New Spider-Man unmasked; Multi-cultural teen Miles Morales

It's been a year of change for Spider-Man. First the movie franchise replaces Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst with Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Then "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark" injures and loses cast members before the Broadway show even gets started. And now Marvel announces the comic book series has picked a new webbed one to replace the recently departed Peter Parker -- a half-black, half-Latino teen named Miles Morales.

Morales will headline the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comics when the first full issue comes out in September. Fans will, however, get a sneak peak at the new hero in the "Ultimate Fallout" Issue 4 released Wednesday (August 3).

While his outfit and raison d'être remain the same, Morales' back story will be completely different than Parker's.

"He's younger than Peter Parker, he's coming from a completely different background, a completely different world view," Ultimate Spider-Man writer Brian Michael Bendis told the Associated Press. "It's Peter Parker's death that inspires this kid to step up."

Bendis also explains that the new Spidey will have some different powers. In a link back to the Peter Parker days, he will still be in contact with Aunt May and Gwen Stacy.  

When Parker met his demise at the hands of his long-time nemesis the Green Goblin in "Ultimate Spider-Man" Issue 160, Marvel's Editor in Chief Axel Alonso decided it was time for a change.

"When the opportunity arose to create a new Spider-Man, we knew it had to be a character that represents the diversity -- in background and experience -- of the twenty-first century," Alonso says on Marvel's website. "Miles is a character who not only follows in the tradition of relatable characters like Peter Parker, but also shows why he's a new, unique kind of Spider-Man -- and worthy of that name."

Fans of Peter Parker need not despair. For the original hero still exists the regular Marvel Universe.

What do you think of the new Ultimate Spider-Man?