Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was released in October and became an instant contender for 2023’s Game of the Year. Building on the groundwork laid down in its first and its follow-up, , Insomniac Game remixed Spider-Man’s Marvel Comics mythology, borrowing elements from classic stories like the Alien Costume Saga and “Kraven’s Last Hunt” to create an original superhero storyline that many feel is the best of its kind in video games. Of course, once the credits roll and fans have seen the game’s post-credits scene, there will likely be only one question on their minds: What comes next?
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While Insomniac Games has stopped short of outright confirming that another PlayStation , it seems all but guaranteed after the record-breaking sales and near-unanimous critical reception that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 has received that Insomniac will have the chance to cap off its trilogy, which may serve as the cornerstone for a shared Marvel video games universe. If that’s the case, one has to wonder, with Doctor Octopus and Venom already dealt with, who will be the villain who steps up to face Spider-Man next?
We’re here to explore some of the options available to Insomniac for the potential villain of the still technically theoretical Spider-Man 3. There are plenty of clues to possible villains scattered through Spider-Man 2‘s narrative. With that in mind, we caution that SPOILERS will be revealed as we go forward since there’s no way to discuss what may happen next without reiterating what has happened already. You’ve been warned.
Here’s who we think are the candidates for the villains of Marvel’s Spider-Man 3, from the nearly guaranteed to the longshots. Let us know which Spider-Man villains you want to see and which ones you think we’re most likely to get in Spider-Man 3 in the comments section.
Green Goblin
Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first. Insomniac seems determined to utilize the core villain from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies in their game, but out of order. We got Doctor Octopus in the first game, then Venom and the Sandman in the sequel. Spider-Man 2‘s ending (we did warn you about spoilers) unsubtly foreshadowed the Green Goblin’s arrival in the next game, to the point where we’d consider Gobby’s role in the Spider-Man 3 all but guaranteed.
The question then becomes which Goblin and how many. Norman Osborn mentions wanting to use the “G-Serum” to try to revive Harry after the younger Osborn is left catatonic after his time as Venom. The G-Serum is almost certainly the catalyst for a transformation into the Green Goblin. But will Harry survive that transformation to become the villain, or could the serum kill him, leading Norman to inject himself with it out of a sense of grief and guilt? Maybe we’ll even get two goblins for the price of one.
Doctor Octopus/The Superior Spider-Man
Yes, Doctor Octopus was a villain already in the first Spider-Man game, but anyone who reads Spider-Man comics knows that Spider-Man’s rogues never stay gone forever. Spider-Man 2‘s ending saw Norman Osborn visiting Otto Octavius in prison, where Otto teased that he was preparing “the final chapter.” That’s clear foreshadowing that Otto will play some role in Spider-Man 3.
However, the nature of that role could go in a few different directions based on two factors: Otto knows Spider-Man’s secret identity, and Otto is suffering from a neurological disorder. The latter may prevent Otto from facing off with Spider-Man physically (Then again, maybe some G-Serum will fix him up?). However, he could always out Peter Parker as Spider-Man like Mysterio did in Spider-Man: No Way Home, ruining the happily ever after Pete and MJ got at the end of Spider-Man 2.
Another possibility is that both factors combine, and we get Otto Octavius becoming the Superior Spider-Man. For those unfamiliar, Superior Spider-Man was a Marvel Comics series that followed Otto Octavius after he, on death’s door, transferred his consciousness into Spider-Man’s healthy body and took over his life. He even continued playing the hero as Spider-Man, determined to prove that he was better at it than Peter Parker ever was, thus the “superior” Spider-Man. Otto’s disease may similarly motivate Otto in the Spider-Man games universe, and he already knows that Peter is Spider-Man. All he needs to do is lure Spidey into a trap and pull the old switcheroo. This would be a wild swing on Insomniac’s part as it would cast players as an entirely different, more brutal version of Spider-Man or Miles trying to stop his former mentor and figure out why he’s behaving this way.
Two things are working against the Superior Spider-Man theory. First, Insomniac did a version of Peter Parker going dark while Miles steps up via the Venom arc in Spider-Man 2. Second, Insomniac seems to have had their full Spider-Man trilogy story mapped out from the start, and they left the symbiote suit out of the first Spider-Man game because they knew it would be part of Spider-Man 2’s story. Granted, Otto’s Spidey costume isn’t as integral to the Superior Spider-Man story as the alien suit is to the symbiote saga, but Insomniac puts the Superior Spider-Man costume into Spider-Man 2 does seem like evidence against the idea of them adapting the story in Spider-Man 3. Then again, in the comics, Otto only lets Peter have his body back after realizing that Peter’s the only one who can stop Norman Osborn’s return as the Green Goblin, which could be a way of weaving these three characters’ story arcs in the game together into a satisfying finale.
Carnage
Carnage is also all but guaranteed to appear in Spider-Man 3, as anyone who finished the series of side quests involving Wraith and the Flame knows. It turns out that the Flame is one of many aliases used by Cletus Kasady, whom comic book fans know best as the symbiote serial killer Carnage. At the end of the Flame questline, Cletus gets his hand on a symbiote sample. This sets Cletus up to become Carnage, Venom’s “offspring” (similar to MJ’s brief heel turn as Scream in Spider-Man 2).
Carnage’s role in Spider-Man 3 is less clear. Spider-Man 2 already had a full-on symbiote villain, so he probably won’t be the main character. However, his and Wraith’s storylines are still unresolved, so he’ll almost certainly be around for another line of side quests or as a secondary villain in the plot.
Venom (Eddie Brock)
Venom was the big bad of Spider-Man 2, but he was not attached to his most enduring host. When most Marvel fans think of Venom, they think of Eddie Brock. However, Insomniac left Eddie out of Spider-Man 2 to instead tie the alien symbiote story into Peter’s relationship with Harry Osborn. And yet, there’s a moment early in Spider-Man 2 where MJ loses the cover story spot to someone she only describes as a new guy that J. Jonah Jameson just hired. Maybe it’s just me, but I was convinced that this was Insomniac subtlety seeding Eddie’s presence in the game (he’s a journalist in the comics) and kept waiting for him to show up. Alas, it never happened.
That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. Spider-Man defeated Venom, but if Cletus is going to turn into Carnage, that means that what remains of the symbiote is still active. Perhaps Brock will get his symbiote in Spider-Man 3. We wouldn’t expect another climactic showdown with Venom like the one we got in Spider-Man 2, but he could be involved in a side quest. Maybe he’ll even become an ally against Carnage, bringing back nostalgic memories of playing Maximum Carnage and Separation Anxiety during the 16-bit era. Would it be too much to hope for Eddie Brock to get his own Spider-Man: Venom standalone game like the one Miles got in between Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2? Insomniac did design Venom’s gameplay already, though it’d almost certainly be toned down to support a standalone game and reflect the symbiote’s weakened state post-Spider-Man 2.
Knull
We’ve noted ways that symbiotes could play reduced roles in Spider-Man 3, but what if Insomniac went bigger with them? The spiral motif seen on Venom’s meteorite and all those spiral-faced symbiote minions in Spider-Man 2 is associated with Knull, the god of the symbiotes. It could be that Insomniac used that spiral design to foreshadow Knull’s coming to Earth in Spider-Man 3.
However, we’d list this one as possible but unlikely. As previously mentioned, we don’t expect Insomniac to want to spend a lot of time retreading symbiote ground covered in Spider-Man 2, and Venom was powerful enough in that game to fill Knull’s shoes and pull off the whole alien invasion and assimilation angle without Knull’s help. Carnage, however, has his cult thing going on, which is an angle emphasized in Marvel Comics in association with Knull through event stories like Absolute Carnage and King in Black. Perhaps Carnage will try to bring his god to Earth, even if Knull never makes landfall.
Morlun
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 , suggesting they’re part of a shared Spider-Man multiverse. However, while the Spider-Verse movies have focused more on Miles and less on the original story and villain of the Spider-Verse comics, Spider-Man 3 could bring that villain, Morlun, into the mix. Though introduced before the Spider-Verse became a thing, Morlun is considered the central antagonist of Spider-Man characters, or “Spider-Totems,” across the multiverse, as he and his family, the Inheritors, are prophesized to eliminate them all.
While the Spider-Verse stuff in Spider-Man 2 is probably more Easter egg than foreshadowing, teasing Silk in the game’s post-credits scene is one point in its favor. Like Morlun, Marvel introduced Silk before the first batch of Spider-Verse comics, but she’s been an integral part of those storylines ever since. Even if not the main plot, having Spider-Man, Spider-Man, and Silk deal with Morlun, the multiverse-traversing hunter of Spider-Mans, and his family could be a fun follow-up to the shades of Spider-Verse found in Spider-Man 2.
Chameleon and the Kravinoff Family
Kraven was the primary villain for the portion of Spider-Man 2 before Venom finished him off. During that time, the game established that Kraven had family making plans to come to New York City. One side quest in Spider-Man 2 involves the Spider-Men taking out bases to destabilize the Kravinoff family’s power base in New York. However, there remains the possibility that any or all of them could come to town in Spider-Man 3.
Then there’s Kraven’s half-brother, the villainous master of disguise called the Chameleon. Spider-Man 2 positions the Chameleon as the most likely successor to Kraven’s legacy. It’d make sense for Spider-Man 3 to bring Chameleon back to challenge one or both Spider-Mans, perhaps with Kraven’s offspring working as his underlings on a quest for revenge.
