A quick note before we dive in – as the title of this piece suggests, we’ll be looking at what comes next for Sony, Insomniac, and their Marvel’s Spider-Man game series. As such, expect story spoilers for both the original Spider-Man as well as 2020’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
The launch of the PS5 came in tow with a big surprise: a sequel to Marvel’s Spider-Man centred around new protagonist Miles Morales, revealed to have spider powers in a post-credit sequence for Insomniac’s first game in the series.
But what happens after Miles Morales? Insomniac hasn’t announced a third Spider-Man game yet, though in an article over on the PlayStation Blog they said “don’t worry, we still have much of Peter’s story left to tell.” Also Marvel’s Spider-Man is one of the best selling PS4 exclusives, selling more than God of War, Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us 2 – so I think we can safely say it’s coming.
Who will be the villain in Spider-Man 2?
Over the course of the first two Spidey games we’ve seen Doctor Octopus, Rhino, Shocker, Scorpion, Kingpin, Tinkerer, Prowler, Vulture and Mister Negative. That’s a LOT of the classic Spider-Man villains there mixed in with some newer, more niche choices. Norman Osborn continues to make cryptic appearances too and it’s pretty clear he’ll be making a step up to lead antagonist in the unannounced Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Harry Osborn is missing from the Spider-Man games due to a terminal illness, but in the post-credit sequences we see that he’s currently being kept alive by what looks like the Venom symbiote. While in the comics Venom has taken more of an anti-hero position he’s traditionally one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies. Weaving in Harry Osborn, Peter’s best friend turned sometime villain in the comics, would be a great twist on the character.
Will we play as Peter or Miles?
Here’s the thing. We’ve already played as both Peter Parker and as Miles Morales, so who will be our lead hero for Spider-Man 2. The easy money is on Pete, but I have a hope for something a little different. To get the platinum trophy for Spider-Man: Miles Morales you need to play it twice, but the new game plus playthrough isn’t that exciting, adding very little to the overall experience.
My pitch for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 would be a story that involves both protagonists, allowing players to swap between the two from mission to mission with different outcomes. For example, Pete might use a science gadget to solve a problem where Miles might get help from his community connections, or we would see different dialogue from NPCs and enemies. It’d be pretty funny to see somebody like Scorpion confused as to who Miles is.
Okay, I’m in. Now when can I play it?!
The first Marvel’s Spider-Man took 4 years to develop, with a two year gap between that and Spider-Man: Miles Morales. A speedy two-year turnaround wouldn’t be completely out of the question here. Those core combat and city navigation gameplay systems are already in place, Insomniac already flexing their muscles when it comes to incredible visual displays on PS5 (we’re looking at you, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart). My sincere hope is that we’ll see the sequel revealed at the big summer State of Play timed around E3, for a Q4 2022 launch. However, with Spidey having become such a juggernaut mascot for PS5, we could see Spider-Man 2 swing into action sooner as Sony look to drive more players into their new console ecosystem.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales Guides & more from TheSixthAxis
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales PS5 review
- Spider- Man: Miles Morales – 10 essential tips and tricks
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales ending and sequel rumours
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales New Game+ mode explained
- How to unlock Into the Spider-Verse Suit in Spider-Man: Miles Morales
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales – best Skills and how to unlock them
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales – all Suits, Mods, and how to unlock them
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales Gadget upgrade guide
- Spider-Man: Miles Morales Photo Mode guide
