Far too many superhero games labor under the belief that every supervillain players fight needs to have their own faction of enemy goons. This does make sense in terms of gameplay, where there needs to be a seemingly endless amount of enemies for players to practice combat against and gain skill points, andMarvel’s Spider-Man 2might follow suit.Marvel’s Spider-Manis no different, but Insomniac has arguably gone overboard with its amount of enemies if fans care to look at each enemy faction from the perspective of narrative logic.
Silver Sable’s Sable International, Kingpin’s Fisk thugs, Tinkerer’s Underground, and Roxxon’s mercenaries offer a wide assortment of enemies, but it is nonsensical to think that the Underground or Sable International has an infinite supply of faceless henchmen who cannot wait to be beaten up by a Spider-Man. Fortunately,Marvel’s Spider-Man’s Sinister Sixdo act alone as individual villains besides Martin Li’s Mr. Negative, who has his Inner Demons gang. InMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, Insomniac will hopefully know which villains should have their own faction and which should act alone.
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Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Needs Fewer Enemy Factions
It would be wonderful for more villains to exclusively act alone likeMarvel’s Spider-Man’s Doctor Octopusdid. Doctor Octopus technically acted alongside the other supervillain affiliates in his ephemeral Sinister Six, but he did not have an infinite horde of associable henchmen for players to bat around in the open world.
Some fans may argue that without enemy factions there would be a lack of enemy variety, but camps of enemy mobs could instead be substituted for more spectacular boss fights instead. There obviously needs to be common street criminals forboth Spider-Men to take down inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, but villains can often be more special and unique if they do not have an entourage with them.
These types of enemies are sometimes favorable if they introduce a combat mechanic that players will employ against that faction’s boss, but otherwise, it would be more exciting to see that villain alone than with an infinite resource of mercenaries. This would also encourage Insomniac to be more creative with its boss fights or even have multiple boss fights per villain, which could be fascinating in different locations and with different cinematics.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Villains That Shouldn’t Have Henchmen
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s reveal teasershows Peter and Miles batting around a few uniquely dressed mercenaries. It is not entirely clear which villain they are affiliated with, but their tactical vests, fur-lined greaves and gauntlets, and blades seem to suggest they belong to Kraven the Hunter.
Kraven is also supposedly speaking in the teaser, which would lend credence to them being his mercenaries. However, Kraven having an infinite gang of mercenaries seems antithetical to his entire modus operandi, where he claims to be an indomitable hunter who wishes to find an equal who can best him.
If he needs to hire hundreds of mercenaries, then Kraven would hardly seem intimidating on his own. Doctor Curtis Connors was teased inMarvel’s Spider-Manand then demonstrated to have present-day significance inMarvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ post-credits tease. If this tease was meant to excite fans aboutthe Lizard being a potential villain inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2, it would be absurd to require an army of seemingly endless lizards for players to fight—Spider-Man 3already checked that box anyway.
Likewise, having endless sand figures to fight just to include Sandman would be disappointing. It will be interesting to see if Venom is given an enemy faction of symbiote creatures, butSpider-Man: Web of Shadowswas hopefully sufficient and will not need to be repeated inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2is scheduled to release in Fall 2023 on PS5.
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