Spider-Man is easily one of the most popular characters to come from the Marvel umbrella. The web-slinging hero has captured fans' interest for decades and is featured in more big screen movies, cartoons, and video games than any other character other than perhaps the X-Men. Naturally fans are excited for the wall-crawler to make his way into Marvel's Avengers. While it may be a while before Marvel's Avengers sees the addition of Spider-Man, fans are already wondering how the iconic character will play when he joins the cast of heroes.
Spider-Man is distinct from many other superhero characters for a myriad of reasons that have lent to his lasting popularity. Different versions of Spider-Man run the gamut of backgrounds and age groups, and the original Peter Parker is also a malleable character that can be a writer's playground. Spider-Man's powers are unique in a space dominated largely by simple super strength and flight. One aspect of his abilities really needs to shine when he webs his way into Avengers eventually, and that's the visceral feeling of freedom that his movement style can invoke.
Web-Swinging as Spider-Man Needs to Shine in Marvel's Avengers
It's one thing for Spidey's combat prowess to feature heavily in a good video game adaptation, but the freedom of movement available to him is another entirely. Other than characters with super speed and flight, Spider-Man is one of the most mobile superheroes around. The best Spider-Man games have exemplified this aspect. Way back in 2004, the game adaptation of Spider-Man 2 was released. There were other Spider-Man games before, with earlier games focused more on adapting the classic cartoon's villains like Venom and were somewhat limited by the hardware. But Spider-Man 2 debuted a new physics-based version of web-slinging that set the bar for games to come later.
In Spider-Man 2, movement felt visceral and fast. Player's could pick up speed rapidly, and needed to make sure there were actual structures to web onto while traveling. It was truly the first time the experience of feeling like Spider-Man swinging through the streets of New York was captured well in video games. This style would later inspire the underrated Ultimate Spider-Man game and the modern Marvel's Spider-Man and Miles Morales games. Marvel's Avengers has a lot riding on Spider-Man coming to the game, so capturing that same sense of movement will be critical.
Avengers handles mobility well for most of its characters. Heroes like Thor that have access to flight are free to switch between grounded and aerial combat, but the approach can often still feel smaller-scale than what fans of the recent Spider-Man would expect for the character. It will certainly be a challenge to adapt such a mobile character into the format, so fans aren't sure of what to expect from Spider-Man in Avengers. The ensemble game has certainly drawn its criticisms, but its gameplay isn't often one of them, as the game has thus far done a good job of making each hero feel distinct from each other. Spider-Man and his web-swinging and wall-crawling needs to be handled with much care and deliver that same sense of freedom fans will expect from Spider-Man.
Marvel's Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
