Highlights

  • Marvel's Spider-Man 2 features a densely populated New York with familiar faces, showcasing the complex relationships of Peter Parker and Miles Morales.
  • The game addresses Peter Parker's complicated relationship with Black Cat, covering the aftermath of their partnership and demonstrating a shift in their dynamic.
  • Despite their past conflicts, it seems that Peter and Black Cat have resolved their mutual issues, as they share a brief and awkward conversation in the game, indicating a sense of closure.

Insomniac has crafted a fully-realized world with its Spider-Man games, and Marvel's Spider-Man 2 pushes the envelope even further to deliver a New York that is densely populated with familiar faces. From essential characters like Harry Osborn to deeper cuts like the Wraith, Peter Parker and Miles Morales juggle numerous relationships from the moment players begin their new adventure. In true Spider-Man fashion, things rarely go well for the heroes in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and their complex relationships are at the center of many of those conflicts.

Peter Parker in particular always seems to end up in some unenviable spots when it comes to the people he associates with, something Insomniac Games takes care to address at every opportunity. One such relationship this Spider-Man has struggled with is with Black Cat, who he has had a long history with in the comics. The Marvel's Spider-Man series opts to cover the aftermath of their partnership, similar to how it skips past Peter's origins as the famed wall-crawler. Though players only see Black Cat briefly in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, it still demonstrates a change in the characters' relationship.

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Peter Parker & Black Cat's Complicated History

Spider-Man City That Never Sleeps Black Cat

Peter and Black Cat's relationship takes center stage in the City That Never Sleeps DLC from Marvel's Spider-Man. In this story, Peter encounters Black Cat for the first time in years as she's intertwined in a conflict with New York's crime families. She claims that she's stealing USB drives for the villain Hammerhead, because he's kidnapped her son, to which Peter responds by spiraling into a panic over whether the kid is his. Peter decides to help his former romantic partner given the dire circumstances, but eventually learns that Black Cat is once again up to her old tricks.

Black Cat reveals that she doesn't have a kid at all, and she's been stealing information from the crime families for her own personal gain. When Hammerhead learns of this, he has her apartment bombed as soon as she returns to it, which leads Peter to believe she may be dead. True to her name, it turns out Black Cat had some extra lives, as it's revealed she survived the explosion. She then helps the veteran Spider-Man by giving him information on how to defeat Hammerhead once and for all. The two part ways from this point, but there's a sense that their mutual issues have been largely resolved.

In Marvel's Spider-Man 2, a considerable amount of time has passed since the events of The City That Never Sleeps, and Black Cat has retired from her life of crime. That retirement doesn't last long, however, as Peter and Miles learn that she's in search of the Wand of Watoomb in the Sanctum Sanctorum. She reveals she needs the mystical item to escape to Paris, so she can protect her girlfriend. Peter and Black Cat then share a brief, and for Peter, awkward conversation when Black Cat provides intel on Kraven, offering a sense of closure to their hectic relationship as she lets him know Miles makes a good Spider-Man.

There's currently no telling whether fans will see Black Cat in Marvel's Spider-Man content in the future, unless dire circumstances drive her away from Paris. She's certainly one of Spider-Man's most recognizable frenemies, but Spider-Man 2 seemed to establish that the two have moved past their previous conflicts. With Pete and MJ looking to put more effort into their relationship, Insomniac seems more interested in giving the two characters some semblance of peace instead of continually digging up Pete's old flames. Time will tell if that peace lasts for long.