Marvel's Spider-Man 2 proves Miles Morales' MCU debut is simply overdue
Marvel's Spider-Man on PlayStation was easily our favourite translation of the wallcrawler's story we'd seen back in 2018, and that's a tough proposition against multiple games, numerous animations, decades of comics, and of course, three very beloved live-action Spider-Men.
It featured the most prominent depiction of fan-favourite Miles Morales to date, until of course Sony's Oscar-winning animation Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse later that year. Spider-Verse was universe-hopping way before the MCU, and has continued to revolutionise with its stunning visuals in the 2023 sequel Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
In between times, we had a stopover for Miles Morales' own mini Spider-Man story in 2020 to mark the release of PlayStation 5, and now he's officially teamed alongside Peter Parker, as a switchable character, and a definite co-lead in this AAA blockbuster title that has become PlayStation's fastest-selling original game.
The game makes obvious upgrades: a bigger map (sticking to Miles Morales' Harlem), better graphics, more characters, more abilities, more side-missions, and unfortunately, a slightly brief campaign clocking in at around 15-18 hours. However, that is before you delve into a wealth of side missions, of course.
Our favourite new addition by far is the web wings, which allow you to fly across the map through airstreams in tight streets, get blown upwards by big chimneys, or somehow slipstream across entire rivers. It's a lot quicker than swinging, but is balanced just well enough that you continuously switch between the two, rather than ditching the classic webs altogether for the quicker option.
But is it the game better than the original? Well, no. It's not as ground-breaking, but it's just as good. Technically, it's a marvel – we were blown away to see people inside the windows of the numerous tall buildings, although many were simply staring into space. Meanwhile, you switch between characters and teleport to different parts of the map in mere micro-seconds, and continue swinging almost instantly.
This game is undisputed wholesome Spider-Man fun. It's addictive, arcadey, and immerses you in the Friendly Neighbourhood superhero's world so thoroughly, you won't want to pull yourself away.
But perhaps its biggest achievement, which many won't have clocked, is fronting one of the most commercially successful games with a Black lead in a AAA major video game since Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in 2004 and Grand Theft Auto V in 2013. One of those games made CJ the sole lead in 2004, while GTA V had Franklin Clinton share the spotlight in 2013.
Gaming's top sellers are predominantly made up of white male leads, although there's been some diversity such as Clementine in Telltale's The Walking Dead (and of course, Lee, RIP fella) and Christopher Judge, the Black and Cherokee voice of Kratos in God of War. But many are supporting characters, such as in Red Dead Redemption 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, someone you have to create yourself like in Cyberpunk 2077, or buried as part of a huge roster in multiplayer games like Overwatch.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has Miles support, but really, he simply outshines the well-trodden role of Peter Parker. And that is no mean feat, given Spidey's popularity, and personally being my favourite superhero character of all time. Miles is cooler, not just in his costumes, move sets, and HUD, but also, feels more compelling and relevant in 2023.
He's lost his police chief father to Mr Negative, the first game's standout villain. His mother knows and supports his secret identity, but his well-meaning and nervous steps into Spiderhood feel fresher than Peter's power/responsibility hand-wringing and everlasting will-they-won't they with MJ. Perhaps simply because we've gone through it so many times before.
Miles is battling teenage life, Spider-Man life, and real life, all whilst bumbling his way into a fledgling relationship with his school sweetheart, as well as a difficult relationship with his former criminal turned vigilante uncle, The Prowler. Miles feels like the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man for today... and tomorrow.
He helps his queer schoolmates ask each other to the prom, learns sign language to communicate with his high-school sweetheart and friend, and even helps out Pete with messy situations with his ex, Black Cat, as she tries to get back to her girlfriend in Paris, confirming that she's canonically bisexual in this universe.
This should all be taken as a given in 2023, but it's something we've barely seen in video games, let alone major AAA releases, and developers Insomniac Games should be applauded.
Meanwhile, in terms of gameplay, Insomniac has prioritised accessibility, including the ability to autocomplete quick-time events, high-contrast gameplay options, and plans for screen reader and audio description options later this year.
Perhaps this is the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man's greatest gift in this game. Kindness. Potentially a kindness many young fans could learn from, exposing them to tolerance, acceptance and warmth that we could all embrace, young and old. Yet sadly, it feels inevitable such progressiveness will be a lightning rod for the unsavoury and toxic voices that plague gaming and troll developers.
Miles unlocks an authentically different side of New York City. He feels like part of the world, even in such an unbelievable super-powered setting. Although, Peter's side of the campaign strives for similar progressiveness, with scientific plots to solve global warming, create regenerative crops and repopulate the bees.
This is all set in the backdrop of Peter's staggeringly high mortgage interest rates on his Aunt May's home, while struggling to hold down a job at the local school alongside Spider duties. He has too much to manage, which makes it all the more tempting to hope the narrative swings more in Miles' direction in the future.
We've seen three major versions of Peter Parker's story on the big screen, through Tobey MacGuire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland, and even all three together gloriously in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Holland once expressed an interest to move on from the role, but seems to be back on board for Spider-Man 4.
He previously told GQ: "Maybe it is time for me to move on. Maybe what's best for Spider-Man is that they do a Miles Morales film. I have to take Peter Parker into account as well, because he is an important part of my life", adding the caveat that "if I'm playing Spider-Man after I'm 30, I've done something wrong".
However, he does seem committed to helping get the story told, as Tom Holland told Inverse in June 2023: "I would be honored to bring Miles Morales into the live-action world. How we do that, I don't know, but given the opportunity, I would jump at it."
A live-action Miles Morales is way past overdue. The latest film even saw Andrew Garfield literally apologising to Jamie Foxx's Shocker for not being a Black Spider-Man. And of course, the cameo of Donald Glover in No Way Home and the reference to his nephew Miles makes the storyline inevitable at some stage.
Yet we've already seen so much more is possible. Across the Spider-Verse had Daniel Kaluuya's Black British rebel Spider-Punk, aka Hobart 'Hobie' Brown, and Spider-Man India (Karan Soni's Pavitr Prabhakar). Both showed there's more depth, humour, costumes, and plot to be delved into through diverse, creative, and simply different versions of Spider-Man beyond Peter Parker, and even beyond the strides Miles has already made.
Spider-Man's Peter Parker first appeared in 1962. Miles first debuted in 2011, and has only been able to front his own story on the big screen in animations, albeit two incredible animations, but it's safe to say that it's way past time for live-action.
Although, it feels inevitable that the tag-team format we've played in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will likely be a blueprint for Tom Holland's next cinematic Spider adventure, as he passes the webs to a newbie.
For now, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is a love letter to the characters (both Miles and Peter). It's fun, well-made, and a must-play PlayStation 5 title. You'll adore the swinging, and can even make it harder to emulate, with more realistic physics and painful-looking falls, like in the much-adored PS2 edition of Spider-Man 2. Meanwhile, you can even add filters to replicate the 'POW' type punches from the comics and even Miles Morales' stuttering stop-motion animation from the Spider-Verse movies.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 touches on huge progressiveness on the outskirts of its story, but similar to the big-budget retellings of the wall-crawler, it could go so much further. We've seen Spidey do New York so much before, and it's a total undeniable classic. But with great power, comes great responsibility. A responsibility to push forward culture, representation, opinion, and acceptance.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has made a great start, but we have so much further to go.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is out now on PlayStation 5.
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