Insomniac Games' first venture into the world of Marvel Comics wasn't one it took lightly and the team went to great lengths to forge its own path with Marvel's Spider-Man, creating a story and universe that felt unique and exciting while staying faithful and familiar to the source material. Whether it was breathing new life into lesser-known villains like Mister Negative or creating brand new outfits for Peter Parker like the Velocity Suit or Shirtless Spider-Man, Insomniac's was able to accomplish the goal of striking a balance between new and old, nostalgia, fan-service, and surprise.
Marvel's Spider-Man was praised for the writing of its villains and each of their boss fights with big players like Mister Negative and the Sinister Six in the main story, and villains like Black Cat, Hammerhead, and Silver Sable each headlining one of the three-story DLCs. One iconic Spider-Man villain that was absent from Marvel's Spider-Man was Venom, as was the famous black and white Symbiote Suit. Insomniac Games also chose not to include the Symbiote Suit for a reason and that decision makes sense for the game's story, but it also implies that Venom could play a major role in the inevitable Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on PS5.
Marvel's Spider-Man Story Recap
Marvel's Spider-Man takes place eight years into Peter Parker's career as the web-swinging, wall-crawling friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Set entirely in Manhattan, Peter is 23 years old, currently separated from Mary Jane, working for Otto Octavious as a research assistant, and secretly working alongside NYPD Captain Yuri Watanabe to keep the residents of New York City safe. The game starts with the capture and arrest of Wilson Fisk a.k.a. the Kingpin, which in turn, sets a series of events into motion that leaves the city vulnerable and allows for a villain known as Mister Negative and his Demons to start taking over.
In his quest to take down OsCorp CEO and Mayor of New York City Norman Osborn, Mister Negative is stopped by Spider-Man and sent to a maximum-security prison just off the shoreline of Manhattan known as the Raft; the same prison that is currently holding a number of villains including members of the Sinister Six such as Electro, Vulture, Rhino, and Scorpion. Meanwhile, with Peter's assistance, Octavious quest to create enhanced prosthetic limbs leads to the creation of four tentical-like arms that are controlled by a neural interface connected to his mind. Blinded by his hatred for Osborn and fear of a neuromuscular disease that is slowly immobilizing his body, Octavious ignored Peter's warning and succumbs to the interface, changing his personality and creating Doc Ock.
Doctor Octopus breaks into the Raft and recruits Mister Negative, Electro, Vulture, Rhino, and Scorpion, on a mission to take over New York City and capture Osborn. One by one, Spider-Man stops each villain, and Mary Jane learns that Norman Osborn experimented on Martin Li as a child, creating Mister Negative. It's also revealed that Harry Osborn isn't on vacation in Europe but instead has been sent away by his father due to a mysterious illness. Spider-Man stops Doc Ock and saves the city from Devil's Breath, a lethal toxin set loose by the Sinister Six. In the final after-credits scene, Harry Osborn is revealed as being held in stasis and covered in a black, web-like substance. Norman Osborn places his hand on the tank promising to find a cure for his son and the substance reacts, with a black web reaching out to the glass that looks eerily similar to Spider-Man's own.
How the Ending Set Up Venom
Throughout Marvel's Spider-Man, Harry Osborn is mentioned multiple times and plays a role in one Side Mission, yet he never actually makes an appearance in the game and both Peter and Mary Jane believe him to be on a long trip across Europe. In the final act of the game, it comes to light that Harry has been incredibly sick with the same illness that killed his mother and that Norman has sent him away to a secret care facility to find a cure. Of course, the final after-credits scene reveals that the facility is actually a tank inside a hidden laboratory in the Osborn families penthouse, and Harry is being held in stasis in a green liquid with a black, web-like substance coming off him.
Creative Director of Marvel's Spider-Man, Brian Intihar has stated on the record (like in the above Spider-Man Spoilercast) that the primary reason for not including the Symbiote Suit came down to the legacy of the suit and the story that comes along with it. Making the conscious decision to not feature the suit indicates that in the world of Marvel's Spider-Man, Peter Parker is yet to come into contact with the Venom symbiote and that it's a story that Insomniac Games would like to explore themselves in future.
Insomniac Games has already made a number of significant changes to existing characters and this would by far be its biggest one yet. Harry Osborn has never been a host of the Venom symbiote and typically when it comes to being a villain, he's best known as the second Green Goblin, as seen in the Raimi Spider-Man trilogy. On top of that, we could be about to see a very different version of Venom than what's come before. In Ultimate Spider-Man, the Venom symbiote didn't come from space but was instead created by Peter Parker and Eddie Brock’s fathers when trying to cure cancer. It looks like Osborn's quest to save his son could be what creates the Venom symbiote, which opens up endless potential for stories about how the symbiote makes it's way to Spider-Man, how Harry Osborn copes with that loss, and how the return or loss of Harry pushes Norman to become the Green Goblin.
As it currently stands, neither Sony nor Insomniac Games have officially announced Marvel's Spider-Man 2, but based on the critical and commercial success of the first game, it's safe to say that a sequel on PS5 is inevitable. Despite the lack of an official announcement or reveal, rumors have been making their way online for months now with various claims about the game's story, characters, villains, and even new locations and gameplay mechanics like a dungeon-mechanic for randomized crimes. One big rumor has already stated that Venom will be a major player in Spider-Man's rogue's gallery alongside Green Goblin, Mysterio, the Lizard, and more.
PlayStation 5 is due to release worldwide in Holiday 2020 with an official unveiling expected to happen sometime during the lead up to E3 2020. Considering that Marvel's Spider-Man was revealed at E3 2016, a full two years before the game was released, it's very possible that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 could be revealed this year to help push the PS5 and its vision for PlayStation over the next couple of years. What's a great way to instantly sell players on a sequel to the best-selling superhero games of all time? Tease Venom.
Marvel's Spider-Man is out now for PS4.