Miles G. Morales was born to police officer Jeff Morales and Rio Morales in Brooklyn, New York on Earth-42. It seems he was meant to be bitten by a radioactive spider that would've turned him into the superhero "Spider-Man", but the spider was teleported to Earth-1610B by Liv Octavius and Johnathon Ohnn during their particle collider experiments. Instead, Miles Morales was bitten and became Spider-Man, sparking off a chain of interdimensional anomalies which left Earth-42 without a Spider-Man to protect it.

At some point, Jeff died after being promoted to captain, and Miles was left to be raised by Rio and his uncle, Aaron Davis. Miles grew cold and bitter, becoming a skilled fighter and taking on a life of crime with Aaron. He donned a powerful suit of armor and became the criminal known as "The Prowler", gaining infamy across New York City