The premise of a Spider-Verse has always been popular in the Spider-Man mythology due to the creativity in introducing countless other wall-crawlers. This was also a boon for comics after having featured Peter Parker for as long as it has, and diversifying the web-slinger’s alter ego has done wonders for making him even more unique. That is a big reason why Marvel’s Spider-Man’s Miles Morales is such an exciting character, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse capitalized on it all. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, however, should take a different angle if it wishes to feature a Spider-Verse too.
Indeed, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man games exploring the Spider-Verse could be exhilarating. It has even been rumored that this is the direction that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be taken, whether that is with a Spider-Verse or an ordinary multiverse. There is an argument to be made about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 not interpreting its own Spider-Verse in order to maintain its originality, but if it does choose to dip its toes in this highly trendy premise, it should make it original by only involving rifts to other Spider-Man game worlds.
An Insomniac Spider-Verse Should Only Include Other Spider-Man Games
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is set to bring back some nostalgic Spider-Man iterations, such as the one from The Spectacular Spider-Man’s TV show. Likewise, if Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 wanted to make its Spider-Verse as unique as possible from the many interpretations out there now, it would be excellent to only have other Spider-Man games featured.
There are loads of Spider-Man games that are long forgotten about now or ones that are imprisoned on outdated consoles that contemporary fans can have a difficult time finding. It is largely agreed upon that Marvel’s Spider-Man is the ideal Spider-Man game in terms of the experience it offers, while previous Spider-Man games had more of a mixed reception for the most part.
Before Marvel’s Spider-Man, the licensed Spider-Man 2 game was hailed as most fans’ favorite due to its physics-based web-swinging and open world. But there have been others that are regarded as equally great, such as Neversoft and Activision’s PS1 classic, Spider-Man, or Treyarch’s Ultimate Spider-Man, which allowed fans to also play as Venom.
Other Spider-Man games have already dealt with a multiverse or Spider-Verse concept, such as Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions or Spider-Man: Edge of Time, and it would be fantastic to see them all have a place in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s rumored multiverse as well. The way this could work is by having Peter and Miles enter through an interdimensional rift that transports them to each of these Spider-Man games’ worlds, depicting them in the same art style and graphical fidelity as they traditionally had.
It would be immersive to see a modern Peter Parker with intricate graphical detail maneuvering around Spider-Man’s polygonal PS1 world, where he would be unable to reach the streets due to it being flooded with green fog. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Peter and Miles could relive events from these particular games and battle the same villains, which would be a fun bout of nostalgia for anyone who played and adored these games.
That said, because Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 already includes Kraven the Hunter and Venom in some capacity, it would seem absurd to expect an entire Spider-Verse to also unravel in the game’s narrative. Marvel’s Spider-Man has already made an effort to establish where the narrative would end up in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and having a Spider-Verse or multiverse be foundational to it would seem outlandish. Either way, if the Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise does decide to delve into a Spider-Verse, involving other Spider-Man games would be a unique and satisfying way to do so.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to release in fall 2023 for PS5.
