Highlights

  • Marvel's Spider-Man 2 arguably lacks the emotional depth of the original game, particularly in the portrayal of the villain Venom.
  • The third act of the game is action-packed but lacks the emotional beats that made the Doctor Octopus boss fight memorable in the first game.
  • Harry Osborn's character is lost in the portrayal of Venom, making it difficult to connect with the symbiote's storyline and motivations in relation to Harry's own plight.

Enough time has passed now for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and now that its honeymoon period is over, it’s interesting evaluating how its story may have shaped up against those that preceded it. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is in an odd spot narratively because neither Marvel’s Spider-Man nor Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales really do anything to build up to it aside from nearly identical post-credits scenes that show Harry and the symbiote. But while Harry is bonded to the symbiote for the better half of the game before Peter Parker receives it, it’s difficult to see anything left of Harry when he becomes Venom.

There’s quite a lot going on in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 between Peter and Miles and while Kraven’s sudden arrival is an intriguing narrative, he’s abruptly discarded as a character to make way for Venom later on. This third act is wild and action-packed, packing in about as much symbiote mayhem as Insomniac could have, but there’s something missing with this approach. The original game had a bit of a hectic third act with a full Sinister Six to fight, but where it shone brightest was in its Doctor Octopus boss fight, which was filled with emotional beats that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 arguably lacked.

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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Venom Lacks the Emotionality That Doctor Octopus Had

Marvel’s Spider-Man’s Doctor Octopus Issued a Sad Tale of Betrayal

Marvel’s Spider-Man had its cake and ate it too—it managed to toss in a bunch of classic villains for fun set-piece boss fights and still have its final boss fight be incredibly endearing and fulfilling on its own. This was achieved purely through Peter and Dr. Otto Octavius’ employee-employer relationship, how they both depend on one another, and seeing how Otto’s spiral into a villain affects Peter. There’s a similar throughline there with Peter and Martin Li’s Mr. Negative, but instead of having Peter distraught about the downfall of two individuals he looks up to, Li becomes the catalyst for Miles’ superhero origin story.

Li has nothing to do with how Miles gets his abilities; rather, Miles and Li are connected via Li’s attack on city hall resulting in Miles’ father’s death, and that conflict comes to a head in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 when they need to work together and reach an awkward semblance of closure to move forward. It is not until the sequel that Miles accumulates powers based on Li’s own.

The third act culminates in Peter learning and understanding why Li became Mr. Negative before he’s confronted with the betrayal of Otto already knowing Peter was Spider-Man. This makes their battle far more profound and it’s in the characters’ performances where the hardest blows land, not in their fists—or in Doctor Octopus’ case, metal tentacles.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Harry Osborn is Lost Somewhere in Venom

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 had an uphill battle not having introduced Harry sooner in person, even if Harry’s character portrayal was surprisingly nuanced in Marvel’s Spider-Man. Peter and Harry’s friendship in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is easy enough to get behind as a popular trope and it’s clear that they have similar interests and ambitions when it comes to being scientifically gifted.

Harry’s reliance on the symbiote makes sense because he needs it as a form of sustenance or else his obscure condition worsens again, but Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s interpretation of Venom doesn’t seem to feature a salient enough marriage of the symbiote and its host. Instead, when Venom is on-screen, it rarely ever seems as if Harry is ever in there at all, let alone able to make decisions. It’s an absurd conclusion to leap to that Harry would suddenly desire a symbiote invasion, for instance, and that’s Venom’s entire goal once he has eaten Kraven’s head.

There was an opportunity for Venom to be as empathetic as Doctor Octopus in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 because of the connection Peter and Harry share, but Harry feels so far removed from the equation in the third act that it’s easy to forget he’s even there, and that turns Venom into more of an epic monster whom Peter and Miles can whale on than a childhood friend who’s been parasitically manipulated and needs rescuing, at least compared to how emotionally charged the conflict with Doctor Octopus is in Marvel’s Spider-Man.