Insomniac is set to deliver their upcoming action-adventure game, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, for PS5 in 2023. But what can we expect from the upcoming superhero game? And, more importantly, what are fans hoping to see?

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Marvel’s Spider-Man became a huge hit when the game was first released back in 2018 and was so well received that the developer, Insomniac Games, released a second game through Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2020: Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.

Both video games were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone that ventured to play them. With the incredible storytelling, gorgeous visuals and entertaining characters, it’s not much of a mystery why. There had been rumours circling around about a third game being in development and, during Sony’s PlayStation Showcase event last year, it was officially confirmed.

Media analyst and insider Millie Amand Tweeted recently that the development of the game is “exceeding expectations for Marvel higher-ups”. Her claim was further backed up by an employee of Marvel who was just as impressed with the gameplay in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, thinking that it had actually been a cutscene and gave the game high praise for its “striking fluidity” and “visual punch”.

Fans have started to get even more excited about the new single-player adventure game after Marvel dropped a short teaser trailer showcasing a little bit of what they can expect from Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Let’s analyse, shall we?

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The Story So Far

Marvel’s Spider-Man

Marvel’s Spider-Man, a PlayStation Exclusive (until it was released on PC in 2022), begins with Peter Parker taking on and defeating Wilson Fisk, who is finally arrested — much to Jay Jonah Jameson’s delight (the news castor for the Daily Bugel). Peter then leaves to go investigate a break-in where he runs into Mary Jane Waston and we hear the first mentions of Devil’s Breath, a secret project whose file is stolen by a Masked gunman. The two of them decide to investigate the theft.

Peter is warned by Martin Li (the head of F.E.A.S.T) that the masks belong to a dangerous group called the Inner Demons. He then travels back across the city to his job working as an assistant to Dr Otto Octavius in his research to develop a functional artificial arm. Unfortunately, Norman Osborn shuts down the project by terminating Dr Octavius’s grant.

After a couple of victories against the Inner Demons (with the assistance of Jefferson Davis – a police officer and the father of Miles Morales), Peter goes to a rally campaigning for Norman Osborn’s re-election, which is suddenly attacked by the Inner Demons and their leader Mr Negative (Martin Li). Jefferson is killed during the attack and Peter tries to bond with Miles, feeling party responsible for his father’s death and also knowing what it feels like to lose a father figure. It takes a while, but Miles eventually accepts the friendship.

Osborn hires a group of mercenaries known as Sable to protect him from the Inner Demons’ attacks and take them down and the group immediately decides that they don’t like Spider-Man and do everything in their power to make life difficult for him, but he powers through and continues his investigation on the Inner Demons. He learns that Li has a bone to pick with Osborn and plans to steal Devil’s Breath (a project that had originally been to discover a universal cure but had accidentally resulted in a bioweapon) and release, but his fans are foiled by Peter with some help from MJ and Li is promptly arrested and sent to the high-security prison known as the Raft.

Meanwhile, Dr Octavius has been consumed with revenge and develops his article arms into tentacle-like limbs that he controls through an untested neural implant. His growing aggression causes Peter to be rightfully concerned about the effect the implant is having on Octavius’s mental state. It doesn’t take long for him to take on the persona of Doctor Octopus (or Doc Ock as Peter regularly refers to him).

As Doc Ock, the old scientist releases all the prisoners from Ryker’s Island and the Raft forms the Sinister Six (Doc Ock, Mister Negative, Electro, Vulture, Rhino and Scorpion) and steals Devils Breath releasing it from Times Square and affecting thousands of Civilians including Aunt May. New York falls into chaos and Osborn is quick to declare martial law.

Peter and MJ team up once again in Marvel’s Spider-Man, Peter on a mission to round up all the criminals and big-time villains while MJ searches for a cure. During her search, she discovers that Devil Breath was meant to be a cure for their terminally ill best friend Harry Osborn. She also learns that Martin Li was one of the test subjects for the project and had been gifted powers, but had accidentally killed his parents upon discovery of his new abilities, sparking the grudge against Osborn. Finally, she figures out the location of the cure and gives it to Peter.

Peter finally manages to convince Sable to trust him and heads off to retrieve the cure, defeating Li, but getting critically injured by Doc Ock who takes Osborn and the cure.

In one final desperate attempt to save the city, Peter builds himself a new suit and goes after Octavius (who reveals that he knows the true identity of Spider-Man), defeating him and saving Osborn and the cure. Peter is then faced with the difficult task of choosing between saving Aunty May or letting Doctors examine the cure and save everyone else.

He shares a tearful goodbye with Aunty May, who tells him she knew he was Spider-Man, and they have a funeral for her, burying her next to Uncle Ben.

Silver Sable leaves New York, realising that she may need to rethink her life choices and Miles is bitten by a spider that managed to escape from Norman Osborn’s personal lab. Miles develops powers which he quickly reveals to Peter, who in turn reveals that he’s Spider-Man.

We then see Osborn approach Harry who is being kept in a tank with a black web-like substance (probably belonging to everyone’s favourite symbiote) that’s keeping him alive until a cure for his disease can be found.

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Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales

A year later, in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, we follow Miles who is on a journey of learning how to be Spider-Man, only being slightly reckless along the way (there was an incident with an accidentally broken toe) and often helping Peter out on his many mission throughout New York while wearing one of his old suits.

The two of them have a run-in with Rhino, who Miles accidentally lets loose, but they handle the metal-covered villain quickly and exit the scene to let the cops do their job. Peter meets up with Miles a little bit after this and gifts him a new suit, letting him know that he was going to be out of the city with MJ for a few weeks and that the city would need a Spider-Man in his absence.

Miles starts to get into the swing of things, revealing who he is to his best friend Ganke (who is quick to help Miles out as Spiderman) and going through the training exercises Peter left for him. Ganke warns him about a break-in in Harlem at the Roxxon Plaza where the Nuform reactor is kept and Miles stumbles upon the Underground (a group of criminals using high-tech gadgets) and takes care of things in true Spider-Man fashion.

Later in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Miles had dinner with his mother and an old friend, Phin, who he used to build inventions with when he was a kid. When they meet up again later and try to reconnect he suspects that she’s keeping something from him, but chooses not to say anything.

Miles helps his Uncle Aaron out with a job as Spider-Man, doing his best to keep his identity hidden, but it proves all for nought when his uncle tells him, in a subtle way, that he knows who he is.

During a campaign rally for his mother, the Underground call Simon Krieger out as a killer and attack any Roxxon guards present. Miles stays for a while to help, learning that Phin is the leader of the Underground, but swings off to keep them from stealing Nyform, though he does end up accidentally destabilizing it and blowing up the bridge, leading to him being labelled as a criminal even after he saved multiple civilians. Fortunately for Miles, he discovers a new power called biological camouflage and uses it to escape. He and Ganke then decide to design a new suit.

Peter hears about what’s happening in New York and offers to come back, but Miles tells him he’s got everything under control, then leaves to go investigate a repair shop that had once been owned by Phin’s family where he encounters a vigilante who goes by the name Prowler and turns out to be his uncle. Together the two of them learn that Krieger had killed Phin’s brother Rick with a synthesizer after the two of them had broken into his lab to try and take out Nuform. Miles destroys the lab by absorbing the energy in the synthesizer and then releasing it in a giant blast before he and his uncle escape.

His uncle tries to convince him to step away from the vigilante life, but when Miles refuses, suggests that he goes undercover into the Undergrounds base of operations to get information on what was going on.

He does as suggested and then dons his suit after learning that Phin was trying to create a bomb using an overloaded canister of Nyform and tries to sabotage their plans. Unfortunately, he is caught but quickly reveals his identity to Phin before she kills him. A stressed-out Miles is encouraged by his uncle to get back into music as a way to ground himself.

Miles tells his uncle that he plans to meet up with Phin again and Aaron tells Krieger (who he is working for) where they are meeting up and asks them not to hurt Miles.

The two meet and discuss Phin’s plan. She is determined to get revenge for her brother’s death and will not be stopped by Miles. They’re both captured by Rhino who brings them back to Roxxon, Krieger’s base of operations, though they do manage to escape and learn the truth about Miles’ uncle. Together they go for Krieger’s lab, Miles learning that Phin’s plan to blow up Nyform would destroy Harlem before they are once again ambushed by Rhino. They defeat the villain and Miles tries to tell Phin about the dangers of her plan, but she refuses to listen to him.

Miles returns home and his mother finds him with Ganke, beaten and broken. She is more than supportive of the life he’s leading as a vigilante and together the three of them work together, Ganke and Rio creating an evacuation plan for Harlem and Miles heading off to take care of Phin. His uncle stops him on his way, trying to convince Miles to drop this, but he’s not having it. He defeats his uncle telling him that he won’t turn his back on the people that need him and continuing on his search for Phin.

He finds her, but before he manages to stop her a fight breaks out and she leaves for Harlem. Rio and Ganke begin to evacuate Harlem and Miles goes for Phin again, getting stopped by Roxxon agents on his way, but his uncle arrives to help him, letting Miles leave to finish the job he started.

In the final showdown with Phin, Miles pulls off his mask, struggling to see what’s going on, and she sets off the explosion. He reacts quickly, getting her to safety before absorbing the energy from the explosion into himself which almost ends up killing him. Phin moves quickly, launching them both into the air and telling Miles to let go.

The explosion that is let off sends a maskless Miles back down and Phin is nowhere to be seen. His mother and Ganke find him later, along with a couple of residents from Harlem, who promise to hold their tongues about his identity, simply saying, “He’s our Spider-Man” to anyone who asks.

Krieger is sent to prison thanks to evidence provided by Aaran Davis and Peter returns, remarking that he likes Miles’ new suit. The two of them begin to officially work together.

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What We Can Assume From The Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Game Trailer

The Identity of the Ominous Voice

Since the game trailer for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 first came out, fan’s have been speculating about who the Russian-accented voice belonged to and many came to the conclusion that it was none other than the supervillain Kraven. The belief that this was the identity of the unseen voice was further solidified by the challenge issued to the two Spider-Man characters:

“For as long as I can remember, I have looked for an equal… One who could push me… One who could surprise me… One who could beat me. Yet all I found is disappointment. Will one of you finally give me what I desire?”

Fans who are familiar with the hunter know that he loves the feeling that comes with the glory of the hunt and is completely obsessed with trying to find a worthy and formidable opponent who will prove that he is the best hunter alive and that he has deemed Spider-Man as the man for the job. This is clearly a showdown waiting to happen and it is making fans worried about the survival chance of their favourite Spider-Men in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Peter Parker has always had unfortunate luck. It’s one of the things he’s best known for. But he’s also almost always come out the other end of things. That was not the case during his last fight with Kraven, who won the fight and killed Spider-Man. Fans are desperately hoping that the Marvel higher-ups won’t be taking this path for the character. But given the game’s history, with Peter’s regular near-death experiences as he tries to help people and the dark tone that the story often takes on, his chances aren’t looking too good. Prepare your tissues.

The Introduction of Venom

Fans have been expecting a siting of the beloved villain/antihero in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 since the post-credit scene in the first Spider-Man game, in which we were shown Norman Osborn approaching a tank that contained the body of his comatose son and promising him that he would find a cure. Harry is revealed to be suffering from the same disease his mother suffered from and Norman is willing to do anything to make sure his son doesn’t suffer the same fate, even bond him with the Venom symbiote he doesn’t entirely understand.

It’ll be a bit of a change to see Harry Osborn as the host of Venom rather than everyone’s favourite reporter, Eddie Brock (who has been portrayed by Tom Hardy in recent movies). However, fans are interested to see what they do with the character in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and how the choice to swap hosts plays out. We may yet get a chance to see Eddie Brock bond with the symbiote and Harry perhaps step into his original role as Green Goblin.

The symbiote is being voiced by horror icon Tony Todd and everyone is excited to see how he brings Venom to life in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Upgraded Suits

In the first trailer for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, both Peter and Miles are seen wearing revamped suits as they take on bad guys. Marvel looks to have officially added the mechanical arms from the Iron-Spider suit into Peter’s regular suit. We’re hoping that this addition will come with revamped fight and gameplay mechanics to make how he takes down goons as fun to do as it is to watch.

Miles is seen sporting a redesign to his original suit, now with red stripes extending all the way down his arm. There weren’t any new gadgets or tricks for him seen in the trailer, but his power and confidence have definitely grown. We’re hoping that Marvel is saving any additional upgrades for players to discover during gameplay.

Spider-Men Fighting as a Team

In previous games, we’ve always had on Spider-Man doing his best to protect the city of New York from any dangers that may come its way, along with the help of a few non-superpowered individuals. Having two Spider-Men at play in the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game will not only make life a little easier for both of them, but it will give players a chance to see the entertaining dynamic between Miles and Peter from a whole new angle.

Fans may be given the opportunity to choose which Spider-Man they want to play as, giving themselves the best possible advantages during a fight. It’ll be interesting to see how Insomniac Games decides to work the gameplay with two Spider-Men in the mix.

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What We Want to See In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

The Introduction of New Characters

With the large cast of characters that were introduced in the previous two games and plenty of rogues still to get through on Spider-Man’s gallery, everyone is excited to see who they might bring into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

The Lizard

This is a villain of Spider-Man’s that has been referenced and hinted at in both games. In the first game, when travelling the New York City and looking for the many backpacks that Peter has misplaced over the years, you come across an empty vial of the Lizard’s blood. In the audio log that plays over it Peter talks about how he created a cure for the doctor, but it, unfortunately, didn’t last. This lets us know that somewhere in the city Curt Conners is still capable of turning into the Lizard. Later on, we see the doctor that Peter is trying to find wearing a Lizard costume at a dress-up party.

In the second game, specifically in the post-credit scene, we see Dr Conners for the time working with Norman Osborn to find a cure for his son. The fact that he is visibly working at OsCorp and that we are aware he can still turn into the Lizard does not bode well for Spider-Man.

Wolverine

Marvel’s Wolverine is one of the many upcoming Marvel games, and many fans are excited for a chance to play as the disgruntled member of the X-Men. It would be an extremely beneficial choice on Marvel’s part if they decide to introduce the character in the new Spider-Man game, rather than keep his debut for his solo title.

Spider-Man and Wolverine have one of the most entertaining dynamics in the Marvel comics, with personalities that clash harder than the colours in the Joker’s outfits, so seeing the two of them work together in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, no matter how briefly, would be a great way to promote his upcoming game.

Dr Strange

While a relatively small Easter Egg in the Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise, when swinging around the city it is very possible to come across the Sanctum Sanctorum. With Strange’s recent team-up with the Web-Slinger in Spider-Man: No Way Home, it wouldn’t be too far-fetched for the Sorcerer Supreme (I suppose former Sorcerer Supreme now) to make an appearance in the new game.

The Hand & Daredevil

While The Hand is more Daredevil’s villain than Spiderman’s, from the looks of the ninja-like goons fought by Peter and Miles in the new trailer it looks like they’re going after a new hero in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. This could indicate further involvement of Wilson Fisk (aka Kingpin) in the games, who has once been the head of the supervillain organisation.

Marvel could very well decide to bring Matt Murdock into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 as well. They’ve certainly referenced his character enough times for it to be a possibility.

Revamped MJ Stealth Sections

While it was great to have Mary Jane as a playable character for stealth missions in the first game (and occasionally Miles as well), they were definitely one of the downsides to Marvel’s Spider-Man, slowing gameplay way down as players were forced to quietly sneak past goons. They could be incredibly frustrating at times, especially when one false move would bring the whole mission screeching to a halt.

If Insomniac Games decided to bring back the stealth mission in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we’re hoping that they’re redesigned in a way that doesn’t make you want to throw your controller into the TV. It might be more fun to see MJ do more undercover jobs than stealth jobs or even give her a weapon or two that’ll make both players and her life a little bit easier.

Marvel fans can expect the upcoming sequel to drop sometime next year. Based on everything we know, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is shaping up to be something truly special for PlayStation fans. There are just so many possibilities with the sequel. And we’re certain that Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment will deliver.

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What are you most looking forward to in the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 game?

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: What We Hope to See Written by Hannah Lieberum for Fortress of Solitude