Everything We Know About Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Story So Far

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is about one month away from its launch on PlayStation 5 at this point, but many of the more specific details associated with its story are being kept heavily under wraps. Generally speaking, the primary antagonists and main story elements of Spider-Man 2 have been known for quite some time, but otherwise, those at Insomniac Games and PlayStation are being very tight-lipped when it comes to how its own take on the “Black Suit Saga” will play out. I’ve personally seen this firsthand as when I tried to ask some very loose questions about the story to those at Insomniac at a recent preview event for Spider-Man 2, all of my inquiries were quickly shot down. 

That being said, I was able to play roughly three hours of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 at this preview event, and as such, I’ve started to have a better idea of where things will be going. Even though I still don’t know anything that would explicitly be considered a spoiler, I’m going to break down everything that I’ve learned about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s story so far on a character-by-character basis. 

Spider-Man/Peter Parker

Peter’s story arc in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is pretty straightforward and is what I expected it to be. The section of the game that I played saw him still getting accustomed to his new symbiote suit, which gives him a variety of new powers but also a changed demeanor. For the most part, Peter was pretty well in control of his actions in my own play session, but as the game continued, his behaviors slowly started to shift. Clearly, Peter’s eventual fall from grace is going to be a slow burn and will likely see him slighting those closest to him over time. 

One of the most interesting things that I learned while playing Spider-Man 2 is that Peter shares his identity as Spider-Man with his best friend, Harry Osborn. From here, Harry and Peter then work together, which seems to be how Peter acquires the symbiote in the first place. Harry is clearly going to have a massive role in this game, but I’m also not sure how the relationship between him and Peter will unfold. There were a couple of instances that teased a growing divide between the two. Peter and Harry have a major falling out in the classic Marvel comics, and it looks like the same thing is going to eventually happen in Insomniac’s universe. 

Miles Morales

Compared to Peter, Miles seems to be going through a much more standard Spider-Man story arc in Spider-Man 2, at least in the early hours. Given that he’s newer to being a superhero, Miles is struggling to find a balance between his personal life and his life as Spider-Man. Rather than trying to focus on a paper that he has to write for college, Miles keeps burying himself in tasks that he can perform as Spider-Man to help those in his community around him. 

Along with trying to find this balance in his life, Miles is also still struggling with the death of his father, who died as a result of an attack from Mister Negative (Martin Li). With Li having somehow escaped from prison early on in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Miles becomes obsessed with tracking him down and bringing him to justice. Given how Li personally altered the course of his own life, though, Miles seems to be struggling with the differences between justice and revenge, setting the stage for his own battles with his darker side. 

Kraven the Hunter

Kraven does exactly what his name implies in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: he’s come to New York City for the thrill of the hunt. Not only is Kraven in town to track down and kill Spider-Man, but he also seems to cause Dr. Curt Connors to once again become the Lizard. This leads to a situation where Spider-Man is trying to stop Lizard, while also avoiding Kraven and his goons who happen to be in pursuit of both Parker and Connors. 

The unique thing about Kraven in this universe is that he has a massive array of resources at his disposal. Typically, Kraven often chooses to hunt down Spider-Man alone, but that’s not his approach in Insomniac’s world. Instead, he seems to boast near-limitless resources which is seen with the small militia that he sends after Spidey. Generally speaking, Kraven seems to be pretty straightforward in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 based on what I’ve played so far, but I have a feeling that Insomniac is going to dive more into his backstory throughout the game. 

Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors

Lizard is much more of a tragic character in Spider-Man 2 than you might expect. As mentioned, the iconic Spider-Man villain’s implementation in this sequel also seems to come about as a result of actions taken by Kraven. Based on what I played, Dr. Curt Connors seems to have already turned into the Lizard in the past and has had previous run-ins with Spider-Man. Somehow, Kraven has prompted Connors to once again transform into a more vicious version of himself than he’s been in the past, which leads to him rampaging through New York.

Beyond simply trying to turn Connors back into himself to keep from hurting others, Peter finds himself needing to get ahold of the famed scientist for personal needs. Notably, Harry Osborn is in need of a cure for a disease that he has and Peter believes that only Connors is the one that could assist in finding such a remedy. This adds a sense of desperation to Peter’s pursuit of Connors, which amplifies his own stress that much more and leads to him lashing out at others. It seems likely that Lizard won’t be a major player throughout all of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, but he’s clearly one of the first antagonists that Spider-Man has to deal with in the game. 

Venom

Venom remains the most mysterious character of all in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and I still have absolutely no idea how he’s going to be implemented in this story. Given that my own demo of the game took part in the initial hours, it’s obvious that Venom isn’t going to show up until halfway (or more) into the story. This is to be expected though as Venom likely won’t even be “born” until Peter himself sheds the symbiote. If there is one major thing that I learned, though, it’s that the symbiote does seem to come from space, which is its original origins in the comics. 

The most unique thing about Venom in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is tied to his own identity. Insomniac has already confirmed that Eddie Brock will not be Venom in their universe, which is quite a major departure from traditional Spider-Man lore. Harry Osborn and Kraven each seem like potential candidates to eventually become Venom, with the former making much more sense given his own ties to the symbiote seen at the end of the original Marvel’s Spider-Man game. Still, there are far more questions than answers at the moment when it comes to Venom’s involvement and I can’t wait to see how he’s included. 

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Fortunately, we don’t have to wait a whole lot longer to see what Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will have in store as it’s finally slated to arrive on PS5 next month on October 20. Be sure to stay tuned to our upcoming coverage here on ComicBook.com as we’ll have a lot more to share leading up to launch.