Highlights
- The cinematic reveal for Kraven the Hunter in Spider-Man 2 leaves the audience guessing who his prey will be, but it's likely he'll target Peter and Miles.
- The potential targets highlighted on the datapad may put many characters at risk, including Mr. Negative.
- Miles' unresolved grief over his father's death and anger towards Martin Li could complicate matters if Kraven sets his sights on Mr. Negative, leading to an interesting character development for Miles.
The cinematic reveal for Kraven the Hunter in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was great in how it didn’t narrow down who the antagonist’s prey would be. Of course, assuming he’s not going after every single character pinpointed on the datapad, Kraven would obviously be going after Peter and Miles to put himself squarely in their focal point as a new villain in New York City. However, the gameplay reveal that followed informed fans that Kraven is going after Dr. Curt Connors’ Lizard, at least at that moment in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and he may have other targets as well.
Indeed, the datapad’s highlighting of characters could have simply been a way to announce to fans which characters would be returning from Marvel’s Spider-Man and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales for the sequel. But if any and all of these characters truly are potential prey for Kraven, then that puts a lot of people at risk that Peter and Miles may be more at odds of rescuing. One character who isn’t seen on the datapad, for example, but who has since been revealed to play a role in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, is Mr. Negative. If Kraven sets his sights on Martin Li, Miles may have a difficult decision ahead of him.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Could Put Miles Between Kraven and Mr. Negative
Mr. Negative played a substantial role as the supposed main antagonist in Marvel’s Spider-Man and fans spent quite some time pursuing him as Peter. Miles being part of the story and having his own playable sequences essentially declared that he’d become Spider-Man eventually, and having his father die in the mayhem of Mr. Negative’s attack on city hall was a significant part of his origin story.
Miles wouldn’t become Spider-Man until his own standalone game, but it’s apparent from Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s story trailer that the trauma of his father’s death is not something he’s finished grieving yet. Part of that must have to do with Martin still being around, albeit incarcerated, but Miles clearly has not received closure on that portion of his life based on how he appears to speak with him when they're finally face-to-face once more.
Seeing Martin during what looks like another breakout at the Raft seems to exhume those emotions and grief, but while Miles’ anger might feel like a welcome home for his thoughts at the moment, it appears as if Peter is being reserved as the hostile Spider-Man instead. If both Miles and Peter are experiencing rage for two wildly separate reasons, it would be difficult for Miles to put aside his own in order to help Peter.
Perhaps Miles’ closure comes sooner than later and allows him to focus his attention on helping his Spider-Man counterpart, friend, and mentor, but Kraven committing to hunting Mr. Negative could give Miles a much more interesting development. If so, Miles would need to put aside his anger toward Martin to save him, because otherwise letting Kraven kill him would be an unpredictable yet refreshing narrative turn.
It would be odd for Kraven to pursue Martin as his prey since Martin doesn’t possess an affinity for combat or an animalistic nature that Kraven commonly targets, but doing so would give Miles an incredible development. Whether he chooses to save Martin or let Kraven kill him, the consequences of either decision could be seen rippling throughout the story thereafter.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launches on October 20, exclusively for PlayStation 5.
