I’m Still Waiting For Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Biggest Teaser To Pay Off

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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 mostly lived up to my expectations, but I still can’t get over one major tease from the game. As soon as promotional material for the Marvel’s Spider-Man sequel came out, I was thrilled to see that Venom was going to be a part of it. I really enjoyed both Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, and I was excited to see this universe’s version of one of my favorite Spidey villains.

Going into the game, I thought there was a possibility that Venom could potentially be a playable character. As luck would have it, I was right. Unfortunately, the game’s playable Venom section was ultimately a bit of a letdown. A little over a year later, and I’m still waiting for this tease to pay off. Now that Spider-Man 2 DLC isn’t coming, I’m not sure exactly when it might happen.

Ultimate Spider-Man Let You Play As Spider-Man And Venom

After the success of the open-world Spider-Man 2 game back in 2004, Spider-Man games – for the most part – stuck to its mold. Going forward, the games were basically their own genre, with expected gameplay loops and conventions like a free-to-explore New York City, random crime events, and collectibles. Because of this, whenever a new Spider-Man game comes out, I have certain expectations of what I’ll see in it based on previous ones. And, heading into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I thought one mechanic from a previous game was a shoo-in.

As soon as I saw that Venom was heavily featured in the marketing for Spider-Man 2, my mind immediately went to 2005’s Ultimate Spider-Man. Based on Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, the real gimmick of the game was that it split its attention between Spider-Man and Venom, with players taking control of both characters. Going into Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, I was cautiously optimistic that I would get some playtime as Venom. It didn’t seem completely unreasonable, and as I came to find out, I was sort of right. However, it wasn’t as right as I’d have hoped.

Spider-Man 2 Teases A Playable Venom But Doesn’t Pay It Off

There Is A Short Sequence Where You Control Venom

Venom’s role in Spider-Man 2 felt a little misrepresented by the advertisement for the game. Initially, Harry Osborn appears as the game’s version of Agent Venom. It isn’t until much later in the game, after Peter’s stint in the black suit, that Harry loses control of the symbiote and goes full Venom. Although I was a little disappointed in how long I had to wait to get a full Venom reveal, I was initially very excited about what the game seemed to be building to.

When Harry turns into Venom, Spider-Man 2 immediately gives players control of him as he goes on a rampage through the Oscorp building. The sequence is pretty short but on my first playthrough, I assumed it was just the start of getting to play as Venom. Up until this point, the game had portrayed Harry as a sympathetic and complex character. I assumed we’d get some missions that showed off some of his conflicting feelings about becoming Venom, and possibly even take him on an arc toward controlling the symbiote similar to Eddie Brock’s in Ultimate Spider-Man.

Instead, Venom pretty quickly devolves into the worst kind of one-note villain: the kind that wants to make everyone into clones of themselves. Not only has this story been done to death in comics and their related media properties, but it also didn’t allow for any real nuance in how Venom was depicted. Worse still, it meant no more playable Venom sections of the game. Now, the small playable section feels less like the payoff to Venom’s long build-up, and more like a tease for something that never came.

Now, I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing for a game not to meet all my expectations. I still had fun with Spider-Man 2, despite its lack of Venom content and its somewhat disappointing story direction for the character. Still, if Insomniac wasn’t going to give us more than one tiny section of Venom gameplay, I think I would have preferred to have nothing at all instead of getting my hopes up. This is especially true given Venom’s apparent fate in the game.

Spider-Man 2’s Story Makes It Seem Like Venom Is Gone

Venom’s Apparent Death Seems Like Too Big A Plot Point To Quickly Reverse

After it became clear that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 would not include more than one playable Venom sequence, I still held out hope that we would get more in some form. My initial thought was that it would be a Spider-Man: Miles Morales situation. After all, the first Marvel’s Spider-Man game built up Miles throughout the story but didn’t give players control of him until the spin-off. As I was finishing up the game, I figured the Venom level was something like a tech demo for either some upcoming DLC or perhaps a spin-off game. Then, Venom died.

To be more accurate, the symbiote was removed from Harry, and destroyed by a particle accelerator. Without the symbiote’s power, Harry falls back into a coma as a result of his illness. Of course, major characters rarely stay dead in comic book media for long. Still, I felt like this conclusion for Venom was something that was a little too definitive to be quickly reversed for DLC, or even a follow-up game, without cheapening Spider-Man 2’s tidy ending. While I’m not optimistic Insomniac will be giving us new Venom content right away, my hope is it can still happen.

How Insomniac Could Still Give Us A Venom Game

Venom’s Return Could Be Set Up In Future Marvel Projects

Around the time of Spider-Man 2’s release, the game’s narrative director, Jon Paquette, was non-committal about a Venom spin-off. In an interview with Business Insider, Paquette said that the developers would “listen to the fans” to see if a Venom game seemed like the right move. In the year and change since, there has been no official word on whether a Venom game is coming.

More recently, an Insomniac leak hinted at Spider-Man 2 details, including the possibility of a Venom spin-off still being in the works. That said I try not to put too much stock in leaks. Companies change their minds and priorities based on shifting interests, so just because a Venom game was being considered at one point doesn’t mean it is a done deal. That said, I do think there are a few ways for Insomniac to lead into a potential Venom game, without it feeling like a sudden U-turn from the conclusion of Spider-Man 2.

Insomniac is working on a Wolverine game, so it’s not impossible to think some details about Venom’s return, or even a new Venom, could pop up there. While I wouldn’t expect a full appearance from Venom, some hints at the character’s current status in Insomniac’s Marvel universe could make his return feel less jarring. Venom could also return in Marvel’s Spider-Man 3.

If, as many assume, Spider-Man 3’s villain is Norman Osborn, Harry will likely have a role to play in the story. This could give Insomniac a chance to show Harry once again taking on the mantle of Venom, this time to help Peter fight the Green Goblin. This would serve as a nice redemption for Harry’s Venom and set up a potential Venom game.

Either way, I don’t expect a Venom spin-off to be an immediate follow-up to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. That said, if Insomniac is still gauging interest in the title, they can count me among the crowd who would be happy to play a Venom spin-off. The most frustrating thing about the Venom tease is that it was fun to play, and I would like more. Please.

Source: Business Insider

“}]] This Spider-Man 2 tease needs its own game.  Read More