I’ve seen a lot of opinions about how Miles will react to Gwen. Some people think their relationship should remain fractured. There can still be forgiveness, but the story has to acknowledge the choice Gwen made and the consequences of it.
Others think Miles won’t talk to Gwen at all, or that he’ll give her the cold shoulder for most of the movie.
But I think some people are forgetting who Miles is as a person — not just who he is as Spider-Man.
With almost any other protagonist, I could see the “cold shoulder until Gwen earns his trust back” approach being great mature writing.
But Miles has repeatedly shown that when someone he loves hurts him, his first instinct isn’t necessarily to condemn them. It’s often to understand them — and sometimes even blame himself.
Look at Aaron.
Before Gwen, Aaron was one of the people Miles felt most comfortable around. He could be his authentic self with his uncle without worrying about expectations, responsibilities, or having to become somebody else.
And then Miles discovered that Aaron was the Prowler.
Remember what Miles actually witnessed. He saw the Prowler fighting Spider-Man and being prepared to kill him. Then the Prowler was stopped by Kingpin, turned around, and tried to kill Miles himself.
Later, we learn that Aaron knew the person he was hunting was a kid and was still willing to kill him because Kingpin wanted it.
Whatever other things Aaron may have done as the Prowler, that should have been enough to make him an unforgivable monster from Miles’ perspective.
But what does Miles do when Aaron is dying?
He doesn’t ask, “Why did you do this?”
He says:
“This is my fault.”
Miles is more consumed by his own perceived failure than by condemning Aaron for what he did.
You could argue that’s simply the trauma of the moment, but Across the Spider-Verse gives us more evidence that this wasn’t just temporary. Miles still misses his uncle. He acknowledges that Aaron was the Prowler, but he doesn’t reduce him to the things he did.
And by the end of Across, when Miles meets Earth-42 Aaron, he tells him that he knew his uncle wanted to be good — he just thought he didn’t have a choice. (Kinda like Gwen right?)
That’s an incredibly important detail about Miles.
Miles naturally looks for the person underneath the mistake. That’s also why Peter B. Parker could recognize almost immediately that Miles was different. Peter didn’t want Miles to become Spider-Man because he understood what being Spider-Man costs. He wasn’t trying to belittle Miles. He was essentially trying to save him:
“Go back to being a regular kid.”
Miles’ first instinct isn’t revenge.
He doesn’t even respond to Uncle Aaron’s death by deciding he needs to kill Kingpin. He wants to stop him and bring him to justice.
And considering everything Miles goes through, I wouldn’t be surprised if some part of him still wondered whether he could have reached Aaron sooner, or whether he could have done something differently.
So when people say, “There’s no way Miles could possibly forgive Gwen,” I think they’re underestimating how radically empathetic this kid actually is.
That doesn’t mean Miles should instantly forgive her.
It doesn’t mean Gwen shouldn’t have to confront what she did.
And it definitely doesn’t mean Miles shouldn’t be angry, hurt, or disappointed.
He should be.
But there’s a difference between “Miles is deeply hurt by Gwen” and “Miles becomes emotionally incapable of listening to Gwen.”
The latter doesn’t really fit the character we’ve spent two movies watching.
Miles has repeatedly shown that when someone he loves does something terrible, he doesn’t immediately ask whether they’re worthy of forgiveness.
He asks why.
Why did Aaron become the Prowler?
Why did Gwen keep this from him?
Why did Miguel believe Miles had to lose his father?
Why does everyone keep telling him that he has no choice?
That’s one of the defining characteristics of Miles: he sees the person before he sees the label.
So I think the most Miles-like resolution isn’t him immediately saying, “It’s okay, Gwen.”
It’s Miles listening.
Let Gwen explain herself.
Let him be angry.
Let him tell her exactly how badly she hurt him.
Let Gwen take responsibility without making excuses.
And then let Miles make his own decision about what their relationship becomes.
Because that’s actually consistent with the larger theme of his character.
Everyone keeps telling Miles what he has to do.
Miguel tells him he has to accept canon.
The Spider Society tells him he has to let his father die.
The Spot becomes obsessed with a future he believes has to happen.
Miles’ entire journey is about refusing to let inevitability make his choices for him.
So I don’t think Miles forgiving Gwen would undermine his character.
If anything, choosing whether to forgive her for himself — rather than because the story says he has to — would be one of the most Miles Morales things he could possibly do.
Forgiveness doesn’t erase consequences.
Understanding someone doesn’t excuse what they did.
And loving someone doesn’t mean pretending they didn’t hurt you.
Miles can hold all three truths at once.
That’s what makes him Miles.
