Rumor Report: Spider-Man PS4 Sequel Includes Venom
According to a new supposed leak, we may know more about Spider-Man's next video game adventure than ever before. Reddit user UtopianThrowaway90 claims to have spoken to a source close to the development of the sequel to Marvel's Spider-Man from Insomniac Games. Some of the details covered by this post seemingly corroborate rumors we've heard in the past, particularly concerning the game's release window and possible villains.
UtopianThrowaway90 writes that we should expect the game to launch next year on the PlayStation 5. The game is supposedly targeting a holiday season release, but we should expect to get our first true look at the game as early as this summer.
The rest of the post dives into some plot details, so beware of MAJOR spoilers for Marvel's Spider-Man.
The new game is supposedly set during the winter, very shortly after the events of the first game. Peter is still mourning the loss of his Aunt May and Mary Jane is away on some kind of assignment. In addition to facing off against some kind of super soldier, Spider-Man will find himself dealing with at least three new villains: Venom, Carnage, and Mysterio. Peter will also likely be joined in this fight by his friend Miles Morales.
Possibly the most plausible parts of this latest leak are the ones that seemingly build off of teases dropped by the first game. Specifically, it was pretty obvious that Peter's best friend Harry Osborn was going to become this universe's version of Venom.
A running plot thread in Marvel's Spider-Man concerns the fact that neither Peter nor Mary Jane have seen Harry in a few years. Peter comes across several recordings Harry left behind at research stations around the city, but there's a sense that something fishy is going on. Harry's father Norman (who is the mayor of New York City in this timeline) is very evasive when asked about Harry's current whereabouts. We find out why in one of the game's post-credits scenes, which shows Harry being kept in Norman's facility, floating in a tank with a very Venom-like substance.
As for the other villains, those choices make a lot of sense when you think about the characters that have recently been introduced to moviegoing audiences. Mysterio finally made his big screen debut in last year's Spider-Man: Far From Home. Meanwhile, Carnage's usual alter ego, serial killer Cletus Cassidy, made a cameo during the end credits of 2018's Venom. Carnage is also set to be the lead villain of the Venom sequel, so it makes a bit of sense that the new game would either want to include him or start laying the groundwork for this super villain.
The same train of thought goes for Miles Morales' rumored role in the sequel. Miles developed powers of his own near the end of the first game and the DLCs showed us that Peter was beginning Miles' heroic training. Not only that, but Miles was also the lead character in a well-received film, the Academy Award-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It makes total sense that Miles would receive an expanded role in the next game.
The leak also suggests that the map for the next game will be massive, adding Brooklyn and Queens to the explorable areas. As UtopianThrowaway90 explains, Spidey will take different bridges to access the various city blocks. In other words, the game may be approaching this like the travel between the different areas of Empire City in the inFamous series.
There's also some mention of three different swinging styles. These are referred to as Realistic, Arcade, and Hybrid. Realistic is described as being similar to the physics engine in the 2004 Spider-Man 2 game, while Arcade mode features "a little 'fake' assistance," making the swinging a bit easier (and presumably aiding in performing some Spidey's mid-air tricks). Hybrid mode, as the name kind of implies, would basically be a mix of the two styles.
The web swinging mechanics are apparently an even bigger consideration in this sequel. As the original post reads, Insomniac has included a ton of new animations specifically for the swinging sequences. Not only that, but UtopianThrowaway90 writes, "They have like 2 animators devoted completely and solely to the web release animations throughout the entire development cycle." In other words, all of Spidey's dope freefalls and flips are going to look even better than before.
If this leak turns out to be true, we may be able to look forward to seeing some of these details in action very soon. Keep your eyes peeled, True Believers.