The Latest Spider-Verse Spider-Man Taking Over the Internet Wasn’t Even in the Movie
I'd die for Meows Morales.
A semi-recent feature of my feeds across various social media is a steady flow of Spider-Verse art. So, I’m living my best life. Well, what I thought was my best life, because right when I believed things were peaking, two images of cats changed everything. After two weeks of sharing our favorite versions of Spider-people found in Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, people found this image of Miles Morales: Meows Morales.
Who is Meows Morales? The adorable feline first appeared in a 2019 Peter Porker, a.k.a. Spidey-Ham, comic. While Porker was introduced in the 1980s, Meows came in 2019’s Spider-Man Annual Volume 3 issue 1, parodying the Secret Wars ( with the Secret Roars). This comic featured other cuties like Spider-Guin (Penguin Stacy) and Daily Beagle head J. Jonah Jackal. Meows isn’t the only version of Miles made into an animal. Before Meows, Marvel introduced the piggy Miles Morhames. While there’s an influx of Guin Stacy, Meows as a little black cat drawn by David Lafuente and Rico Renzi stole the internet’s heart.
This extended to the other characters in the film because you know what is better than one cat? Tw—more than one cat. Also, like Miles, on TikTok and other video-based platforms, Meows Morales has taken off.
The cat memes I dream in
I cannot stress enough how much of a match made in heaven this is. Cats (among other things) rule the internet and fan art of a new film is always a delight to experience. This phenomenon has also translated into people superimposing Meows over popular cat memes online.
As one my my favorite images of a feline (that’s not my own) ever, here’s another one based on the same image.
This also extends to (but isn’t limited to) cat meme videos, though there are too many to include since we are talking about the original internet meme animal. One of the most popular new videos of Meows uses audio from the 2002 Shōnen anime Azumanga Daioh.
**Spoilers for Across The Spider-Verse ahead.**
Baddies anthropomorphized
These are just some of my top 100-ish favorite videos and images on TikTok and Twitter. Other platforms dominated by artists, like Tumblr and Instagram, also fell victim to his cuteness.
Fans turned The Spot into a frog and many creatures. However, the most popular is a dog, since he’s aspiring to be the main villain for Miles in Across the Spider-Verse.
In addition to the Spot, the Prowler Meows Morales was also made into a feline. Prowler already sounds like a cat. There’s no defined name for this rascal, with some calling him “purrowler” and others “growler.” Either way, I know the kitchen trash will be dumped over in the morning, not thanks to midnight zoomies, but the refusal to play by the rules.
(featured image: Marvel)
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