Characters in Marvel and DC Universes transcend demographics to reach audiences yearning for a hero. The first Batman comic book was released way back in 1939, yet his narrative is repeatedly re-told with similar storylines adjusted to fit modern trends.

The same goes for Tony Stark, the egocentric and savvy business magnate who initially created Iron Man to fight communist sympathizers. There's also Superman, whose stylized "S" is recognized the world over. More recently it's Captain America, the emblematic patriot with an eponymous film that made over $200 million in domestic box office last week.

"Captain America: Civil War" has the ingenuity, creativity and blockbuster-scale explosions all superhero mash-ups should have. It's a fun movie made better with actors continually reprising their roles, film after film, fully aware fan boys expect nothing less. Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man; Chris Evans is Captain America; only Scarlett Johannsen could portray Black Widow.

But the most recent installment in Marvel's lucrative franchise welcomed in Spider-Man. There so many Spider-men in the Marvel Multiverse not named Peter Parker it would have been easy for film creators to give him another identity. Instead, creators went with a trite, pubescent version of the web-slinger akin to pervious big-screen versions. Somehow, introducing Spider-Man always means depicting him as a teenager learning his abilities.

Putting a new spin on Spider-Man's persona could have been simple, if only for his 20 minutes or so in "Civil War." In that respect, this was the perfect time for Marvel to introduce their first Latino to Marvel's empire.

A Modern-Day Latino Spider-Man

Acclaimed Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis worked on the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic book series for a decade before killing Parker off in June 2011.

Parker's death ended one series and began another, one with Hispanic Brooklynite Miles Morales donning the iconic red-and-blue bodysuit. Bendis and artist Sara Pichelli gave the new crime fighter a traditional arch, he was bitten by a genetically-enhanced spider and quickly learned he leap over buildings with ease. The son of an African-American father and Puerto Rican mother, Morales resembles a young President Barack Obama.

What separates him from Parker, aside from physical and ideological differences -- Morales paused at responsibilities of being a superhero -- is Morales' upbringing.

The Latino teenager idolized his thief of a cousin Aaron, but he didn't follow in Aaron's path. Morales is seen as a symbol of hope, as evident with his acceptance into a charter school; he evolved into an urban Spider-Man without exploiting his culture.

Controversy Over a Hispanic Web-Slinger

Morales' inaugural appearance came in the August 2011 "Ultimate Fallout" issue, but controversy over Marvel's half-black, half-Latino hero didn't reach a mass audience until last summer when Marvel announced Morales would headline his own series.

"When we first peeled back Spider-Man's iconic mask to reveal a new face - that of African-American/Hispanic Miles Morales - we didn't dare dream that he'd connect the way he has with so many fans of all creeds and colors," Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso told NBC News. "That speaks volumes about the growing comic book audience and the universality of Miles' story."

Alonso's statement came as Sony Pictures began casting "Civil War." Rumors swirled online about the possibility a Latino would be cast. Some demanded an ethnic Spider-Man, if anything to bring diversity to a franchise sorely lacking it. Others didn't want political correctness, calling for a traditional Peter Parker-like figure.

Traditionalists won out. London-born Tom Holland won the coveted role and a possible spinoff, based on "Civil War's" post-credit teaser.

Emerging Ethnic Superheroes

The death of Hispanic heroes' remains, but the notion that Sony would audition Latinos is progress in itself.

The handful of comic book characters named Green Lantern now includes Kyle Rayner, a graphic artist with a Latino father, and Bane -- Batman's nemesis in "The Dark Knight Rises," -- is of Cuban descent, though his muffled, Darth Vader-inspired voice doesn't hint at it much.

Marvel recently introduced an African-American Captain America and a Pakistani version of Ms. Marvel; each a nod to the country's changing cultural landscape.

Two decades ago, this was near unimaginable. As far back as 2000, when the "X-Men" launched the first cinematic comic book franchise, Halley Berry was the only prominent minority. "Civil War" makes three central to the storyline.

Maybe a Latino Spider-Man isn't out of the question after all, not with the steps Hollywood has taken over the last decade. Bendis, for one, wouldn't mind.

"I started crying in the middle of the aisle," Bendis told "New York Daily News" after learning Morales would be part of the Marvel Universe. "I realized my kids are going to grow up in a world that has a multi-racial Spider-Man, and an African-American Captain America, and a female Thor."

Few know about Miguel O'Hara, the first Mexican-American Spidey, or Araña, the Mexican-Puerto Rican Spider-Girl created in 2004. It's up to Marvel and Sony as to how Morales is remembered.