Highlights

  • Insomniac is building a Marvel universe with potential projects like Wolverine and X-Men games in the works.
  • Spider-Man's series could benefit from a major character death to raise the stakes and emotional impact.
  • An X-Men game by Insomniac could offer a darker, high-stakes story compared to the Spider-Man series.

Over the last six years and throughout three games, Insomniac has managed to create one of the most beloved versions of the Marvel universe to date. Officially designated as Earth-1048, Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man universe is bursting at the seams with creativity and life from its titular Spider-People protagonists to its bustling open-world playground of New York City. But this is still only the start of Insomniac's Marvel universe.

Though many of them haven't been officially confirmed, according to last year's hack Insomniac Games has a slew of Marvel projects currently in the works, including DLC for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, a potential third entry in the series, the confirmed Marvel's Wolverine, and maybe even a full-scale X-Men game. Regardless of if these projects come to fruition or not, it's clear that Insomniac has plans to keep building out its Marvel universe for years to come, and the more diverse its projects are the more it can start experimenting with concepts and themes that might not suit Spider-Man.

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Marvel's Spider-Man 3 Could Use a Major Hero Death

Killing off a main character isn't necessarily the best way to raise the stakes, and that's especially true for the world of superheroes, where major hero deaths have always been an infamously cheap way to shift copies and bring interest back to a waning property. That being said, Insomniac's Spider-Man series could actually benefit quite a bit from having another big character death.

Coming right at the end of 2018's Marvel's Spider-Man, Aunt May's death hit like a ton of bricks, delivering one of the most emotional moments in all of Spider-Man history, with May revealing that she's always known her nephew is Spider-Man. Many fans were expecting a similar moment for Marvel's Spider-Man 2, but while the game had plenty of deeply emotional moments, none really matched the height of May's death in the first game, and this felt like a bit of a missed opportunity for a game revolving around Kraven the Hunter and Venom, two of the most often emotionally-impactful Spidey villains.

If Marvel's Spider-Man 3 doesn't have some kind of major character death, then it could run the risk of making Insomniac's Marvel universe feel a little too safe. What would make the most sense is if Peter Parker died in Marvel's Spider-Man 3, especially if Miles and Cindy Moon are going to be swinging around the city as well. This would have enough of an emotional resonance while also making sense given the supposed direction of the franchise.

Insomniac's X-Men Could Offer a More High-Stakes Story

But while Insomniac might want to keep its Spider-Man series a bit lighter, it could channel all of that suppressed darkness into its potential upcoming X-Men game. Violence, discrimination, and genocide have all been baked into the DNA of the X-Men since their debut back in 1963, and though they wear bright spandex and go on some bizarre adventures, a sense of grounded tragedy often lies right around the corner for the team. From the deaths of beloved characters like Jean Grey, Wolverine, and Gambit, to full massacres that wipe out entire Mutant populations, X-Men has had more than its fair share of darker moments, and Insomniac should use that as an opportunity to give its Marvel universe even higher stakes.