OF MIGUEL O’HARA, SPIDER-MAN 2099

Created by Peter David and Rick Leonardi, O’Hara officially previewed in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #365 before his own title, SPIDER-MAN 2099 (1992), launched later that same year. O’Hara hailed from Nueva York, a future version of New York City under heavy corporate control. He eventually began working in genetic experimentation for Alchemax, one of that future’s premier corporations, under an executive named Tyler Stone.

O’Hara’s job at Alchemax centered on mixing the genetic code of animals with that of humans to create people with abilities like those of Spider-Man. In the future, Spider-Man was considered a key figure in the “Heroic Age,” which is the present-day continuity of the Marvel Universe. However, Stone pressured O’Hara to test his research on human beings too soon, resulting in a subject dying. In the aftermath, O’Hara attempted to quit Alchemax, only for Stone to drug him with the highly addictive Rapture, for which the corporation was the sole legal supplier.

Not one to take forcible addiction to a drug lying down, O’Hara began working to re-write his DNA to kick Rapture. While performing experiments with that aim at Alchemax, though, a lab mate named Aaron Delgato attempted to kill O’Hara by sabotaging the machinery that he was using. This resulted in O’Hara accidentally merging his DNA with that of a spider. The two fought, and Delgato fell to his death from the Alchemax building.

Merging his DNA with that of a spider gave O’Hara many of the powers associated with Spider-Man, such as enhanced strength, in addition to controllable talons and fangs. The change also meant O’Hara was no longer addicted to Rapture. In the aftermath and with help from an artificial intelligence named Lyla, O’Hara began fighting crime and working against Alchemax’s more perfidious elements as the Spider-Man of 2099. In that capacity, he encountered alternate versions of the Heroic Age’s most well-known heroes and villains, including the Vulture, Doctor Doom, and Doctor Strange. Doom even went on to become President of the United States for a time in 2099.

Like Parker, O’Hara’s adventures featured their fair share of love triangles, tragedies, and friends becoming enemies. O’Hara’s love life was particularly fraught. Initially, he had a relationship with Xina Kwan, whom he cheated on with Dana D’Angelo, the girlfriend of his brother, Gabriel “Gabe” O’Hara. Dana then died during one of Venom 2099’s rampages. Outside of romantic relationships, Miguel’s life became infinitely more complicated when he learned that his nemesis, Tyler Stone, was secretly his biological father.

SPIDER-MAN 2099 TRAPPED ON EARTH-616

Due to anomalies in the timeline, Stone and O’Hara’s reality began disappearing. This prompted Spider-Man 2099 to time travel back to the Heroic Age to undo the damage in SPIDER-MAN 2099 (2014). However, when O’Hara later attempted to return to 2099, he discovered that Stone had destroyed the portal that he’d used to go to the past, effectively stranding him. For a time, O’Hara worked with his grandfather, Tiberius Stone, at an earlier iteration of Alchemax under the assumed identity of Michael O’Mara before taking a job at Parker Industries.

O’Hara later played a key role in the SPIDER-VERSE (2014) event, which saw the incredibly powerful Inheritors traveling through the Multiverse to kill various people with spider-based powers. During that crossover, O’Hara successfully returned to 2099, where he studied the corpse of Daemos, one of the Inheritors, and confirmed the group’s weakness to radiation, which played a key role in stopping them.

After that event, O’Hara tried returning to 2099 only to find his future destroyed, which kicked off a long journey to save his timeline by altering events in the Heroic Age. While stuck in the past, specifically the year 2014, O’Hara struck up a romantic relationship with a woman named Tempest Monroe. However, a bombing orchestrated by Doctor Cronos resulted in a pregnant Tempest ending up paralyzed and in a coma. Following a battle with Doctor Cronos, O’Hara learned the villain was working with a group called The Fist, a terrorist organization working to destroy the United States of America. 

The Fist continued to prove a problem for O’Hara, and he eventually learned the group was responsible for the timeline alterations that kept Spider-Man 2099’s future from coming to pass. The Fist proved formidable and, in preparation for attacks on the United States, went so far as to recruit the Sinister Six of 2099 and several other villains to its cause. Making matters worse, Tyler Stone arrived in the Heroic Age and struck a deal with Tempest to cure her paralysis in exchange for making her into a powerful insect/human hybrid. During the climactic battle between O’Hara and The Fist, a future Tempest arrived in the Heroic Age to save Spider-Man 2099. She was joined by Gabriel “Gabri” O’Hara—their future son.

Still, things remained complicated for O’Hara. To keep the timeline intact, O’Hara was forced to try and rescue the present time’s Tempest from Stone. Although O’Hara found Tempest, a hypnotic suggestion that Stone implanted in her caused her to murder Spider-Man 2099. Although he did indeed die, 2099’s Doctor Strange used her powers to resurrect O’Hara in the future just as New Year’s 2100 arrived.

O’Hara remained in the future for some time, unable to go back to Tempest and his infant son without destroying the future. That changed when an attempt on Doctor Doom’s life in the Heroic Age altered the timeline in such a way as to destroy Spider-Man 2099’s world. In the aftermath, O’Hara reunited with Tempest and Gabri in the Heroic Age.  

THE SECOND SPIDER-MAN 2099

While that main version of Spider-Man 2099 has since retired, 2099 ALPHA (2019) #1 introduced a new O’Hara. This variant, whose story is nearly identical to the original version’s, began hallucinating about the destroyed 2099 from which his predecessor hailed. Soon, the classic version of O’Hara appeared and explained how the timeline had been altered. This older O’Hara then tried convincing his younger self to become Spider-Man.

Initially, the younger O’Hara rejected the plea, but that all changed when his brother, Gabe, died in an explosion caused by Alchemax. This motivated O’Hara to infuse himself with the DNA that turned him once again into Spider-Man 2099.

This new Spider-Man 2099 has had some amazing adventures so far. SPIDER-MAN 2099: EXODUS (2022), for example, saw him taking on the Cabal, a secretive and powerful organization run by a version of Norman Osborn. The Cabal set its sights on gaining control of the Celestial Gardens, as that location, created by the death of one of the titular cosmic beings, promised great power to whomever took it over. To defeat the Cabal, O’Hara teamed up with 2099’s versions of Winter Soldier, Black Widow, Ghost Rider, and many other heroes.

Most recently, Spider-Man 2099 has been dealing with the fallout of the Cabal’s destruction while contending with the threat of the deadly symbiote Carnage. To find out what happens in that story, pick up SPIDER-MAN 2099: DARK GENESIS (2023) #1 in print and digital comic shops now!

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