Miles Morales was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and Italian artist Sara Pichelli. Bendis's thoughts about the character, and the way he looked in his first appearance, were heavily influenced by African-American actor Donald Glover's appearance in Spider-Man pajamas in "Anthropology 101", the second-season premiere of the television comedy series Community. Bendis said of Glover, "He looked fantastic! I saw him in the costume and thought, 'I would like to read that book.' So I was glad I was writing that book.