Insomniac’sMarvel’s Spider-Manfranchise is refreshing due to how unique its narrative and characters are. Insomniac has taken certain liberties with character origins, such as Peter Parker and Otto Octavius having a professional, scientific relationship before Octavius becomes the raging Doctor Octopus. This makes characters incredibly interesting for seasoned readers of the comic book source material, since Insomniac’s interpretations will create unsuspecting surprises, including inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2next year. Likewise, anycomic book beats players are familiar with may be upended inMarvel’s Spider-Man.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2seems to be heavily oriented around the alien Venom symbiote and its attachment to Harry Osborn, at least from the post-credits teases that have followed bothMarvel’s Spider-ManandMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Otherwise, little can be surmised about its plot.Insomniac’sRatchet and Clank: Rift Apartintroduces interdimensional riftswith instant load-times, and it would be unsurprising if the developer carried that mechanic intoMarvel’s Spider-Manto expand the IP’s world. However, despite the potential of the rifts, Insomniac may not want to rush headlong into the idea of its own Spider-Verse.
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Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Truly Feels Current-Gen with Rift Portals
Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart’s interdimensional portals thrive on the PS5, ushering in instantaneous load-times while supporting incredible resolutions and frame rates. Few games have come close to achieving whatRatchet and Clank’s latest installment has, and because Insomniac is also developingtheMarvel’s Spider-Manfranchise, it is more than possible that interdimensional travel could appear at some point using the same structure.
This means that a futureMarvel’s Spider-Mangame could potentially have other Spider-Men traveling to the game’s universe, and especially players traveling to other dimensions where other Spider-Men are. Plus, it would be a shame for Insomniac to abandon such an excellent feature. The instantaneous load times ofRatchet and Clank’s rifts would be phenomenal in aMarvel’s Spider-Mangame, particularly if perspectives were swapped as often as they are ina game such asSpider-Man: Edge of TimeorSpider-Man: Shattered Dimensions.
Insomniac could easily craft the most immersive Spider-Verse saga in gaming on PS5, which would be a great reason to do so if not for how ubiquitous the multiverse storyline is now. Unfortunately,Marvel’s Spider-Manwould be accused of simply hopping on the bandwagon as far as the Spider-Verse is concerned, even if Insomniac’s iteration of it is unique.
Marvel’s Spider-Man Shouldn’t Bandwagon the Spider-Verse Trend
Insomniac would demonstrate a tremendous amount of positive restraint if it decided not to dip its toes into the Spider-Verse forMarvel’s Spider-Man 2.Spider-Man: No Way HomeandSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Versehave already laid claim to that storyline. The idea’s current popularity means that anything Insomniac could do with it in the future would seem like it was trying to take advantage of a trend.
If Insomniac chose to introduce interdimensional travel or multiple other Spider-Men from other dimensions, it would see unending comparison to movies and games that have done it before.Marvel’s Spider-Man’s interdimensional travel may be much more immersive and cinematic than that from previousSpider-Mangames, thanks toRatchet and Clank,but Insomniac should continue pushing original narratives in its games with only iterative takes on source material.
BecauseKraven appears to be inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2alongside Venom, for example, fans have already begun speculating that Insomniac may have a new take onKraven’s Last Huntin mind. To be fair,Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Moralesclearly had inspirations fromSpider-Man: Into the Spider-Versewith its own take on the Prowler, a wintertime setting, and a skin explicitly drawn from the animated movie. If Insomniac does attempt its own Spider-Verse, it will need to strive to be wholly original.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is scheduled to release in 2023 on PS5.
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