Excitement for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is in overdrive ahead of its Oct. 20 release, especially as the long-awaited sequel will bring the brutal Venom into the frame.
The next installment in Insomniac Games’ Spider-Man franchise follows the story from 2018’s Marvel’s Spider-Man and its spin-off Spider-Man: Miles Morales and will see both Miles and Peter Parker sharing center stage as they face off against notorious villains such as Kraven, the Lizard and, of course, Venom.
Venom was teased at the end of the original game but the reveal trailer for the sequel, shown at a PlayStation Showcase in September 2021, gave us our first insight into Candyman Tony Todd’s portrayal of the character. Both Todd and Venom were missing from the first gameplay shown at the PlayStation Showcase in June 2023, however.
Instead, the gameplay trailer revealed that, true to the comics, the symbiote that becomes Venom begins his journey with Peter Parker, with Spider-Man 2 seeing the original Spider-Man don the iconic and beloved Black Suit.
Originating from an idea submitted by 22-year-old fan Randy Schuellar, the Black Suit was introduced in 1984 as part of the Secret Wars comic book miniseries, before debuting fully in Amazing Spider-Man #252 as the first major costume change for Peter Parker.
The black suit was not just a change in look, however, as Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four discovered in Amazing Spider-Man #258. Instead, the suit is actually an alien symbiote. Bonding with the symbiote gives Parker new abilities, but he doesn’t have full control, with the symbiote able to control his body at times and act on its own wishes.
Later in Amazing Spider-Man, Parker separated from the symbiote, which retained his memories, including his secret identity and, after bonding with Eddie Brock to create Venom, had the ability to avoid Spider-Man’s Spider-sense.
The suit and the symbiote quickly became fan-favorites, the latter going on to spawn further characters, including Carnage, Toxin, and Anti-Venom, and the black suit returning in 2019 for a spinoff comic book series set before Spider-Man and the symbiote parted ways.
Now, it seems, both the symbiote and the suit are making a return. But Insomniac Games seems to have learned lessons from previous portrayals of the comic arc, ensuring that Peter Parker’s connection to the symbiote is clearly established in Spider-Man 2 and generally taking a much more serious approach than we’ve seen before.
Fans are already excited about the hint of a shocking boss fight in the game, with a trailer displaying Parker’s darker attitude while wearing the Black Suit and Miles noticing the difference, suggesting the two Spideys could go toe-to-toe.
That sort of battle would hammer home the lack of control Parker has over the symbiote, especially as he stepped up to play a father figure to Miles following the death of his father, Jefferson Davis, in the 2018 game.
The key to an authentic representation of Venom ultimately comes down to three things: a ruthless approach, a hatred of Peter Parker, and an underlying desire to protect the innocent.
In Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3, a ruthless approach from the symbiote was lacking, and rather than turning Peter Parker into a darker character, it made him goth-like and goofy. Though there was a clear difference in behavior from the titular hero, it failed to highlight Venom’s true character.
The Venom movie franchise had some improvements in that regard, clearly adopting a darker tone with the symbiote biting off heads and making their desire to eat brains clear. However, this was a more comedic approach that was an apparent attempt to latch onto the success of Deadpool.
The brief insight we have seen so far of Parker’s behavior while bonded with the black suit suggests he will turn his back on Miles, instead looking to take down Kraven himself while utilizing attacks much darker in tone than his usual combat tactics.
While we won’t know much about story details until the game’s release, we can expect it to follow a similar pattern to the history in the comics—the symbiote will bond with another character who shares its hatred of Peter Parker after Spider-Man turns his back on the symbiote.
Such a relationship was briefly touched in Spider-Man 3, with Eddie Brock praying to God for Peter Parker to die before bonding with the symbiote to become Venom.
In the Venom universe, the relationship between the symbiote and Parker is absent entirely, with Spider-Man existing within the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Venom being in the Sonyverse.
Neither of the existing universes has touched upon Venom and Peter Parker’s relationship so far, giving Insomniac Games a blank slate to do so and really dig into the core of the symbiote’s pure hatred of Spider-Man following the separation of the symbiote at the titular hero.
Related: Spider-Man 2 devs confirm bad news about game’s multiplayer
Admittedly, outlining such deep-rooted hate can be difficult in movies, with the intention to keep the story flowing and not get bogged down in too many details. But this is easier to do in games, where the story can be broken down into side missions or even collectibles that offer deeper lore for those who want it without forcing everyone into being drawn into the character’s history.
The third character behavior that will need to be explored by Insomniac Games further down the line is Venom’s ‘Lethal Protector’ persona—which protects the innocent rather than being a full-fledged villain.
Introducing that side of Venom in Spider-Man 2 may be too big an ask, given the story will already include the symbiote story, Kraven the Hunter and the Lizard, but this could tease Venom’s future.
A character as complex as Venom deserves to be portrayed properly and should not be a one-and-done villain, with the contrasting approaches of Venom and Spider-Man having the potential to be explored further in future titles.
That may include expanding Venom’s lore in a future DLC, perhaps making him a playable character and utilizing the combat mechanics in place for the Black Suit Spider-Man.
Venom’s desire to protect the innocent and ruthless approach to doing so, which often means breaking Spider-Man’s big rule about not killing enemies, could pair him nicely with Wolverine, who has a similar approach.
Making Venom an early villain in the upcoming Wolverine game would make sense, as we could see Wolverine searching for the symbiote after encountering some of his victims, with the pair then reaching an understanding and working together to take down the game’s big bad.
The possibilities with a character like Venom are truly endless, with comic history seeing the symbiote bond with a variety of characters, becoming a hero in the form of Agent Venom, and leading to the introduction of characters like Carnage, Anti-Venom, and other symbiotes.
Venom has also been a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Avengers, and featured in Venom-verse, which followed the successful Spider-Verse storyline in the comics. He was also recently tied to Knull, the creator of the symbiotes, which significantly expanded the cosmic origins of everyone’s favorite blob of gloop.
That gives Insomniac Games a vast list of stories that it can explore if the team chooses to do so, and after doing Spider-Man characters justice in its two games so far, the hope is that they will continue to do so with Venom and others when the game launches in Fall 2023.
