Spider-Man 2
I’ve seen a headline shared around the past day or so that proclaims that Miles Morales will be the new “main” Spider-Man in Insomniac’s self-contained Marvel video game world. I thought that this was some sort of breaking news item and that some specific declaration had been made about this, but…that’s not really what happened.
As it turns out, this is based on an interview from io9 with the developers who are simply repeating the events that happened in the actual game. As in, if you beat Spider-Man 2, you should have already fully understood that Miles was taking over as the main Spider-Man for Peter. That’s like, the entire point of the ending of the game, so I’m not sure what we’re doing here. Here’s one of the quotes after being asked about Miles being the “main” Spider-Man:
“It always felt very natural, and I think we all collectively thought it would happen. To me, it shows a great deal of evolution from Miles; at the beginning of the game, we see him struggling to figure out what he wants to do with his life. By the end, we had Miles carrying the burden of saving the city, and also carrying Pete when Pete wasn’t strong enough to carry himself at various points.”
This all culminates in a scene in Peter’s garage where he hands off the city to Miles, who at this point, is ready to accept responsibility, no longer a Spider-Padawan, but obviously extremely capable in his own right, given the events of the game where he is tasked with saving Peter himself time and time again, and helpsd bring him back from the brink of symbiote darkness.
Spider-Man 2
I also think people are reading into this that Spider-Man 3 will not involve Peter’s Spider-Man at all. That is not said anywhere in here, and is pretty obviously impossible that Peter will not have to suit up in some capacity for the events of a third game. The game (spoilers) ends with a plan hatched by Norman Osborn and Doc Ock to find and destroy the two Spider-Men, and given that we are no doubt headed down a Green Goblin route with Osborn, his primary target is going to be Peter, not Miles, albeit the two are a package deal and a threat to one is a threat to the other. So yes, Peter will still be there, and I’d frankly be a little shocked if he was not also playable alongside Miles (and hell, maybe alongside Silk, who was teased at the end of Miles’ storyline).
The way I played Spider-Man 2, it was like Miles already was the main Spider-Man. While Peter was caught up with Harry/symbiote drama, it was Miles who was going around being the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, helping out his community while simultaneously swooping in to save Peter whenever he was needed. I found myself playing as Miles whenever I had an option between the two. I like his personality better, and his electro powers. I also enjoyed wearing the Into the Spider-Verse suit at all times (we won’t talk about Miles’ final suit).
I am not even going to get into the whole “Miles Morales is Miles Morales not Spider-Man” debate which is deeply stupid and often pretty racist. We have seen mantles of heroes pass between countless characters, the Miles and Peter situation is just a little different because there’s a good amount of overlap between them (it was a tad confusing during the game having the two of them call each other Spider-Man in tons of scenes, but it’s understandable why they couldn’t use real names). But yes, Miles Morales is Spider-Man, and now he’s the main Spider-Man, something we’ve seen in comics, in the Spider-Verse and probably soon in the MCU, if I had to guess. It’s only logical it’s happening here too, and it doesn’t mean Peter Parker is getting nuked in the process.
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