Spider-Man 2: Release Date, Trailer, News, and More

Spider-Man is one of the most recognizable superheroes in the world. His popularity in media is hard to understate, with ongoing films, comics, multiple animated series, and, of course, video games. The web-slinger has been on home consoles ever since the Atari days, and each new generation has given us better and better games. The latest game, which paired the comic book hero with the perfect developer to handle this acrobatic, sarcastic neighborhood hero — Insomniac Games — was a smash hit in every respect. Critics praised it, fans loved it, and it sold like crazy. Plus, it probably was a major contributing factor in Sony outright buying the studio. Naturally, we all knew a sequel had to be coming.

When the PlayStation 5 launched, we got the stand-alone expansion of sorts in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, which let us play as the new spider on the block in his own story. Now the focus has been set on the proper, full sequel, which looks to take everything from the original game and the expansion and combine it all into a truly amazing new Spider-Man (Spider-Men?) title. The game was only just revealed, so a lot of the finer details are still out of reach, but we’ve used our spider senses to untangle all the information there is about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Further reading

Release date

For the moment, we have about the widest possible release window there is. 2023 is as close as Sony wanted to pin down this game’s release. This makes sense, given how many of their titles have been delayed, but also because of just how much Insomniac has had on its plate. Right after Marvel’s Spider-Man and its DLC, the company got Spider-Man: Miles Morales out at the end of 2020, and then months later, released Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Plus, at the same time, Marvel’s Wolverine was announced. That’s a lot of output for one studio, so late 2023 would actually be quite quick for a full Spider-Man sequel.

Platforms

As we suspected from the end trailer and what was confirmed via a PlayStation blog post, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be a PS5 exclusive. This is the first major Sony first-party game that won’t also be coming to PS4. Insomniac’s Ryan Schneider, head of franchise strategy and studio relations, wrote, “We’re so thrilled to continue the journey of both Peter Parker and Miles Morales in their most epic single-player adventure yet, coming exclusively to PlayStation 5 consoles in 2023.” So, sorry PS4 folks, hopefully you can get your hands on the new console before this game launches.

PC is another platform that Sony has begun experimenting with bringing their first-party games to, such as Horizon Zero Dawn, Days Gone, and even now, the Uncharted series. However, these often take years to come over, if at all, so for now, just assume the PS5 is the only way to play Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Trailer

We got a purely cinematic trailer during the PlayStation Showcase in September, which was our first true confirmation of the game existing. The trailer is quick but packed with details to dig into.

The trailer opens with narration playing from what Spidey fans strongly believe to be the villain Kraven the Hunter, a Russian villain who was introduced as trying to hunt and defeat Spider-Man to prove that he is the greater hunter. That lines up with many of the narration lines here that speak about finding a true foe worthy of his time. Still, with no visual to go with the voice, this is still speculative.

As the narration goes on, we see both Peter and Miles taking down thugs in the streets. Peter uses his gadgets, specifically the Iron Spider limbs, despite the suit not being the Iron Spider design, and Miles has his venom powers to shock enemies. They team up, webbing a thug together before the narration comes to a close as the camera pulls in on a dark alley. This is where we learn the narration may not be talking about Peter and Miles when the narrator says, “…one of you finally give me what I desire?” The real villain, Venom, replies in a gravelly voice, “Yes. We will.”

We only see a bit of a street and an alley, but we are left wondering if this game will expand the map to go beyond the main New York setting.

Speaking of voices, while we never hear Peter or Miles, both Yuri Lowenthal and Jadji Jeter will return to play their respective Spider-Men, while Venom will be played by Candyman actor Tony Todd.

Gameplay

As mentioned, the only footage we’ve been given of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 so far is the cinematic trailer, but it does look like it was meant to at least hint at what the gameplay will be like. From the jump, we figure the game will take the base experiences of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales, which include the sublime web-swinging through an open world, fast pace, timing-based combat, and optional objectives and collectibles.

What the trailer implies to be new is where the excitement comes in. Obviously, Peter and Miles are both here, geared up and kicking street-punk butt. This could mean a few things. First, and the one we hope for most, is that you will be able to select which Spider-Man you want to play as on the fly. We would love to be able to swap between these two at any time in the open world and get a choice when starting story missions to play with either character. If that were to be true, there would probably be some missions that force you to play one or the other, but compared to being forced to play as Mary Jane or Miles in Marvel’s Spider-Man, we wouldn’t mind at all.

Whether or not you have the choice to play as either Spidey, the way they team up to subdue the final thug with a web attack at the end of the trailer heavily implies that, at least at some point, both characters will be working together. That opens up a ton of possibilities for new, dynamic, and creative combat possibilities. Obviously, there are team takedowns, but it could also take a page from Arkham Knight, where you could do a combo as Batman that finishes with you seamlessly taking control of his partner, such as Robin or Nightwing, to keep the fight going.

We also touched on the gadgets and venom powers being shown off, and it looks like Peter has the ability to wear one suit while using the ability of a different suit power. That was a much-loved feature of the original since it let you wear the costume you liked the look of without having to settle for whatever power was tied to it. There are also certainly going to be new suits, hopefully for both characters, along with new gadgets and venom powers.

Multiplayer

So, if the trailer’s implication of both Spider-Men being playable is true, there’s an incredibly small chance that there will be some kind of multiplayer in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. We feel that it won’t be there at all, and the game would probably be better to avoid it, but it is possible. If it did have to be included, the best way we can imagine it working is to let you team up with a friend to do things like gang hideouts or other isolated side activities. Maybe even set up races to swing through the city or something.

DLC

The original Marvel’s Spider-Man indicates a good chance of DLC coming to the sequel. The first game got three episodes of DLC that each built off the previous for a narrative thread. Aside from the fact that there are literally decades worth of material that could be great additional content to insert or add to the end of this main story, the fact that we may have options for Peter and Miles to have their own separate adventures opens up even more doors for Insomniac.

With the base game so far off, any real DLC plans, if any, will take a while to be announced.

Pre-order

2023 is a long way away and a big release window. As much as we’d love to pre-order Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 today, the option just isn’t open yet. However, the moment we get a release date and details on the several versions this game is sure to have, we’ll make sure you know how and where to get your pre-order in.

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