Summary
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Proceed at your own risk.
The symbiote invasion is at the heart of the plot ofMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, with Venom being one of the key villains of the game. Following Venom’s New York City rampage,Marvel’s Spider-Man 2players will find that other symbiotes have been left in his wake and have joined with many different hosts across the city. While it’s clear Venom is the star of the show in this game, there are a variety of other symbiotes from across the Marvel Universe that are represented or referenced in one way or another.
Symbiotes in the Marvel Universewere created by Knull, a primordial deity who created the first symbiote All-Black to slay the Celestials. Knull then created more symbiotes out of the Living Abyss to create a hive-mind army with him at the center, and these inorganic parasites eventually made their way to Earth as part of Knull’s planetary conquest. As the events ofSpider-Man 2show, the symbiotes are bent on world domination and will possess human hosts as a means to achieve this goal.
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Spider-Man 2’s Symbiote References
The most obvious symbiote referenced inSpider-Man 2is Venomgiven that he appears as one of the game’s central antagonists, but Venom’s depiction inSpider-Man 2differs from other pieces of Marvel media in that it’s Harry Osborn who bonds with the Venom symbiote rather than Eddie Brock. Scream is another symbiote that has a direct appearance inSpider-Man 2after Venom uses one of its offspring to transform MJ into this symbiote, which Peter then has to defeat in a climactic yet heartbreaking boss fight. In the comics, Scream was forcibly created from Venom by the nefarious Life Foundation in an attempt to protect human society after a potential nuclear holocaust.
Along with Scream, four other symbiotes were created by the Life Foundation: Riot, Phage, Agony, and Lasher. Although these symbiotes are not directly named inSpider-Man 2, the designs and particular colors chosen for symbiote enemies that possess random New Yorkers and defendSpider-Man 2’s symbiote nestsseem to be based on these characters. Hybrid, the symbiote that was created by merging these four other parasites, also appears to be referenced among the generic symbiote enemies found acrossSpider-Man 2’s late-game.
Aside from Venom, likely the most well-known symbiote is Carnage, who takes on serial killer Cletus Kasady as a host in the comics. While Carnage doesn’t directly appear inSpider-Man 2, he is heavily hinted at to be coming as avillain in a future DLC orSpider-Man 3gameas The Flame quest alludes to. The final mission of this quest has Peter and Wraith confront The Flame only for him to escape with a contained symbiote vowing to return to spread carnage, and Yuri even mentions he has gone by the alias Cletus Kasady in the past, an obvious reference to Carnage’s most iconic host.
The game’s finale sees the creation of Anti-Venom as a gambit to defeat Venom once and for all. To do this, Peter gains the Anti-Venom suit by combining the remaining symbiote cells in his body with Martin Li’s White Energy cells which allow him to utilize his powers asMr. Negative. Although in the comics, Li himself becomes Anti-Venom after he uses his powers to cure Eddie Brock’s cancer and mixes the symbiote cells with his own in the process, it is fitting for the story ofSpider-Man 2to give Peter the powers of Anti-Venom for a climactic showdown against Harry’s version of Venom.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
WHERE TO PLAY
Spider-Men Peter Parker and Miles Morales face the ultimate test of strength inside and outside the mask as they fight to save the city, each other and the ones they love, from the monstrous Venom and the dangerous new symbiote threat.Explore an expansive Marvel’s New York with faster web-swinging and the all-new Web Wings, quickly switching between Peter and Miles to experience different stories, epic new abilities and high-tech gear.Wield Peter’s symbiote abilities and Miles’ explosive bio-electric powers in battle against new and iconic Marvel Super Villains – including an original take on a symbiote-infused Venom, the ruthless Kraven the Hunter, the volatile Lizard, and more from the Marvel Rogues’ Gallery.
