Without a doubt,Spider-Manis one of the most immediately recognizable superheroes on the planet. Thanks to decades of being featured prominently across the pop culture spectrum, theSpider-Manfranchise has maintained its popularity among an incredibly wide fan base. Insomniac Games managed to capture what makes the hero special inSpider-Manfor the PS4, and rumors ofSpider-Man 2on PS5are beginning to circulate.
The excitement for what may come next is understandable.Spider-Manis one of the best games of this console generation, offering one of the best looks yet at what it takes to successfully conveyPeter Parker as Spider-Man. The narrative arc establishes the fundamentals for more games in the future, but there’s one aspect, in particular, that fans are sure to want.
RELATED:Spider-Man PS4: 5 Rumors About The Sequel We Hope Are True (& 5 We Don’t)
TheSpider-Manfranchise has been shaped, in part, by the variety ofPeter Parker’s suits. Each one is recognizably Spider-Man, but also indicative of which Peter Parker fans are actually playing as. For those that are invested in the comic books, which feature a mind-numbing number of super suits for the hero,Spider-ManPS4 offered another layer to the game, as it includes suits from a wide variety of the hero’s endeavors.
Anyone can appreciate something as stunningly cool as theFuture Foundation suit, and Bombastic Bag Man is always good for a laugh, but those that have read the comics associated with the suits will find a deeper level of appreciation and nostalgia with those suits equipped, as they’re evidence of a larger story at play.
Spider-Man’s Symbiote Suit
However, there was one notably absent from the game, and for good reason. The Symbiote suit, which makes Peter Parker much more powerful but gives him a much darker personality, has an incredibly long history in theSpider-Manmythos, spawning Venom, one ofSpider-Man’s greatest foes.
Spider-ManGame Director Brian Intihar once explainedwhy the Symbiote suit wasn’t inSpider-Man.According to Intihar, the team understood how important the suit was to Spider-Man as a character, and felt that the game wouldn’t be able to do it justice within the confines of what was already happening in the story. Instead, the team would do something special with it, giving it the care and attention that it deserves in a future entry.
Of course, that’s spawned speculation thatSpider-Manon the PS5 will feature the Symbiote suit. It’s hard to say if it will actually make it into the next game, but it does seem like the logical next step for what is already an older, more experienced Spider-Man than what has been the norm in the character’s appearances in other media for the past two decades.
Next year,Venom 2is slated to hit theaters. Plus, rumor has it thatSpider-Man2 may be closer than many think, so a PS5Spider-Mansometime in the next year or two isn’t an outrageous idea. A game focused on the Symbiote suit, and by extensionVenom, simply makes sense. But the Symbiote suit can’t just be another unlockable inSpider-Man2. It needs to be something greater.
On a fundamental level, it’s important that Insomniac introduces the suit gracefully. There should be an exploration of what it does to Peter, how it molds him into an anti-hero, and the strain it puts on his relationships. The Symbiote suit is capable of turning Peter Parker into someone very different from his usual self in exchange for enhanced abilities, and without spoiling the end ofSpider-Man,Peter may be more susceptible to that kind of temptation going forward.
Donning the Symbiote suit shouldn’t be as simple as diving into a menu. InSpider-Man,it’s easy to switch in and out of suits on the fly, offering a different aesthetic and a new ultimate ability depending on what the player has equipped. That shouldn’t be the case here. The Symbiote’s bond with Peter is a complex thing, driven as much by Peter’s desires as it is by the Symbiote’s. The Symbiote suit isn’t something that can just be equipped and unequipped at will, andSpider-Man 2should honor that.
RELATED:Marvel’s Spider-Man and Two Other Games Added to PlayStation Now
From a gameplay perspective, that likely means taking away some semblance of player choice, at least until Peter Parker inevitably realizes what he’s turning into because of the suit, and decides to ditch it – likely leading tothe creation of Venomwithin the game’s universe. That opens up a large number of possibilities for future entries in the franchise, as Symbiotes have been a major factor in Marvel comics since their creation.
Beyond that, it would be interesting to see the suit have an effect on the smaller details of Peter Parker’s character. If the Symbiote suit is anything like its first appearance in the comics, the changes to Peter Parker will start off subtle and get more noticeable as time goes on. That should translate into things as small asSpider-Mansquips, which could change from light-hearted jokes to something more aggressive.
Even finishing moves could change, with Peter potentially moving from regular knockouts to brutal finishing moves when going up againstSpider-Man’svarious enemies. It would be a subtle form of character development that fans are sure to appreciate, and many other PlayStation exclusives have nailed for their protagonists. Seeing the player’s character take actions like that in gameplay simply puts more emphasis on the changes, and that’s a good thing.
There are many directions that Insomniac Games could take the Symbiote suit. Judging by the way it’s been talked about, and the previous entry’s quality, there’s a good chance that it will get the respect and care that it deserves. Watching Peter Parker change throughout the story will, undoubtedly, be cool to see, and open up plenty of avenues forSpider-ManDLCafter the game releases.
Very fewSpider-Mangames have gotten the character right, and even fewer have successfully conveyed how important the Symbiote suit is to Peter Parker’s character. Part of what makes it special is how it breaks down the barrier betweenSpider-Manand Peter, who manage to feel distinct from one another a lot of the time. How the suit will take shape remains to be seen, but it is an exciting concept.
