The following contains spoilers for the whole game, including side-missions.
Picking up two years and a year respectively after Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Spider-Man 2 sees Harry Osborn (Graham Phillips) walk back into Peter Parker (Yuri Lowenthal) and Mary Jane Watson (Laura Bailey)’s lives, offering Peter a job at the newly founded Emily-May Foundation. However, the truth behind Harry’s miraculous recovery from his terminal illness, and Kraven (Jim Pirri)’s arrival in New York, will drive apart the three childhood friends, and Miles Morales (Nadji Jeter), in ways they could have never imagined…
0. Amazing, Spectacular, Sensational
My expectations for Insomniac’s second full-length outing were high to say the least: I loved the 2018 game and Miles Morales, they were a pure joy to play, and incredibly heartfelt takes on the webslinger’s mythology too, as definitive as any comic, movie or TV show. Still, it came as a surprise that the first bona fide sequel might be my new favorite video game: it is an absolute ride from start to finish, with virtually every major level putting the movies to shame, from the opening sequence where Sandman engulfs the city, to the emotional battle where Miles frees Peter from the symbiote, and the opportunity to go on a rampage as Venom himself in Times Square.
I don’t even like Venom, but getting to become an evil Hulk during his violent birth was an utterly perverse delight. Miles saving Peter from the symbiote would’ve been an incredibly emotional final battle, but the game just keeps going from there, with Venom becoming a surprisingly majestic and regal big bad, who essentially transforms the title into a horror game. Anyone else who’s ever told a Venom story? You all deserve full credit, but this is the first time he’s ever been cool. It goes without saying Tony Todd’s performance as the alien menace is so perfect that it’s baffling he’s never voiced the character before: now there’s a charisma that would persuade you to be his victim host.
1. So Many Symbiotes
The irony is that this Venom is not Eddie Brock, but Harry Osborn, a character I once opined should become Venom in Spider-Man 3 way back online in 2004, and who did become him in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon. Admittedly, this makes his story play out very similarly to Otto Octavius in the first game, but the use of flashbacks makes Peter and Harry feel closer than they did. Insomniac doubles down on the idea it doesn’t matter who the symbiotes’ hosts are, with a shocking scene where MJ is transformed into Scream, and the delightful turn of Peter becoming Anti-Venom, a wonderful pay off to Martin Li (Stephen Oyoung)’s story (whose redemption truly cements this as the sequel, for Peter and Miles), and a smart way for the player to regain the powers they lost with the symbiote.
What’s also ironic is that Cletus Kasady (Chad Doreck) is revealed to be the Flame, the leader of the arsonist cult at the center of Wraith (Tara Platt)’s side-missions: a Spider-Man universe with Kasady, but not Brock? How amusing. Maybe Brock will become Venom in a sequel or spin-off, or maybe he’ll be Harry again. More importantly, the symbiotes are out of the bottle, so god knows who else we’ll see become one in follow-ups: there is a precedent for both Norman Osborn and and Doctor Octopus (Mark Rolston and William Salyers) bonding with them in the comics, cartoons and games (Red Goblin, Dark Goblin, Monster Ock etc.), so the possibilities are quite potent with them (especially with Otto’s degenerative disease.)
2. Kraven the Nihilist
Not only does this give us the best Venom ever, but it also cements Kraven the Hunter as the Bane of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, with his Hunters descending on NYC to find him a worthy final foe before he dies from cancer. (You never really think about it, but Kravinoff is an oligarch, so it makes sense for him to have a major role like this.) Kraven tells MJ he believes there are no such thing as good men, justifying his (largely offscreen) massacre of longtime villains like Scorpion, Vulture, Shocker and Electro.
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Although he’s overtaken as the main villain, Kraven’s lack of belief in the value of all life is ultimately what the Spider-Men are fighting against. Sandman, Black Cat, Tombstone, Mr. Negative, and even Mysterio’s storylines all reinforce just how narrow and shortsighted killing criminals is. It’s also fascinating how Kraven, Harry, and Vulture are all terminally ill, and that Kraven responds to his fate with a totally destructive and selfish quest, while Harry is seduced by the symbiote into “healing the world” in a totally misguided way. After Venom bites Kraven’s head off, I was left cursing him as his spawn consumed the city, knowing how effective an alliance with his army would’ve been with him still at the helm.
3. Forget the Avengers, What About Marvel Knights?!
I can understand the in-universe reason why Earth’s Mightiest Heroes weren’t in the first game, Mayor Osborn probably didn’t want them interfering with Sable International’s activities, but their absence when Manhattan becomes the center of a symbiote infestation raises more questions (especially with their eponymous tower still looming over the Upper East Side.) Perhaps they’ve died, retired and disbanded ala the MCU’s versions, or the way Peter steps back at the end of this; it would make a lot of sense, especially with other developers crafting their own takes on Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Panther.
For me, the bigger question is where are the other heroes we definitely know are active, especially Doctor Strange (whose colleague Wong leaves a message for Miles in Black Cat’s delightful mission), Daredevil, and the incoming Fantastic Four, whose Baxter Building has replaced Fisk Tower at Columbus Circle. It’s odd Peter and Miles keep bumping into each other and Wraith during street fights, but not Luke Cage and Iron Fist, the Daughters of the Dragon, or White Tiger — these characters are not getting a game anytime soon, and it would be much more believable if they were roaming around Insomniac’s world.
4. A Female Hero
We’re hardly lacking for playable characters though, between Venom, the return of Mary Jane’s stealth sections, and one Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man mission where you get to experience the world as Miles’s deaf girlfriend Hailey Cooper (who better show up in the comics soon.) I was surprised Insomniac brought back MJ’s missions after how much flack they received, but they doubled down and made them better, to the point she feels like a Resident Evil protagonist. It’ll be interesting to see how her transformation into an action hero continues, especially since there have been countless versions of MJ who’ve gained superpowers in the comics and cartoons.
That said, another female superhero is potentially waiting with the wings, with the introduction of Cindy Moon during the post-credits scene, where it’s revealed her father Albert (Tom Choi) is now dating Rio Morales (Jacqueline Pinol). (Which means this version of Miles might gain a sister after all, d’aw.) I think having Cindy/Silk as this reality’s female Spider-Person is a great idea, especially after Gwen Stacy’s prominence in the Spider-Verse movies and the last Spider-Man TV series. How and when Cindy would gain those powers is the big question, with the options being a DLC, another Miles game, or Spider-Man 3 itself. Frankly, I hope we don’t have to wait too long, since Cindy becoming Silk could be a slowburn plot that unfolds over a whole game.
5. Sequel Yes, But Will There be DLC?
The mid-credits scene firmly establishes “the final chapter” kicking off with an uneasy alliance between Norman and Otto, or the billionaire getting mad at Otto’s refusal to reveal Spider-Man’s secret identity. I can’t imagine “Superior Spider-Man” playing out, since this game did Peter Parker breaking bad with the symbiote, although Insomniac could take a leaf out of “Spider-Man: Life Story” by having Miles get possessed. Anyway, we touched on Osborn’s goblin-shaped destiny earlier, so let’s talk about how the main Hunters side activites tease Kraven’s kids coming to New York, and Chameleon plotting to avenge his half-brother’s death.
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The Kravinoff family missions, and the Cletus Kasady reveal, feel like cliffhangers in ways the credits scenes with Norman, Otto and Cindy don’t, so they’d be prime fodder for DLC in the next 12 months. If Insomniac wanted to do a DLC about something else, then all power to them, but it’d start to feel like too many plates spinning. It’ll be interesting to see whether they’d make Peter playable or not, since he chooses to prioritize running the Emily-May Foundation at the end of the game, making Miles the main Spider-Man: it’s not a big deal (since when has anything Peter ever intended gone according to plan?) but it would make his absence less impactful. In any case, I hope we get more of this glorious series soon: we are Venom, and these games are delicious brains.
Bonus Thoughts:
– The fact Lizard (Mark Whitten) is my second favorite Spider-Man villain, and I’ve not mentioned him once, is a testament to the sheer size of this game. So on that note, it was pretty wild discovering the symbiote was inadvertently responsible for his existence.
– I think Electro (Josh Keaton) may’ve survived his offscreen encounter with Kraven, his wish was to become pure energy after all. Shocker and Scorpion’s deaths still (no pun intended) sting, although they could always return in a prequel game.
– So, did Martin Li derive his powers from Oscorp’s experiments on the symbiote?
– As a whole, J. Jonah Jameson (Darin De Paul)’s podcast was less insightful and funny this time: I miss his assistant Jared.
– It’s funny Robbie Robertson and Tombstone (Corey Jones) are in the same game, but never meet.
– I love how the exposed hair on Miles’s Evolved Suit lets the whole world know Spider-Man’s Black.
– The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man missions about Howard and Grandpa Earl genuinely moved me to tears: what the hell Insomniac?
