Summary
WithMarvel’s Spider-Man, Insomniac collected some of the wall-crawler’s most infamous villains and found a way to incorporate all of them in a way that felt seamless. Fans essentially received a new interpretation of the Sinister Six, while other smaller-scale villains helped fill out the intersecting streets of New York.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2sees many of those same villains return and in a much less villainous capacity than before. This helpsMarvel’s Spider-Man 2feel like a true comic book game, and it’s a decision that’s in stark contrast to other forms of comic book media.
To say that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has become one of the largest pieces of comic book-related media would be an understatement. That said, it’s not without its faults, and one of the most frequent complaints that the MCU faces is its handling of villains. In the vast majority of Marvel movies, villains big and small are killed off after a climactic battle, never to affect future storytelling again. Many fans believe this to be a waste of potential, especially when a particularly good villain comes around likeBlack Panther’s Killmonger.Marvel’s Spider-Man 2offers a different route that could be beneficial to the films.
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The MCU’s Frequent Villain Problem
The MCU has taken care over the years to faithfully adapt several aspects of the comics, but one area it can’t seem to get over is the handling of villains. Part of the reason why villains like Ultron and Ronan the Accuser are so well-known is because of how frequently they appear in the comics, with their persistence contributing to how threatening they are. Whilecharacters like Spider-Man are no stranger to having an extensive rogues' galleryto choose from, those villains are still only as threatening as how often they pose a legitimate threat.
In the MCU, villains have been devalued in a sense because of how frequently they’re killed off. Even if their actions cause significant harm to a hero or their allies, once the credits roll that threat is often dealt with for good. Only in cases where a villain appears across multiple films like Thanos, ortheir character is fundamentally changed like Loki, does an MCU villain get a chance to spread their wings. Just about every other bad guy only gets about two hours of development before they’re unceremoniously cut down, and any potential of them growing any further is cut down as well.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Offers Better Options For Villains
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2nearly takes the opposite approach to the MCU, instead giving many of its villains a second lease on life. This is most apparent duringSpider-Man 2’s Coney Island sequence, where players can see Tombstone and Mysterio as seemingly reformed, functioning members of society. Not only does this help Insomniac’s New York feel more densely populated with familiar faces, but it also provides a more lasting connection to Spider-Man’s past.
Instead of these villains being pushed aside into obscurity, they remain present, and their actions are allowed to feel more consequential. That said,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2certainly does kill off its fair share of villains, though this is at least in service of making Kraven seem all the more formidable.
Insomniac’sMarvel’s Spider-Manseries does a lot of things well, and its handling of villains plays a pivotal role in its success. Whether it’sthe developer’s new take on icons like Venom, or simply allowing villains to live on after causing trouble, it’s a much different approach from that of the MCU. This isn’t to say that the MCU doesn’t still have many compelling villains due to its handling of them, just thatSpider-Man 2’s handling of its own villains opens up more opportunities for them to be useful in the future than the popular film series.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
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.
