Araña and Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow

By: Alex Segura

Narrated by: Victoria Villarreal

Length: 7 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

Araña is a Spider-Girl lost in time. . . . Miguel is a Spider-Man who's lost his way. . . . Together, they're our only hope.

Araña. It means spider—and it also means Anya Corazon. She was a normal Brooklyn teenager with normal Brooklyn problems—until a few months ago, when she was gifted with amazing spiderlike abilities, from super-strength and heightened agility to web-slinging. A powerful mentor guided her on how best to use these new powers for good—until Anya lost him, just as she lost her mother, just as she's about to lose everything she knows.

Nueva York. It is the future of New York City, the home of the Spider-Man of 2099, and where Anya finds herself stranded, tossed across the century. And Nueva York's Spider-Man, billionaire CEO Miguel O'Hara, is Araña's only hope of getting home. But Araña and Spider-Man are about to discover that the enemies they face have dark and powerful connections to both heroes—and that this unlikely team across time will need to save much more than each other. . . .

Alex Segura, the Anthony Award-winning author of Secret Identity and Star Wars Poe Dameron: Free Fall, brings two fan-favorite Spider-Verse heroes together in prose for the first time in this thrilling new time-hopping adventure.

©2023 Alex Segura (P)2023 Marvel Press

A well done spider story

Grabbed this on audible during a 2-for-1 sale, and Victoria Villarreal brought an authentic feel to the characters, and overall the narration was a lot of fun.

First and foremost, I am a Peter Parker Spider-Man fan. The OG animated series from when I as a kid, as well as the Tobey McGuire movies. Unless you’re counting the PS4 game and Sony-verse, I know next to nothing about Miles Morales, and my knowledge of Spider-Man 2099 (other than random things) mostly starts with Oscar Isaac. So I gave this a shot simply because it was Marvel and Spidey adjacent, I actually didn’t even know who Araña was at all.

Anya, who takes on the spider-identity of Araña, has a familiar, tough upbringing through her abilities. She must juggle school, a secret identity while living with her father, and the loss of a mentor, all right before a short tussle with an artifact called El Obelisco sends her crashing into the future. Don’t let my condensed version fool you though, because I actually felt like all that set up went on a little longer than I expected, at least for me, who did not read the blurb before jumping in!

In this far-flung future, Anya finds out that there was a Spider-Man in the year 2099, and having only arrived a few years later than that, she figures he must still be active. A lot can change in only a few years though, and the Miguel O’Hara she finds is as far from the tights-wearing hero he was can be. He’s not only jaded, but thinks the world is better off without his costumed help.

Personally, I can always get behind the reluctant mentor trope, and I really liked that it was a retired Spider-Man too, so that she was getting the help from the actual source. But what lacked for me, was the world he came from. Miguel is a rich, business runner with a virtual assistant that arguably does more than her fair share of the work. He even comes from the future where NYC has been renamed Nueva York, and yet I found that the author really didn’t describe it or any differences. As someone unfamiliar, this would have been a huge opportunity to sell me.

Then throw in another dimension’s Ghost Spider out of left field in the third act and you’re really cooking with fire. It seemed like a lot of work to simply not include Peter, who is “off planet”, so I’m curious if he just wasn’t on the table. Regardless, the heroes hero, and this was another interesting and fun spider-people adventure. It had all the necessary touch points, a newbie, great responsibility, middle-story self doubts, emotional pulls, and self sacrifices. All things that make superheroes what they are. Personally a 4/5*.

fanatic listen

I'll update my review as i continue to listen!

let's start off by talking about Anya! she's such a good character, i can relate to her struggles and her fears. Even tho the world seems against her she pushes on. she's so head strong and kind. her attitude is very relatable and understandable. she's just a well written character!

The Narrator is incredible, the personality and character she gives to Anya just adds to the relatability and understanding of Anya. you truly understand how Anya feels by just how the Narrator talks. she gives so much emotions to Anya!

the story so far the story is pretty exciting and interesting, not a boring moment. it caught my attention right away and i was hooked! i just want to continue to listen!

I'm a huge spider man fan! i love everything spider man and i recently watched Spiderman; across the spider verse. i was introduced to so many interesting spider version. I loved Miguel from the moment I saw him in the movie. The fear and pain that's apart of him is so tragic and i wanted to learn more about him, i saw this book at a book store a few weeks ago and i was going to get it then but changed my mind. i regret not picking it up sooner! if you love spiderman and want to learn more about or are interested in the different spider versions! i definitely recommend this listen or to read this book.

Anya and Miguel stories are fantastic and i can't wait to continue this listen! (6/7/23 chapter 16)

Update: