The ostensible villain of Insomniac's Spider-Man and a man torn between two worlds, Martin Li is a relatively new character in Spider-Man's mythos.
Introduced by writer Dan Slott and Phil Jimenez some ten years ago, Mister Negative has squared off against Spider-Man, Punisher and even mutants Cloak & Dagger on occasion. He was, however, introduced as a Spidey rogue, and with Insomniac having focused on the character for the vast majority of the game's marketing, he looks to be taking on an ancillary role in its story.
Deception isn't an uncommon trait when it comes to superhero adaptations though. Warner Bros. Montreal were adamant that Black Mask, not Joker, was the main villain of Batman: Arkham Origins, and we all know how that turned out.
This isn't to say that Mister Negative can't anchor a story on his own, but with Kingpin waiting in the wings and other Spidey rogues already confirmed to exist, the door is open for Negative to form an ensemble with other Spidey villains.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
