Marvel's Avengers and the team at Crystal Dynamics has been doing its best to deliver on the DLC promises that it setup shortly after launch. So far, two DLC packs have come out that have given players a decent amount of post-launch content, but there was some disappointment with new heroes like Kate Bishop and Hawkeye largely playing the same. Recent announcements have proven to be exciting, however, as fans have a better idea of what this summer holds for the game. From the Black Panther DLC to some general quality-of-life improvements, Marvel's Avengers is on its way to becoming the game fans were promised.
Unfortunately, there's still one highly-anticipated DLC that's been in a sort-of limbo ever since Marvel's Avengers was first announced. The PlayStation-exclusive Spider-Man DLC has eluded much of the Avengers fanbase until recently, when Crystal Dynamics gave a more detailed roadmap for the game's DLC and confirmed that Spider-Man would be coming after Black Panther. There still aren't any solid details on anything about the DLC, but there are still some likely things to expect from the web-head's introduction to the game.
Friendly, Neighborhood Spider-Man in Avengers
Considering the route that Marvel's Avengers has taken with much of its storytelling, there are one of two ways that the game could go about introducing Spider-Man. If the game were to take an approach similar to the one it took with Ms. Marvel, the Spider-Man DLC could show Peter Parker just coming into his powers and figuring out that with great power comes great responsibility. On the other hand, Crystal Dynamics could take inspiration from Insomniac's incredibly popular Marvel's Spider-Man and give players a Spider-Man that is a little more seasoned, just as it did with Kate Bishop in her DLC.
No matter what approach Crystal Dynamics takes with the wall-crawler, it will be interesting to see how the game approaches a new arena for the character. The Future Imperfect DLC's Wasteland biome was somewhat of a disappointment to some fans for just looking like the Utah Badlands with only minor changes, and the ideal Spider-Man area would be a city of sorts, which the game already has. This puts the DLC into an awkward position for how it wants to approach a biome befitting Spider-Man. The web-head's web-slinging is dependent on a solid city, and anything akin to a reskin of the city that already exists in the game would likely be disappointing.
Getting Bossed Around
If the Spider-Man DLC follows the theme of the rest of the Marvel's Avengers add-ons, then it will likely introduce a Spider-Man villain along with it. Out of all of the individual Marvel heroes, Spider-Man arguably has the largest rogues gallery. This gives Crystal Dynamics a lot of options to choose from, and luckily for players looking for some boss variety, most of Spider-Man's villains can be made into some unique boss battles when approached right. After the disappointment that was Future Imperfect's Maestro, many fans are looking for a boss battle that will really impress them, and the Spider-Man DLC could deliver.
Two of the most likely villains that Crystal Dynamics would choose from are Doc Ock and the Green Goblin, and each of them could provide their own unique challenges. If Doc Ock made an appearance in Marvel's Avengers, his many mechanical arms could provide a boss battle where players need to rely on projectiles to take him down, while staying out of his reach. For Green Goblin, a distinct amount of verticality could be added to his boss battle where players need to web-swing up to his glider in order to knock him down. Either way, there's the potential to deviate from the usual brawler-type boss that dominates the game.
Does Whatever A Spider Can for the Avengers
One of the most important things that Crystal Dynamics is going to have to nail with the Spider-Man DLC is how the web-head actually controls. Judging from how the other characters in Marvel's Avengers play, there's some predictions that could be made on how he'll work in combat and general traversal. Similar to Kate Bishop and Hawkeye, Spider-Man will likely rely on a variety of web shooters to take down enemies from a distance. His hand-to-hand combat will also likely be comparable to the other spider of Avengers, Black Widow. The wall-crawler is generally acrobatic in a scrap, so his combos will likely revolve around flips and kicks of all kinds.
The traversal abilities of Spider-Man will likely be the trickiest to master with how Marvel's Avengers currently handles movement, and it's also the most crucial to nail for many Spider-Man fans. The web-slinging is a make or break feature to most Spider-Man games, and the way Insomniac nailed the mechanic was one of the many reasons why Marvel's Spider-Man was so successful. Some fans have already expressed concern over how Hawkeye's grapple works, so there's a chance that Spider-Man's movement might be similarly clunky. Hopefully Crystal Dynamics will put in the work to make sure this isn't the case, even if the web-head does stand out from his other heroes.
Unfortunately, there really is no telling when the Spider-Man DLC is going to release or what it will include until Square Enix or Crystal Dynamics makes an official announcement. With the Black Panther DLC slated for an undetermined time in the summer, it's entirely possible that Marvel's Avengers may be a year old before the Spider-Man DLC releases. If this does end up being the case, hopefully fans will be able to celebrate the holiday season with their favorite wall-crawler. Until an official announcement is made however, fans will just have to hold out hope that the DLC comes sooner than that.
Marvel's Avengers is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.