Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the long-awaited sequel to the hugely popular Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4 and Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales, is officially in the works at Insomniac Games.
Coming exclusively to PS5, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was officially announced during the PlayStation Showcase 2021, with a brief trailer teasing what we can expect from Spidey’s next outing. The trailer confirms that both Miles Morales and Peter Parker will appear in the sequel, and they’ll have at least one new villain (well, at least in this universe) to face off against: the terrifying Venom.
The trailer doesn’t give too much away, but it certainly offers plenty for us to theorize about (including an ominous voiceover that talks during the teaser), which is a good thing as unfortunately Spider-Man 2 won’t be swinging onto PlayStation 5 until 2023.
Want to know more? Read on for everything we know so far about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and what we want to see when the game finally comes to PS5.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: cut to the chase
- What is it? The sequel to the critically acclaimed Marvel’s Spider-Man
- When can I play it? TBC 2023
- What can I play it on? PS5
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 release date and platforms
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is due to release in 2023 exclusively for PS5. Right now, we don’t have a more specific release date outside of that 2023 release window but we expect developer Insomniac Games will narrow the date down in mid to late 2022.
Delays are definitely possible as Insomniac is developing Marvel’s Wolverine alongside Spider-Man 2. If Wolverine hits any bumps in the road it could have a knock-on effect on Spider-Man’s release.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 trailer
Reveal trailer
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was revealed with a trailer at the PlayStation Showcase 2021. The trailer is only around one-and-half minutes long, but it offers us a fair amount of details. For one we see both Peter Parker and Miles Morales taking swings at goons, suggesting we may get to play as both Spider-Men this time around.
At the very end, we got a surprise appearance of infamous Spider-Man villain Venom – an outer-world symbiote with a passion for violence – so we expect it’ll be one of the sequel’s main villains.
Unfortunately, there was no gameplay to analyze, but we briefly see a shot of Peter getting a power surge with his Iron Spider arms, suggesting suit powers may be making a return.
We also hear an ominous voice talking over the trailer suggesting Peter and Miles will have yet another villain to face off against. Based on their speech about looking for a challenge and formidable opponent we’d put our money on it being Kraven the Hunter – a classic Spider-Man villain with a similar attitude towards the prey he seeks out in the comics. Check out the trailer below:
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 news and rumors
It will be a darker sequel like Empire Strikes Back
It sounds like we really are getting the darker Spider-Man game we all wanted. During an appearance on the This Week in Marvel Podcast, Marvel’s Creative Vice President Bill Rosemann explained that “if the first Spider-Man game was Star Wars [A New Hope], Spider-Man 2 is kind of our Empire [Strikes Back]. It gets a little darker”.
This certainly makes us happy here at TRG as it hopefully means Insomniac’s Spider-Man will remain its own distinct version rather than an imitation of the more family-friendly version we’re used to in the MCU.
Horror movie star will play Venom
Taking to the official PlayStation Blog after the PlayStation Showcase 2021, Insomniac Games revealed that horror movie star Tony Todd (who portrays Candyman in the original film series of the same name) will voice Venom.
Todd makes a perfect choice for Venom and is sure to deliver a sinister, guttural voice that’ll have us hiding behind the couch whenever Venom is on-screen. His casting also backs up our hope that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 takes on a more horror-themed tone so we’re especially delighted to hear of his involvement.
Speaking of voice actors, Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter will reprise their roles as Peter and Miles respectively.
Exclusive to PS5
Insomniac has confirmed that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be a PS5 exclusive. By 2023 the new Sony console will have been out for a few years so it makes sense that we won’t be seeing many cross-platform titles by that point. So if you’re still stuck with a last-gen device you’ll want to upgrade soon.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2: what we want to see
Marvel’s Spider-Men
The trailer seems to suggest we’ll be playing as both Miles and Peter, and the ending of Miles’ solo game would back that up but we don’t yet know for sure. We certainly hope we do get to play as both Spider-Men though, as it would give Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 way more story and gameplay options (and give us twice the web-slinging action).
The Spider-Duo are seen performing combo moves during the PlayStation Showcase 2021 teaser, which indicates we might be able to play as both at the same time at various points in the game, but given that it was all just a cinematic there’s no way to know for sure.
A scarier side of Spider-Man
With Venom and (potentially) Kraven the Hunter making an appearance in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Insomniac looks to be gearing its story towards the scarier villains in Spider-Man’s rogue’s gallery.
We hope Insomniac delves even deeper into this and includes several other frightening characters like the Lizard, Morbius (or other Marvel vampires like Morlun), and maybe even the Jackal. We wouldn’t be surprised if Green Goblin or Hob Goblin showed up either.
Curt Conners, the human scientist who transforms into the Lizard, already appeared in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales suggesting his villainous side could very well show up in the sequel. The same is true of Norman Osborn who was a key character in the first Marvel’s Spider-Man game so it might not be long before he becomes the Green Goblin.
Based on the ending of Marvel’s Spider-Man’s DLC, it looks like Venom could be Harry Osborn (Norma’s son) in this series. If Harry befalls some terrible fate – seemingly at the hands of Spider-Man – that could be what drives Norman Osborn to become a villain.
We’ll admit that Jackal and Morlun make a lot less sense, as they tie into much longer stories like Spider-Man’s Clone Saga and Spider-Verse that would be deserving of their own dedicated game, but we’ll have to wait and see.
A world beyond New York
While Spider-Man is known for being an NYC hero, we’d like to see our wall-crawler take a trip to new locations in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 before the city starts to feel stale. While the teaser seems to suggest we’ll definitely be in a New York-like city at some points, thanks to the PS5’s SSD storage and power Insomniac would be able to load in other large locations to explore too.
One option – especially if they take the horror route – could be to include a character like Doctor Strange who could transport us into fearsome realms, or we might see our heroes go on the run if they find Kraven the Hunter too deadly a threat to handle. Heck, we could even go to visit Symkaria the home of Silver Sable, and a location that Peter was visiting in Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
New York definitely works great as a setting for Spider-Man games thanks to its looming skyscrapers that are perfect for web-swinging, but given that it’s already featured in both of Insomniac’s previous titles we’re worried it’ll grow boring eventually.