Can there be such a thing as too many Spider-Man games? It's hard to see how Insomniac's offerings can be topped, having delivered what many fans believe to be the definitive web-head experience. As the Spider-Verse movies and Spider-Man: Miles Morales proved, there's a real hunger out there to see more Spider-People wall-crawl their way into the Spider Spotlight.
With the potential to bring unique super-powered gameplay, cool new locations to swing around in, or compelling narrative spins, these alternate incarnations should definitely be next in line for their own game. While many Spider-People (or at least their suits) have made appearances in games so far and have even had segments of games, it's high-time game developers built big, beautiful games around their unique personalities, powers, and abilities.
10 Miguel O'Hara: Spider-Man 2099
Swinging above the dizzying, neon-blazed streets of Nueva York, crawling along the anchor weaves of mega-structures, and pouncing from flying car to flying car: it's the logical next step for Spidey games. It helps that Miguel O'Hara, inheritor of the Spider-Man mantle in the year 2099, comes with a darkly compelling backstory with triumphs and struggles of his own to help carry the narrative. His incarnation in Across The Spider-Verse was quite different from his personality in standalone adventures, where other spider timelines are out of reach.
While Cyberpunk 2077 had its moments, it would hardly be uncontroversial to say that it lacked a certain aerial perspective when it came to city exploration. While Edge of Time delivered a little 2099 action, O'Hara deserves a shot at his own titles. Being able to snoop out corpo headquarters and pummel super-villains midair while falling through the shiny chrome dystopian world in a game powered by today's graphical capabilities would be absolutely hype.
9 Jessica Drew: Spider-Woman
Part super-spy, part super-sleuth, and all spider, Jessica Drew has, since her inception in 1977, always stood apart from Spider-Man with her own distinct personality, powers, and storyline. While they have encountered one another, their lives have tended to be separate. Spider-Woman is a character wrapped in intrigue and mystery, having originally been raised in a laboratory and then brainwashed by Hydra before coming to her senses and seeking out her own life.
Spider-Woman, AKA Jessica Drew, has roots in London, San Francisco, and LA. She has taken up jobs as S.H.I.E.L.D. spy, freelance investigator, and bounty hunter for hire. One of Marvel's greatest female superheroes truly deserves a standalone game, given that her macabre background, venom-blast powers, and compelling careers could be spun together to form the basis of a great stealth detective thriller with punchy, super-powered elements.
8 Wolverine's Best Bud: Assassin Spider-Man
After a top-secret mission in Russia, the Spider-Man from Earth 8351 decided to stick around and train with Wolverine. After years of formal training, he can beat just about any of the top-level heroes or villains in a fight and can wield firearms with ease, having modified his web-shooters to fire bullets.
An open-world assassination game would be a thrill with this not-so-friendly incarnation of Pete. Just imagine an explosive shootout in which Assassin-Spidey can web-zip line from one exposed cover to another on the ceiling or snag a grenade midair and launch it back for a gloriously gory effect.
7 The Ghost-Spider: Spider-Gwen
Having a game starring the Ghost-Spider, AKA Gwen Stacey, seems like an obvious next step for Insomniac games (or whichever studio is granted the rights to the Spider-Man franchise). Besides being a total fan-favorite since her debut in the comics, and even more so since Enter The Spider-Verse, her roster of villains (including a tragic incarnation of the Lizard) would be perfect for a highly stylish outing as Spider-Gwen.
With some tech upgrades courtesy of her universe's The Wasp and a vibrant new reality to explore, the Ghost Spider could potentially web-zip the games to bold new heights. A Ghost-Spider game could even take some notes (and beats) from 2023's rhythm-based, sleeper-hit Hi-Fi Rush.
6 Peter Porker, Spider-Ham
There have been a few animal variants of Spider-Man in the comics, including a cat, a T-rex, and a literal man-shaped collective of spiders under the red and blue costume. Spider-Ham originated in a universe populated by anthropomorphic cartoon animals, and thanks to his appearance in the Spider-Verse animated movies, the silly sausage has since bacon a popular variant of the web-slinger.
The spider-turned-pig could take the lead in a classic, lighthearted 2D platformer, perhaps in the style of Cuphead, complete with nonsensical collectibles, wacky cartoon power-ups, silly swinging puzzlers, and the appearance of a few of the villains from Spider-Man's fantastic rogues' gallery, albeit in a toonified form.
5 Maybelle Reilly: Lady Spider
Steampunk Spider-Woman. What else is there to say? Although Lady Spider sports no superpowers, she was born with a genius intellect. Her staggering mind allowed her to construct a four-armed mechanical harness and web shooters, which she uses to traverse the coal-blackened streets and thwart the nefarious plans of the Six Men of Sinestry (her universe's incarnation of the Sinister Six).
A game featuring a young, engine-powered Spider-Lady set in a steampunk New York, a place threaded with occult magic, desolate gloom, gothic towers, zeppelins, and clockwork tech, could be an excitingly creative avenue for gamers to explore. Think DIshonored but with a sticky grappling hook.
4 Pavitr Prabhaker: India's Spider-Man
While the tale of Pavitr Prabhaker follows a similar tale to that of Peter Parker, switching up the old NYC with Mumbai would be a refreshing change of pace and would give players a small look into the vibrant culture, history, and folklore that India has to offer, as well as some fantastic locations rarely seen in games.
The inclusion of demons and other mystical figures would not be out of place for the Spider-Man mythos, filled as it is with magic, spirits, and otherworldly forces. Players would get a chance to relive the thrills of classic Spider-Man stories in a brand-new light with all the shocks and twists that come along.
3 Pete Ross: Spider-Boy
Part Spider, part Super, this character is the amalgamation of Superman (or more accurately, Superboy) and Spider-Man from a rare Marvel and DC crossover in the 90s aptly named "Amalgam Comics." Instead of being able to stick to walls, Spider-Boy has the power to create and bend gravity, giving him the ability to climb or even walk on walls at will.
Although a Spider-Boy game would offer some mind-bending gameplay and perhaps even some Portal-esque puzzles with his ability to bend gravity to his will (and it would be amazing to explore the Marvel/DC mashup universe), unless both sides agreed to enter some particularly sticky legal battles, it's unlikely this game would ever get through pre-pre-production.
2 Cindy Mood: Silk
The radioactive spider that gave Peter his powers scuttled away and lived long enough to his classmate, Cindy Moon, spider powers of her own. Given Silk's unique connection to the Web of Life and Destiny, it would be a perfect time to introduce gamers to storylines involving the Master Weaver, and the Inheritors, the demonic, interdimensional spider-killers.
With instantaneous load times now possible (thanks to advances in hardware), perhaps a game starring Silk could push out into the Spider-Verse as the clandestine hero attempts to stop the invasion of the Spider-totem squashing demons from another realm. Fans of a more realistic Spider-Man universe would have their games intact while allowing a super-heroine to take the spotlight.
1 Part Spider, Part Mystery: Spider-Noir
While 616 Spider-Man has done his fair share of snooping, the "sleuth supreme" in the Spider-Verse has to be none other than Spider-Noir. Games like Shadow of Doubt are bringing back the detective genre, and this hard-webbed detective is the perfect candidate for some murder-mystery investigation.
The game could start a little more grounded and weightier than other bombastic titles (just to really set the noir, cynical tone for the player) before giving way to some wall-crawling, duct-diving suspect tailing, or any other kind of noir detective activity that could come to mind. Failing that, someone could just mod swinging and wall-crawling into Shadow of Doubt.