Spider-Man 2 is officially on the way and we are more excited than ever. After Miles Morales showed the series had staying power, speculation as to where we would be heading next has been running wild.
Now that Insomniac has finally given us trailers for not only Spider-Man 2 but Wolverine too, it’s time to wildly speculate as to which over the thousands of stories they will be drawing from for the next big adventure.
Back in black
The first game is packed to the brim with amazing suits. One of the major missing outfits though was the fan favourite black suit, beloved for its deep story connections and ties to the villain Venom.
For the first game, Insomniac went on the record saying that it wanted to save the suit for an actual plot, rather than just being an alternate skin. This sent hopes racing that we’d get to see this storyline tackled in a future instalment.
The trailer has confirmed that Venom is joining the party this game and therefore, it wouldn’t be crazy to think that a fresh shiny black suit will be making its way to this version of Peter or even Miles.
Ultimate Venom inspiration
From the hints that we saw in the first game, it seems Norman Osborn will be using a mysterious black substance to help cure his illness. This goo was clearly foreshadowing Venom, and with the trailer now confirming him, there’s no doubt we’ll be seeing more of this Osborn experimentation.
Most people will remember Venom as an alien life-form that bonded with Peter, however, this version may be taking more inspiration from the Ultimate Spider-Man comic series. In that story, the suit was an invention by Peter’s father, a medicinal suit that was designed to cure disease and illness that ended up just as evil as the original.
This would line up nicely with what we saw in Osborn’s lab and would mean that the Insomniac team wouldn’t have to figure out how to bring aliens and space travel into this fairly grounded version of Spider-Man.
Osborn taking a turn
Eddie Brock is far from the only enemy of Spider-Man’s to wear the symbiote, so there’s no guarantee that he will be the one this game. The original game and Miles Morales showed both Norman and Harry Osborn being experimented on with the black substance, so either one of them could become this incarnation of Venom.
Harry Osborn has actually become Venom before, in the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon (2012-2017). While this game’s Harry doesn’t seem to be as close to his father, he clearly has agreed to be involved in the cure in some form. Combining that with the corruptive nature of the suit, maybe it will be Harry this time too.
Alternatively, Norman Osbon recently bonded with the Carnage symbiote in the comics, declaring himself to be the Red Goblin. Maybe Spider-Man 2 will skip Harry and go straight to Norman becoming the monstrous Venom.
Seeing green
On that note, it’s very likely we will be getting at least some form of Goblin in Spider-Man 2. We saw some very Green Goblin-esque bomb containers in Oscorp in the original game and while it could be seen as a cute easter egg it seems much more likely to be hinting at the future.
Whether it will be Harry or Norman is yet again hard to guess as both of them have swapped back and forth at times, motivations varying from drugs and mental illness to pure evil. All we can hope is whatever form the Goblin might take, whether he be the Green Goblin, Hob Goblin or one of the many other incarnations, we hope he makes as big an impact as he normally does.
Hitting the big time
Peter was happily working for Octavius all of last game but fell apart with Ock’s collapse into villainy. Miles Morales saw him return to the Daily Bugle as Mary Jane’s photographer, but he was still searching for a brand new job. We might see him fully committing to his classic Bugle antics but there is another lab that’s been a massive part of his recent history.
Horizon Labs was the ground-breaking science and technology lab that Peter began working at in the Big Time story arc. With huge amounts of money and freedom to invest in his research Peter was finally in his element. It didn’t hurt that he used his resources to develop new Spider-man gear and some impressive suits on the side.
We already have the Big Time suit in the original game, but this could be a chance for Insomniac to give us a new base to build weapons and suits in Spider-Man 2, in the same capacity as Octavius Industries. The building’s already there in the original to boot.
Return of the Lizard
In the universe of Marvel’s Spider-Man, it’s been established that Curt Connors became the Lizard long ago and that Peter had already dealt with him before. Miles Morales showed that Connors is very much alive and kicking, seen as a human working for Norman.
Obsessed with regrowing his arm, it’s no surprise that Connors would be involved in Venom experimentation. The suit has been able to grow back entire limbs many times in the comics, Flash Thompson using the suit as a super-hero after losing both his legs as a soldier. Maybe we will get the Lizard in his full scaly glory, or maybe Connors will be Venom this time, using the suit to try and regrow that arm just one more time.
Kraven’s great hunt
Kraven is coming and this should be a great chance for Peter to improve his skills. We saw Taskmaster’s challenges pushing him to his limits last game, but Kraven will hopefully prove to be an even tougher opponent.
One recently storyline that might work within the current universe is the 2019 Great Hunt story. Here Kraven gathered a load of animal-themed villains, sealed them inside Central Park and began hunting them for sport, wanting them to feel what it was like to be the animals they took their names from.
Doing something like this could explain why the trailer showed him to have a gang working for him, and gives us an excuse to bring Lizard and all of the animal-based villains we already saw in the first game together. Maybe the hunting ground will be expanded to all of New York this time, adding both Spider-Men and Venom to his list of targets.
Bringing in Wolverine
Spider-Man and Wolverine have a very long history so why not introduce everyone’s favourite X-Men here before he goes off and has his solo adventure. We’ve seen them in gaming together many times, most prominently in Web of Shadows where they teamed up against the threat of Venom.
Modern comics have them as very close friends, Spider-Man is even his emergency contact. If they wanted to go for a more classic introduction they could draw from their early team-ups where they butted heads a little more.
Kraven and Wolverine are both known to be up there with the best hunters in the entire Marvel universe, so maybe those two should be the ones clashing in this story. James Logan would be an exciting addition to any animal-themed superhero hunt.
Flash Thompson making an appearance
Flash Thompson was Peter’s childhood enemy and the pair often got at each other back in those high school days long ago. Moving on with the timeline, Flash grew into a much better man and went to war, only to lose both his legs tragically. He became the heroic Agent Venom, taking the Symbiote and bonding to return his legs and use it for good.
The first game mentioned that Flash was doing good work with veterans, so clearly there are some ties to his army backstory being hinted at. With Peter and Aunt May’s work at F.E.A.S.T being used to humanise Spider-Man before, maybe the segments between main missions could see Peter getting involved with Flash’s veteran work in Spider-Man 2, allowing them to set up Agent Venom for the future.
Hints of a superior threat
Speaking of Octavius, it would be a shame to not see any of him after the spectacular introduction as the main villain of the first game. One of the most praised stories ever involving the character would be that of Superior Spider-Man.
This controversial story had Doctor Octopus swap bodies with Spider-Man, killing Peter in his body and taking over the mantle as a hero. Dispensing his own more violent forms of justice, this change was a brave and exciting ride. We got to enjoy the difficult balance between him trying to be a hero but the using methods of a supervillain.
Fans picked up on some hints throughout the original game, with mentions of how Otto felt trapped in his body without his arms. If they take the time to see how far he has fallen in the five years following, they would have plenty of room to set up hints at the Superior Spiderman plot for the third game in the series. Maybe Peter adding those large mechanical arms to the suit that we see in the trailer could be hints of a superior side to his personality emerging.
Disagree with these suggestions for Spider-Man 2? Let us know what story you’d love to see adapted on our social channels!
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Featured Image Credit: Insomniac, Marvel