Summary
- Peter Parker's symbiote powers in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 change his friendly neighborhood Spider-Man persona drastically.
- Insomniac's decision to give Peter the Anti-Venom symbiote may weaken the sequel's storyline, overshadowing his original character development.
- The risk of having Peter lose the symbiote post-game could lead to undermining gameplay, making him potentially less special as a character.
Peter Parker harboring a symbiote and wielding abilities granted to him by the alien substance means he’ll no longer be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, at least not in terms of how humble and endearing his ordinary spider powers were in Marvel’s Spider-Man. Web-swinging and wall-crawling were complemented with air-juggle combat and the creative implementation of dynamic gadgets, which all played some sort of role even if some were more personally preferable to players. Marvel’s Spider-Man began moving away from gadgets subtly with Miles Morales, but Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has given Insomniac an out for ridding itself of supplementary gadgets wholly.
Peter becomes Anti-Venom shortly after Venom’s symbiote invasion begins in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and, in one of the strangest narrative decisions Insomniac has made thus far in the franchise, he still seemingly possesses the restorative symbiote. Now, looking ahead to Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 or wherever Peter appears next in the series, it’ll be interesting to see how that symbiotic relationship develops or if it becomes a nonchalant and unaddressed part of his gameplay. Regardless, the Peter that players know at the end of Marvel’s Spider-Man is far different from the one who they knew at the beginning of the sequel and that may be for the worst.
Why Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Chose to Leave Peter with the Anti-Venom Symbiote
Spider-Man has never needed all the bells and whistles of a more sensational superhero and Insomniac must have known it would be a risk imbuing Peter with what could be a permanent symbiotic power. There are likely two reasons why Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 concludes with Peter still possessing a symbiote:
- Insomniac felt it needed to make Peter more equal to Miles regarding their superpowers, which is why both characters have also far outgrown the gadgets they manufacture.
- Insomniac knew it would be underwhelming if it went to the trouble of designing symbiote gameplay only to have it stripped away and unavailable after the story’s credits rolled because players are encouraged to continue enjoying Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s side quests and open-world activities.
It would’ve been a huge risk to not let players have those symbiote abilities anymore once players defeat Peter as Miles in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s most predictable boss fight, but that risk wouldn’t have been met with an open-ended narrative conclusion. Instead, Insomniac adapts Anti-Venom and iterates on that concept with Peter as its host, which makes sense as a means to defeat Harry Osborn’s Venom.
Unfortunately, this means Peter is still connected to whatever symbiote hive mind is alluded to and with seemingly no consequences anymore. Insomniac has time to backpedal on this choice or retcon it more logically, but at the moment it seems negligent at best and irresponsible at worst for Peter to not at least try to give his childhood best friend this suit in order to cure Harry of the ambiguous illness that ails him.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 3’s Peter Parker May Be an Unrecognizable Character
Again, Insomniac’s choice to leave Peter with a symbiote probably boils down to those two aforementioned reasons, but that leaves the sequel’s story weaker.
Plus, while Peter’s initial ability skill tree with metal arms protruding from his back is exceptional, it’s easy to overlook it or even forget he has it when the Anti-Venom symbiote skill tree is arguably overpowered. The symbiote has the potential to eclipse any other detail or characteristic about Peter and that’s deeply upsetting because it could overthrow any development he’s had up until now.
Marvel’s Spider-Man depicted a web-slinger who was already eight years deep into his crime-fighting career and yet he was still producing new gadgets and only just apprehending Wilson Fisk, for example, which made him incredibly empathetic as a small-time hero. Now that he’s caught up in alien shenanigans—let alone teases of multiversal shenanigans in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2—there’s no chance that the tribulations of common folks, such as paying a mortgage or finding a job, will ever be an interesting problem on Peter’s plate again in comparison to the alien abilities he now liberally flourishes.
This is an issue now that Peter and Mary Jane Watson are living together in a house in Queens that neither of them can realistically afford, but because Insomniac has pushed emotional and narrative stakes there are bigger fish to fry and the symbiote cannot be brushed aside as if it’s something Peter will carelessly live with. Rather, stripping this symbiote away from Peter could render him more elementary in gameplay, even if it would distill him back to what makes the character special.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
- Released
- October 20, 2023
WHERE TO PLAY
Spider-Men Peter Parker and Miles Morales face the ultimate test of strength inside and outside the mask as they fight to save the city, each other and the ones they love, from the monstrous Venom and the dangerous new symbiote threat.
Explore an expansive Marvel’s New York with faster web-swinging and the all-new Web Wings, quickly switching between Peter and Miles to experience different stories, epic new abilities and high-tech gear.
Wield Peter’s symbiote abilities and Miles’ explosive bio-electric powers in battle against new and iconic Marvel Super Villains – including an original take on a symbiote-infused Venom, the ruthless Kraven the Hunter, the volatile Lizard, and more from the Marvel Rogues’ Gallery.
- ESRB
- T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Mild Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Insomniac Games
- Publisher(s)
- Sony Interactive Entertainment
- Franchise
- Spider-Man
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PC
- Genre(s)
- Open-World, Action-Adventure, Superhero
- How Long To Beat
- 17 hours
- Metascore
- 90
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
