Miles “Spider” Socorro is one of the lead characters in the upcoming Avatar: The Way of Water. However, the comic story Avatar: The High Ground introduces the audience to Paz Socorro, the biological mother of Jack Champion’s character, Miles “Spider” Socorro.
The comic explains that Paz was one of the RDA Scorpion pilots who attacked the Tree of Souls. She was killed when an arrow pierced the windshield of her aircraft. As a result, her son was left orphaned. Before her son’s birth, Paz had been in a relationship with an unknown man, resulting in Miles’s conception. Spider’s birth is the first-known human birth to take place on Pandora.
It is unknown who Paz’s lover was, though we can speculate. During the comic series, we learn that Jake and Neytiri didn’t solely raise Spider from infancy. Miles had a foster family before the Sullys adopted him. His foster father was named McCosker, who took the boy in with the approval of his wife and an unnamed son.
However, as Miles got older, he started spending a ton of time in the Pandoran forest, feeling like he was Na’vi at heart. He became close to the Sullys, and eventually, they took him in. However, Neytiri was wary of him, given his mother’s role in the assault on the Tree of Souls.
Spider And His Relationship With The Sullys
Despite being adopted by the Sullys, Miles never entirely recognised Jake and Neytiri as his adoptive parents, choosing to refer to them as ‘Mr and Mrs Sully’. He and his adoptive sister, Kiri, get along reasonably well because they’re both orphans. However, there is one difference between them. Grace Augustine, Kiri’s birth mother (or rather her Avatar), was a hero. Paz wasn’t considered in the same light. Spider doesn’t have much relationship with Neteyam, Jake and Neytiri’s eldest son, as he does not see him as a brother.
Cast Interviews for The Way of Water have said that Spider is relatively close to Lo’ak, Jake and Neytiri’s youngest son and middle child. Kiri is somewhat envious of this sibling relationship as she wants Miles to herself without sharing him with their siblings.
Theory
Now, given Neytiri’s reluctance to accept Miles, we have a theory as to why she agreed to take him in. Our theory stems from a scene that dropped on Good Morning America last week when Zoe Saldana was on the show. In the scene, Jake and Neytiri argue about whether or not they should leave their home after Quaritch threatens their children.
Neytiri tells Jake that she promised her father she would protect their people before he died. This is a memory that haunts Jake, as it was his involvement that got Eytukan killed. He mentions that Spider knows things that would benefit Quaritch if he were Spider’s biological father and the recoms.
It’s entirely possible that Neytiri only agreed to take in Miles for Jake’s benefit. She knew of his remorse over what happened with her father and wanted to do something to make it right, meaning adopting a human child whose sole parent was responsible for attacking the Tree of Souls. This might’ve also been part of the reason why he agreed to adopt Kiri too. He likely felt guilty over his indirect involvement in Grace’s death.
