By the conclusion of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, players have come up against some of the most formidable and recognizable villains in Marvel Comics. From Doctor Octopus and Rhino to Kraven the Hunter and Venom, Spider-Man has arguably the best rogue’s gallery in comic books.
Insomniac Games has done a great job of including more than a dozen of the wall-crawler’s best villains across their trilogy of titles. Those games (Marvel’s Spider-Man; Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales; and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2) have been amongst the best games in the superhero subgenre. However, come the inevitable Marvel’s Spider-Man 3, Insomniac may have written themselves into a corner.
Insomniac Games have used almost all of the heavy hitters and, crucially, concluded most of their storylines. Several villains have been killed, cured, and befriended, making many of them unlikely to return for future titles. This leaves few threats that non-comic book readers and casual players will recognize. Let’s look at the status of villains in Insomniac’s universe, the more well-known characters they still haven’t used, and whether or not players should be concerned about the villain roster of Marvel’s Spider-Man 3.
Spider-Man 2 saw Kraven the Hunter turn New York City into his hunting ground, with his prey being the superheroes and masked villains that run rampant around the city. As a part of Kraven’s last hunt two Sinister Six members, Electro and the Vulture, are killed off-screen; as is the bank robber the Shocker.
Likewise, after breaking Scorpion out of prison, Kraven stalks him. The pair fight and he stabs Scorpion with the villain’s tail in one of Spider-Man 2’s most shocking moments. Already that is four of Spider-Man’s most well-known and recurring foes gone. Add Kraven himself and the Tinkerer in Spider-Man: Miles Morales though, and you have a sinister six of dead villains.
One of the best things about Peter Parker and Miles Morales, and a facet of their characterization that Insomniac Games do a great job of presenting, is their humanity. The heroes do not give up on the masked supervillains they face, doing all they can to appeal to the villain and steer them away from a life of crime. While it doesn’t always work, the PlayStation Spider-Man titles have shown that even masked criminals can change their ways.
Miles’ Uncle Aaron has retired from being the Prowler and a rehabilitated Quentin Beck is trying to change the Mysterio name into a sideshow attraction. These men have both served their time and benefitted from the Spider-Men’s intervention.
So too has Martin Lee who, while still technically a wanted fugitive, has been cured of his Negative energy powers and is seeking to redeem himself for everything he did as Mr Negative. Likewise, Tombstone has been cured of his invulnerability and is working as a mechanic at Coney Island in Spider-Man 2, and Curt Conners has once again been cured of his Lizard mutation (at least for now).
The Spider-Men also frequently find themselves forming uneasy alliances with their enemies. For example, Miles helps Black Cat flee to Paris in Spider-Man 2, and Peter teams up with Silver Sable in the Silver Linings chapter of Spider-Man’s The City That Never Sleeps DLC. Even Sandman, one of Spider-Man’s most sympathetic and blockbuster villains, looks to have moved on from turning New York into the Sahara by the end of Spider-Man 2, even if the villain himself hasn’t been cured.
As of writing, there has been no confirmation (only leaks) of the contents of Spider-Man 2’s inevitable DLC, but The Flame/Cletus Kassidy will likely play a big role. The cult leader’s transformation into the red symbiote Carnage is one of the base game’s largest hanging plot threads.
Similarly, it seems inevitable that Spider-Man 3 will star the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus as the headline acts. There is also the Chameleon, Rhino, and Taskmaster that could reappear, with the latter two notably absent from Spider-Man 2. Kingpin could factor into the game somehow too, but it’s unlikely his fellow RAFT inmates Hammerhead, Simon Krieger, and Screwball will return.
As mentioned above, the Green Goblin is set to finally glide his way into Insomniac’s universe in Spider-Man 3. He is the biggest name missing from the wall crawler’s rogues’ gallery and the developers have been foreshadowing the arrival of Spider-Man’s arch-nemesis throughout their games. Spider-Man 2’s conclusion establishes Norman Osborn’s fragile mental state, desperation, and personal vendetta against the webheads.
While any number of the above could appear in Marvel’s Spider-Man 3, new faces are always welcome; especially if they bring new gameplay mechanics and twists to the game. Who is left for Insomniac to entice players back for (potentially) one more swing around the Big Apple, however?
Morbius the Living Vampire and the Spot have both had an injection of mainstream attention in recent years thanks to their cinematic outings in Morbius and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse respectively (Morbius also appeared in the game Marvel’s Midnight Suns). Before these appearances, however, the pair were quite obscure characters. In all honesty, we are looking at C and D-tier villains at this point, deep cuts into Spider-Man lore that few casual fans will recognize.
Could we see the likes of the Jackal, Beetle, Alaister Smythe, or Swarm perhaps? Jackal is probably best known for his role in the infamous Clone Saga, some apparent leaks have included Beetle as a Spider-Man 2 DLC villain, Alaister Smythe has appeared a couple of times in video games, and Swarm was referenced in 2018’s Spider-Man. Or how about Man-Wolf, Tarantula, or Kangaroo? Maybe we could see Stilt-Man, Sauron, or Stegron?
There are lots of villains that Insomniac Games could adapt next. Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus can more than carry the main narrative of Spider-Man 3; but after previously seeing the likes of Rhino, Lizard, Venom, Kraven, and Sandman tearing New York City apart, it’s difficult not to wonder A) how Insomniac can top what they’ve already done, and B) which new villains are even capable of living up to these rogues.
The list of unused Spider-Man foes might be underwhelming to some, but Insomniac Games has delivered previously. Before Marvel’s Spider-Man in 2018, Mr Negative was a very obscure villain. Only debuting in 2007, he rarely appeared outside of comics. The game did an amazing job of introducing the character to mainstream audiences (including myself) and presented a fantastic, complex antagonist that comfortably stood alongside the more familiar villains in Doctor Octopus’ Sinister Six.
Insomniac did not do quite as well with Screwball if you ask me, but Mr. Negative proves that Insomniac is more than capable of taking obscure villains and making them not just a threat to Spider-Man, but an interesting, worthwhile, and even tragic character to interact with.
Insomniac Games can repeat what they did with Mr Negative in Spider-Man 3. There is no stealing the spotlight from the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus, and Insomniac shouldn’t even try. However by filling the world around the core narrative with well-written, interesting (if less widely recognized) villains that offer fun and exciting side missions; Insomniac can more than make up for the litany of big names that have left the franchise.
What do you think? Which villains do you want to see debut in Marvel’s Spider-Man 3? For more on Insomniac Games and Spider-Man, check out the articles below.
