It wasn’t too surprising to most superhero movie aficionados when they found out last week that Sony Entertainment was planning to produce a live-action Miles Morales movie. The success of the animated Spider-Verse franchise is even more evident with the latest sequel, so adapting Miles version of Spider-Man into a live-action movie was going to come sooner than later.
Now that plans for the film have been teased, attention from fans will turn to casting. And we’re hoping the studios in charge find an Afro-Latino actor to take on the role of the Marvel hero. Miles’ Afro-Latino culture is a major part of his identity, so it’ll be important for the film to capture his mixed ethnicity in an authentic way.
We’ve gone ahead and brainstormed some ideas about who should play Miles Morales in the live-action movie. And since we’re not sure yet if the film would want to tell Miles’ story from the beginning when he’s still a teenager or if they would start his journey as an older version of the character, so we covered all the bases.
1
Marquis Rodriguez
Rodriguez, 26, who was a co-star alongside Jharrel Jerome (someone further down on our list) in the critically acclaimed series When They See Us, is Black and Puerto Rican. He also has Marvel experience playing Darryl in the Netflix series Luke Cage and Iron Fist. Rodriguez was cast in the pilot of a Game of Thrones prequel that was never aired. Some of his most recent work includes roles on TV series like Queen Sugar and Manifest.
2
Jaden Michael
The 19-year-old actor Jaden Michael, who is of Dominican descent, made his debut in Oscar-nominated filmmaker Todd Hayne’s 2017 film, Wonderstruck. He went on to star in the comedy horror movie Vampires vs. the Bronx. In 2021, Michael took the lead role in the limited series Colin in Black & White as the teenage version of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
3
Rhenzy Feliz
Rhenzy Feliz already has experience playing in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The 25-year-old actor played Alex Wilder, the leader of the superhero group known as the Runaways. Marvel’s Runaways aired for three seasons on Hulu. Feliz, who is of Dominican descent, is also known for lending his voice to the young character Camilo Madrigal in Disney’s 2021 animated film Encanto.
4
Miles Brown
Besides having the same first name as our Spider-Man hero, Miles Brown, who is Black, Filipino, and Mexican, has a leg up on the competition because he is the youngest of this group. At 18, he’ll look the most like a teen if the new movie wants Miles portrayed as a high schooler. Brown broke into the entertainment industry when he competed as a dancer on America’s Got Talent in 2010 when he was only five years old. He’s best known for being a part of the main cast in Black-ish.
5
Jharrel Jerome
The 25-year-old Dominican American actor is the most decorated talent of this group. In 2019, he became the first Afro-Latino actor to win a Primetime Emmy Award for his powerful role in the Netflix limited series When They See Us about the Central Park Five. He was also nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award for the same role. Jerome got his first SAG nomination three years prior for being part of the ensemble of the Oscar-winning film, Moonlight.
6
Jorge Lendeborg Jr.
The Dominican actor, like Brown, already has Marvel experience. Not only that, he has Spider-Man cred. He had a small part as high school student Jason Ionello in all three Spider-Man movies featuring Tom Holland as the title superhero. Lendeborg, 27, had bigger roles in movies like Bumblebee, Night Teeth, and Critical Thinking. He also starred in the Hulu series about the Wu-Tang Clan, which debuted in 2019.
7
Chance Perdomo
The 26-year-old American-born English actor has described himself as “a black child raised by a Latino mother in a white society with two nationalities.” Perdomo got his big break on American TV when he was tapped for a main role in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which debuted in 2018. He’s also starred in three of the five movies that have been adapted from Anna Todd’s After novel series – 2021’s After We Fell, 2022’s After Ever Happy and After Everything, which debuts later this year.