Marvel has said that Insomniac's Spider-Man 2 will present fans with a "darker" follow-up to its previous two installments, comparing the game's tone to The Empire Strikes Back.
Speaking on a recent episode of the This Week in Marvel podcast, Creative Vice President of Marvel Entertainment Bill Rosemann gave fans a brief insight into what they can expect from Spider-Man 2.
"If the first Spider-Man game was Star Wars, Spider-Man 2 is kind of our Empire," Rosemann said. "It gets a little darker." Insomniac's first Spidey adventure did well to set fans up with the studio's take on Peter Parker by exploring elements of the character's superhero secret identity and relationships without leaning too far too early into some of Spidey's grittier storylines.
Similarly, the studio's release of Spider-Man: Miles Morales gave fans a story exploring a teenage Miles establishing himself and finding his rhythm as a superhero while Peter Parker was out of the picture taking annual leave.
That's not to say that neither character faces darker elements within their respective storylines, but there's definitely room for Insomniac to explore further now that both characters have established themselves. From the teaser trailer shown off during Insomniac's reveal of Spider-Man 2 at this year's PlayStation Showcase, we know that the sequel will see Peter and Miles teaming up to take on notorious symbiote villain, Venom.
As a Marvel villain, Venom's appetite for destruction and aggression lends himself well to a darker storyline in Spider-Man 2. While Venom isn't always depicted as being truly evil, such as in Tom Hardy's recent movie adaptations of the character, the symbiote life-form certainly has the potential to create for a far more sinister fully-blown sequel.
Elsewhere in the interview, Rosemann remained relatively tight-lipped when talking about Insomniac's upcoming Wolverine game, which was also showed off in a brief teaser trailer at this year's PlayStation Showcase. "We will eventually reveal when Wolverine is aimed to launch," Rosemann said. "For more, go back and study those trailers – they are packed with details and Easter eggs."
For more on Spider-Man 2 make sure to check out our breakdown of the game's teaser trailer where we explore what villains could be coming to Insomniac's Marvel universe and how Venom could end up featuring in the upcoming sequel. Alternatively, if you'd like a bit more insight into why the game isn't being released until 2023, then check out this article where Venom voice actor Tony Todd talks a little more about the scale of Spider-Man 2.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.