Production on “Across the Spider-Verse” would not officially start until 2020, so Isaac was able to get a measurable sense of the first film’s large cultural impact and staggering success before getting the opportunity to flesh out Miguel even further with 2099’s expanded role in the sequel. He told Empire:
“It’s always difficult to anticipate these things, but I did feel it was one of the most unique and amazing animated films I’d ever seen. It was alive and fresh and really funny. I was so glad just to do that one little bit at the end, so I got very excited when I got the call saying, ‘We see [Miguel] as a real character in the next one […] He’s the reluctant ringleader of these wild Spider-People. He’s annoyed at having to be the leader. He’s naturally someone of a heavier disposition — a loner — so a lot of the humour comes from him having to be this kind of kindergarten teacher.”
Though “Into the Spider-Verse” paid high and proper respects to Peter Parker as a cultural icon, it also importantly de-centered him as the definitive version of Spider-Man, allowing all these alternate versions of the hero shine in their own unique, colorful, and wacky ways. Some take care of their respective “friendly neighborhoods,” like Miles’s passion for Brooklyn — but in the trailers for “Across the Spider-Verse,” so far, it seems as though it is 2099’s own burden to take care of the integrity of the Spider-Verse itself. (Though he’s notably not the villain.)
