Warning: Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Miles Morales.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s gameplay segment at the 2023 PlayStation Showcase gave fans of the franchise a whole lot to be excited about. Seeing Peter’s Symbiote suit in action was incredible, with a number of awesome new abilities on display. The Lizard looked extremely intimidating, while Kraven’s design is as comic accurate as Insomniac could get. The confirmation that players would be able to switch between Miles and Peter made for a terrific reveal, too.
However, the gameplay demonstration also teased a few more characters for gamers to look forward to seeing in action. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 players will be able to experience a confrontation with Wraith, the murderous vigilante that Peter’s former ally Yuri Watanabe has turned into. Black Cat will also be making a return, and with Peter leaning toward the dark side, she could cause some serious relationship problems between him and MJ. However, the most exciting character teaser could be The Prowler, as Insomniac has taken Miles’ uncle in an interesting direction already. Hopefully, the studio continues down that path.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Should Highlight Prowler’s Redemption
In the traditional version of the Prowler’s story, Miles’ uncle ends up dead during a battle with his nephew. While this made for a memorable moment in the Ultimate Spider-Man comics, as it forced Miles to rethink his superhero career, new takes on Prowler have started to shake things up a bit. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse also killed Prowler off while he was battling Miles, but it made Kingpin his killer instead of the young wall-crawler. Then, Insomniac took things even further into uncharted territory.
While Miles and Uncle Aaron do come to blows in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the reasoning behind this confrontation is different. Aaron is not trying to pressure Miles into helping with his crimes, nor is he fighting him while unaware of who he is under the mask. Instead, Aaron is simply trying to protect him, holding Miles back from a dangerous fight that he does not believe the new Spider-Man can win. As a result, when Miles defeats his uncle, it does not result in a tragic death.
After this Spider-Man: Miles Morales boss fight, Prowler returns to help Miles fight off some enemies, becoming a hero in his own right. While he still has a long way to go to make up for years of heists and smaller thefts, he has taken a big step toward redemption. Instead of showing him fall back into a life of crime, Insomniac should continue in the direction of Aaron bettering himself, remembering where his story left off.
While The Prowler boss fight was terrific, it would be a shame to send Aaron back down the road of villainy to justify another boss encounter. Instead, Insomniac should capitalize on the unique version of the character it has created. Not only is it rare for Prowler to be alive deep into Miles’ superhero career, but having him as an ally could be even more intriguing. With co-op takedowns between Miles and Peter likely to be flashy, having some other finishers when fighting alongside other allies can let Insomniac add even more style to the game’s combat sequences.
The Prowler going from villain to hero is a promising narrative concept, and hopefully Insomniac leans into the idea. Perhaps Prowler can request Miles’ help with returning money to people he scammed in his younger years, or maybe he could help his family member take down Kingpin. After all, Kingpin promised revenge in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, so the crime boss returning to cause problems for Miles seems like a guarantee.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is scheduled to release in Fall 2023 for PS5.
