Highlights
- Insomniac Games' Bryan Intihar explained why the team decided to bring back Mary Jane's stealth sections in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, citing a desire to show the game's world from a different angle.
- Insomniac did consider removing the controversial MJ sections, but ultimately decided to enhance them instead, resulting in these sections receiving a better reception in the sequel.
- The team made Mary Jane a "capable hero" by giving her a stun gun, making her feel less vulnerable compared to Peter Parker and Miles Morales.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 director Bryan Intihar has recently explained why Insomniac Games decided to bring back Mary Jane’s stealth sections, affirming that the team wanted to improve the gameplay of these sequences. Like its predecessor, Spider-Man 2 has received very positive reviews. The title is being considered a huge upgrade over the original title, and even the MJ-focused parts had a somewhat better reception.
The stealth-focused Mary Jane sections were one of the most controversial parts of the first Spider-Man. Before the sequel’s launch, several fans argued against having MJ segments in Spider-Man 2, as they were considered by many to be “boring” and “annoying,” and players didn’t feel that they had the same freedom as they did in the rest of the game. However, this didn’t stop the team from trying to improve them, rather than discard them.
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Now, Bryan Intihar has shed some light on the decisions that led Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to keep Mary Jane-specific sections, despite the fan backlash. According to Intihar, the team did consider removing these segments but instead decided that it was important to have them, as they could show the world from a different angle. The answer was to improve the gameplay of the MJ sections, turning her into a “capable hero” even without special powers. This is why Mary Jane received a powerful stun gun in Spider-Man 2, which allows her to zap strong enemies, and makes her feel less of a frail character when compared to Peter Parker and Miles Morales.
During the interview, Intihar also talked more about how Insomniac Games considered making MJ stronger before Marvel's Spider-Man 2. The team toyed around with the idea of allowing MJ to use web shooters for a short while in Spider-Man 1, during a section in which Peter Parker would be badly hurt, an idea that didn’t make the cut in the final version of the game. The catch is that MJ would not sling around with them, but use them as a weapon to stun enemies instead.
The Mary Jane sections were not the only significant improvements in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, though. The title brings more varied character powers for each hero, like Miles' shock abilities or Peter's Venom symbiotic membrane. Also, there's a much bigger city to explore, with the protagonists being able to visit other neighborhoods outside Manhattan island like Brooklyn and Queens, which essentially doubled the size of the world.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is available for PS5.
Source: IGN
