Note: This article contains story spoilers for the post-credits scene and story of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. You have been warned.
Now, we’re jumping the gun a little bit with this article, but judging from the ending of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, it seems like Insomniac did leave the door open for more Spider-Man adventures. Whether that comes in the form of another Miles Morales game or a mainline entry in the series is unclear, but considering Sony’s success with these games so far , leaving them alone would be a big mistake.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 delivers a ton of villains. Sandman, Lizard, Kraven the Hunter, and of course Venom. The latter two are key bad guys in the game, but with Kraven being chewed into literal pieces by Venom and the symbiote himself seemingly destroyed by the end of the game, there’s plenty of room for a new, major threat to come to New York. The only question is: who will be the next main villain in Marvel’s Spider-Man 3?
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Our first pick is one of the most iconic villains in gaming yet to be touched upon. Green Goblin. As we saw in the post-credits scene of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Norman Osborn is seeking to cure Harry’s condition using something called the G-Serum. In the comics, it was Norman who used the serum, which gave him superpowers but also transformed him into the insane Green Goblin. However, it looks like Insomniac is setting up the role for Harry. It does make sense, but it feels a bit like we’re treading on old ground. It would be repetitive if Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 made Harley a villain again just because of an untested cure. We already had that in Venom, and while it would be interesting to see Peter’s reaction to his best friend cheating on him again, it’s hard to imagine him doing anything other than trying to make the case for Harry fixing himself again.
Regardless, there’s always the possibility that the G-serum is owned by Norman, which at least doesn’t make Harry the bad guy again, but regardless, it looks like we’re definitely getting the Green Goblin in some form, which is great because that would be We get our first look at a classic villain outside of comic and animated material since Willem Dafoe played him. There’s also the possibility that if Harry was the one who went crazy over the G-serum, we’d also have to deal with the Hobgoblin instead of the Green Goblin, but Insomnia has been known to change the origins of certain characters in the past, so whoever gets it G-serum, we’ve all probably seen the Green Goblin in the lesser-known Hobgoblin.
Anyway, enough of the goblin talk for now. As we’ve seen with Marvel’s Spider-Man and its sequels, Insomnia really likes having two main villains in its stories. Mr. Negative and Doctor Octopus. Kraven and Venom. One takes up most of the game, while the other leads into a killer third act. This means that if the Green Goblin is just one of the two, we at least have another spot to fill and a few extra villains to sprinkle in.
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Carnage is another iconic Spider-Man villain who was teased at the end of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Fire side mission. The cult leader known as the Flame comes armed with a sample of the Venom symbiote and outright says he’s going to cause carnage, so it’s pretty clear where his character is headed. There are theories that we could get an expansion featuring Carnage, which is definitely possible, but there’s also the option of letting Insomniac explore the cult storyline he and they established in another game.
There’s also a slim chance Venom will return. We wouldn’t look beyond Insomniac to resurrect one of Spider-Man’s most beloved characters, especially if Carnage would gain traction later on. Whether it’s illustrating the villain or teaming up with Spider-Man to fight him, fans are eager to see Venom again, especially after the impression he made the first time around.
Beyond these options, with so many villains killed by Kraven or reformed in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, we’re kind of out of options. It’s possible Doc Oak could return, which could cause some trauma to Peter, much like Mr. Negative did to Miles in the second game, but other than that, there aren’t many options. Black Cat has always been more of an antihero than an outright villain. We could see Taskmaster return, but it would take a lot of work to make him a serious threat like Kraven or Venom. Morbius is a classic Spider-Man villain that might come out of the woodwork, but after the atrocious Jared Leto movie, even Insomniac might not even get us hyped for it.
Who do you think the main villain of Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 will be?
