Major Spoilers Ahead for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Despite debuting all the way back in 1962, Spider-Man is still the world's most popular superhero, and that doesn't seem like it's going to change anytime soon. A constant of movies, animated movies, TV shows, and video games for years now, Spider-Man has always been incredibly popular with audiences of all ages, and that's led to a ton of great projects over the years. And while Spider-Man video games are a bit of a mixed bag, it seems like Insomniac's really nailed the formula for success, with Marvel's Spider-Man 2 being yet another huge hit for the developer.
While Marvel's Spider-Man 2 isn't quite perfect, it's objectively a great game, and subjectively the best Spider-Man game fans have ever gotten when all is said and done. But while Marvel's Spider-Man 2 offers the most satisfying combat, web-swinging, and character relationships of any Spidey game, not all of its ideas are wholly original, with a handful of mechanics and plot beats seemingly being inspired by past Spider-Man video games - and there's one title in particular that Spider-Man 2 pays great homage to in its final moments.
How Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Pays Homage to Web of Shadows
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows is one of the most divisive Spidey games ever made. Released in 2008, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows received an incredibly mixed reception upon its debut, with both fans and critics alike seemingly being split down the middle on whether the game was good or not. On one side of the camp, many fans hated Web of Shadows' corny dialogue, the rushed story, the floaty combat and web-swinging, and the laughably bad Peter Parker voice performance. But on the other side, many fans loved the faster pace of the game compared to its predecessors, along with its focus on parkour combat, flashy traversal mechanics, and the inclusion of a ton of lesser-known Marvel heroes like Moon Knight and Luke Cage.
Of all the games for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 to take inspiration from, Web of Shadows seems like a pretty strange choice, but the 2008 game isn't without its merits, and a handful of its most interesting ideas have seemingly been used to better effect in Insomniac's long-awaited sequel. The Symbiote suit plays a major role in both Web of Shadows and Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and while both games' narratives follow the usual Symbiote plot beats, there are definitely moments in Spider-Man 2 that will remind fans of the cheesier sequences in Web of Shadows.
But the real Spider-Man: Web of Shadows influences come in Marvel's Spider-Man 2's final act. After Venom is fully formed and revealed to the world in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, he sets about starting his mission to "Heal the world," which in his mind is infecting the whole of New York City with the Symbiote. Over the course of just a few days, New York goes from its regular urban self to a grim apocalyptic nightmare, with Symbiote tendrils reaching between skyscrapers and tons of oozing black goo covering the streets below.
This Symbiote version of New York City will likely immediately remind fans of Web of Shadows' own final act, which itself sees the Big Apple get turned into a nightmarish Symbiote version of itself. Venom's plan in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is also very reminiscent of Web of Shadows' own plot, with both versions of the villain turning regular citizens into Symbiote monsters in an attempt to take over the city, and then the world.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is available now on PS5.