Marvel's Spider-Man - Final Thoughts (On Diversity, Ending, DLC, and Future Predictions) - Spoil

So Marvel’s Spider-Man has been out for a week and After spending more time with the game, and completing most of what's currently available, I wanted to make a video discussing my final thoughts and predictions about future content. This will be spoiler filled so if you haven’t got a chance to finish the game yet, come back when you do, so you can add to our discussion.

If you watched my review, two of my main criticisms where that the game was too easy and borrowed heavily from the Arkham Batman games. These two things were more personal preference and you as a player may think those where the game’s strengths. In the end, most game reviews are subjective, so I encourage anyone interested in the game to check it out, as unbiased as possible.

After my review, I thought more about how many things that the Spiderman game takes from Rocksteady’s Arkman batman games, and if the spiderman game should be receiving the praise that it is getting from critics and fans alike. If I didn’t know better I would assume that they were made by the same developers. In the end, I think that it does do enough to distinguish itself and for it not to always be compared to Batman games, from its story, sidequests, minigames, and much more. The contrasting tone of the two games, with Gotham being dark and gritty while spiderman’s world is more colorful and humorous, sets the games drastically apart.

What insomniac does right, that Hollywood is constantly messing up on with superhero movies, is that they know who Peter is as a character and all the other characters are also developed and given the motivation to do what they do. What I love about the game is that they could have played it safe and made a generic superhero game for kids, but right off the bat they jump into the sinister 6 storylines, which Sony has been trying to do for years in the movies. While Peter has matured and is no longer a teenager, he still has his sense of humor and struggle with MJ that is faithful to his character. The game is packed with easter eggs that I'm sure people will still be discovered for months to come. Jameson’s dozens of rants are laugh out loud funny and reflect what you do in the game.

The game is also being praised for the Diversity of characters- There are noticeable A lot of Asian characters and NPCs. And as an Asian guy myself, I was thinking how it's rare to see Asian characters depicted realistically in games. In not counting anime or stylized characters that are assumed to be Asian because of their name, but characters that actually look Asian. Martin Lee isn’t the best villain, but I did like what they did with the character, using a top-notch voice actor, and with the whole demon backstory that his father told him about. The idea of masks and superheroes or supervillains go hand in hand and I like Mr. Negative overall. If I was a superhero/villain that would be my name, only I would be pessimistic about everything and always think I couldn’t do something. This brings to mind the movies Crazy Rich Asians and Black Panther. I actually haven’t seen either of those movies yet, but I like how this game wasn’t marketed as a diverse or all inclusive cast. It didn’t seem out of place, shoved down your throat, or reduce the quality of the game. So it wasn’t just Spider-Man saving Asians from car accidents either but reflects the diverse population of New York and its cultures. People aren’t upset about this because they are not taking established characters and turning them Asian, imagine the uproar if they changed the vulture or rhino Asian.

Now I have to talk about the Ending. Another spoiler Warning, last chance if you want to see it for yourself. The ending did surprise me on two parts, Aunt May’s death and Harry being kept alive in Norman’s apartment. You can see that Norman is already producing the iconic bombs that the green goblin uses. And by the end of the game, we are told he is ousted as the Mayor as details come to light after the battle with doc ock. I think The game can go two ways for the sequel. The obvious one is that Harry is the Green Goblin and turns evil due to his physical and mental change. Or the other option is that Norman is the one to become the Goblin. Both have been done in the comics or the movies. But in my personal opinion, I can’t see how Harry, who is built up as a kind, hardworking person to protect the legacy of his mother, is going to become the Goblin. I think that Norman now that he is disgraced after the ending of the first game, and for the love for his son, turns evil to get revenge on Spider-Man for ruining his career and his desperation to help Harry now that his work on the cure hasn’t worked.

I also was shocked that they killed off Aunt May. I was expecting a happy ending where they get the cure and somehow mass produces it in minutes to save everyone affected by the virus. This game was more realistic and gave Aunt May a worthy end while having an emotional impact. As Peter has to struggle to decide either to save Aunt May or countless others with the antidote. In the end, the choice is obvious but heartbreaking.

With the ending of the game showing Miles Morales gaining superpowers similar to Spider-Man, the ultimate question that follows if Peter is going to die in this storyline. In the original comics, Miles takes over for Spiderman after his death due to the hands of the green goblin. However, we can already see that the story does not follow the events in the original comics. In the comics, Miles does not reveal his identity to Spider-Man and initially doesn’t want to risk his life as a crimefighter. He only dawns the mask after witnessing spiderman’s death and feeling guilty for not doing anything to help. One story in comics involving Miles also includes Gwen Stacy who is not introduced in the game. In the game, Peter seems like he will become a mentor to Miles and has a more personal relationship. Giving more weight to the conflict if the green goblin does kill spiderman. Will Insomniac games save this for part 3 of a trilogy or already have plans for it in the next sequel? Because the game is an adaptation of the Spider-Man story and does not follow the storyline of any particular comic, they can literally do anything with the characters. But based on what they did with the first game, I'm sure it will heavily rely on the canon already established.

From here I’ll discuss what we know of the DLC plans coming in this year for the game. From the info already out, we know that the first DLC of the game will feature the black cat, titled “the heist” releasing on October 23. After doing all the optional Black cat photo locations, we are left with a scene and dialogue of Felicia retrieving her gear after setting up peter on the diversion to collect the black cats. From the sound of it, you’ll probably be teaming up with Black Cat to take down a villain, while she has some ulterior motives on the side.

The second DLC leasing in sometime in November is called Turf wars. I have no idea what this could be about but I’m thinking it has something to do with the Kingpin. Knowing that his arrest has caused the crime to go out of control in the city and allow for the rise of the demons to move in. Instead of this, I would like to see something related to the taskmaster. With Martin lee gone, the demons should be collapsing. And with Silver Sable gone by the end, her mercenaries are also pretty much taken care of by spiderman by the end of the game. They wouldn’t introduce a new character for the DLC based on the other two, and a character I want to see more of is the Taskmaster, and his mysterious offer to spiderman about some organization looking to hire him as part of a group.

The third DLC targeted for December is titled Silver Lining, this obviously is a story about the leader of the contract security group that Osborn hires to protect the city but mainly himself. Silver Sable abruptly leaves the game after spiderman’s confrontation with Li and Doc Ock. She talks to Peter over the phone saying that she is leaving the city but will be leaving her men behind. When we last see her she agrees to help Spider-Man to protect Norman. She seems like a good person with morals but will do the bidding of whoever hires her.

Let's talk about where the game could go for future sequels post DLC. Tackling the sinister 6 for the first game set high expectations for this series. We know that the green goblin will be in the next game, but where do I think they will go from here? I definitely think that they will include a Vemon, carnage, or a symbiote storyline in the games to come. I think its really odd that with all the costumes you can collect none of them involve a suit or reference to Vemon, while he is one of the most recognizable villains in marvel. This proves that while 8 years have passed since Peter got his powers, Venom and the symbiotes have not yet made an appearance in this version of Spider-Man. In the game, Spider-Man references Flash Tompson, who in the comics later becomes Agent Venom. There is no reference for Eddie Brock from when Peter worked for the Daily Bugle or any mention from MJ who is now a reporter there. Therefore Eddie must not have started working there yet, leaving his character open in the sequel. However, he may be left for another game down the line, because I hate it when movies or games introduce main characters in a sequel or franchise and invent a backstory for them retroactively. If Insomniac Games has already planned for possible sequels to the game, it would they make more sense to focus fully on the Norman, Harry, and green goblin for the next game. Based on the post-credits scene of Harry at the end, It looks like Norman may already be experimenting with the symbiote as seen by the way the fluid is reacting to Norman’s hand. We know that norman is already experimenting with Peter’s blood to recreate the spiders in the lab so this could be a new way to introduce the Venom symbiote without its origin from outer space.

The big question many are asking is "Where are the Avengers?" We know that the Avengers are in this version of Spider-Man, not only with the Avengers Tower but is also referenced two other times that I can remember. The first is when the taskmaster mentions that the fought the Avengers when you encounter him for the first time. The second a reference peter makes when he says something along the lines like, do you think the Avengers have to do deal with petty crime. You can also equip the iron spider suit created by Tony Stark, and the suit from Spider-Man Homecoming, showing that Peter must have already had previous interactions with iron man. In my opinion, I like the references but would prefer not to have the Avengers show up in the sequels or upcoming DLC. Unlike the MCU movies, these games aren’t being used to promote an eventual Avengers game. I want the story and action to focus on Peter and Spider-Man since there are so much material and directions they can go in. I know that the comics always crossover with other superheroes all the time, and I'm curious about the comment the Taskmaster makes to Spider-Man after you finish the trials that he works for someone that wants to recruit Spider-Man and willing to play lots of money.

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