Highlights

  • Playable characters in Marvel's Spider-Man have been hit or miss, but Venom's segment was a thrilling success.
  • More playable villains like Doctor Octopus could add depth to the series if done right.
  • Antagonists like Doctor Octopus could bring a fresh perspective and narrative significance to the Marvel's Spider-Man franchise.

Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise has never been shy about having other important characters be playable. Most of these moments have been divisive when the power imbalance was most alarming in Mary Jane Watson missions, for example, but having characters other than Spider-Man be playable has reaped tremendous rewards in Venom’s playable sequence. This surprise segment was exhilarating, especially after Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 gradually teased the alien symbiote’s increased aggression, and even offered a climactic boss fight against Kraven the Hunter.

There’s hardly any doubt that this sequence was meant to not only provide a huge surprise and a payoff to the antagonist’s debut when the symbiote latched onto Harry Osborn again, but also potentially tease what gameplay could be like in a standalone half-sequel led by Venom. That doesn’t mean every playable character will be in line to receive their own game, and yet that doesn’t mean other antagonists shouldn’t be playable, either. Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 could spell the end of the mainline series as far as its main plot is concerned, though there could still be value in unexpected playable villain sections.

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Doctor Octopus is Ripe for a Playable Raft Breakout

Knowing that Otto Octavius is scheming a “final chapter” and will almost assuredly feature as a villain again, Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 could open hotly with his planned escape from the Raft and there’d be no better way to depict that sequence than to have Doctor Octopus be playable. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End’s Sam Drake wasn’t an antagonist, but getting to play as him to experience his white lie of a prison breakout was a clever trick on Naughty Dog’s part.

Doctor Octopus’ breakout wouldn’t need to be a lie, though, and having him wreak destruction throughout the Raft’s interior with his mechanical arms intact again somehow could be even more epic and cinematic than Venom’s playable sequence in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 .

Of course, Insomniac wouldn’t be able to achieve this without also creating mechanics for a fully playable Doctor Octopus as it did with Venom, and unless it has a Doctor Octopus game planned it might not be worth the effort. Still, there’d be no better way to make a huge impression with the opening of Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 and illustrate how menacing Doctor Octopus is than to have him be playable so players can wield his ferocity themselves.

Antagonists Earn the Spotlight in Marvel’s Spider-Man as Much as Protagonists

Any other villains being playable probably wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense unless Insomniac could find ways to make such sequences impactful to the story, whereas Doctor Octopus now has the most narrative significance out of any Marvel’s Spider-Man villain or boss thus far. That said, Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 needs to be careful when juggling Doctor Octopus and Green Goblin, who it’s teased as long as the franchise has been around, and taking emphasis away from Insomniac’s Spider-People could make the third installment seem like more of a battle between its villains.

Regardless, if Doctor Octopus is eventually freed from his incarceration, it would be superb to play that moment instead of simply witnessing it in a cutscene. If nothing else, perhaps his breakout could be an introductory boss fight that Spider-Man loses. But if Otto still harbors hatred for Norman Osborn, it seems clear that his return to villainy will be targeted at Norman instead of either Spider-Man, which could be an interesting direction for Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 ahead of all the other threads the third entry will need to give closure to, such as Carnage and Chameleon being on the loose.