Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Review: 4 Ups & 2 Downs

Ups...

4. An Expertly-Crafted Story That Challenges What It Means To Be Spider-Man

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 starts with Peter and Miles both fully-fledged Spider-Men but still - in typical Spidey fashion -struggling to make their double lives work. Miles is having a hard time writing his university application because he's so invested in being Spider-Man - both as a noble cause but also as a distraction - while Peter is failing to move on from Aunt May's death and find a job his web-slinging won't bounce him straight out of.

Challenging questions are further posed by the emergence of the vicious Kraven the Hunter, who comes to New York in search of the ultimate prey, as well as the return of childhood friend Harry Osborn. Oh, and there's the symbiote too, which exacerbates all the above and leads to some of the most emotionally raw moments we've had from the series yet. While I obviously won't be getting into the how and why that happens in this review for the sake of keeping everything spoiler-free, what I will say is that the story of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 really delves deep into that old credo of great responsibility accompanying great power, and what happens when that responsibility ultimately overwhelms.

This narrative crux sustains the game from start to end, interrogating Uncle Ben's famous words and - in a way that draws a throughline between the game and the recent Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - challenges what it means to be Spider-Man. How many times have we watched Peter or Miles suffer personal cost by being a superhero? It's an accepted, tragic element of the entire Spidey identity, but what Marvel's Spider-Man 2 does so well is that it upsets that status quo. Is Peter and Miles' commitment to being the best Spider-Man ever an achievable, healthy goal? Or does having such a goal hurt both their personal orbit and the New Yorkers they're trying to protect?

Balance, in all its myriad forms, is very much the main theme here - a theme Insomniac deftly weaves into a story that also broaches trauma, loss, and what "moving on" actually looks like. It's deeply - sometimes exhaustingly - affecting, particularly for a 20-something reviewer whose life has strangely aligned with Insomniac's Peter since 2018, but there's plenty of excitement, fun, and humour to keep things from getting too morose as well. There are some truly magnificent swings Insomniac takes with the story as it reimagines the Black Costume Saga and some that I don't think anyone is ready for, but again, no spoilers.