Insomniac Games had it well saved and has finally confirmed the date we wanted so much. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will land on PS5 on October 20 and will do so with the fearsome threat of Venom hanging around Peter Parker and Miles Morales. The Summer Game Fest 2023 has allowed us to see the powerful villain in more detail, although a really important detail has been announced.
The developer has confirmed that the symbiote will not bond with Eddie Brock, which completely breaks with the classic approach of the Daily Globe journalist owning the suit. While we wait to resolve the questions of who might be under the dark mass, we can turn to Marvel comics for answers.
Lee Price
A character not very well known in the idiosyncrasy of the wall-crawler, but there are enough ingredients to think that he would be the host. Lee was known to be a very violent former soldier who came to associate with Mac Gargan, the Scorpion, to carry out work in charge of the criminal organization of the Black Cat.
Tombstone himself was involved in the operation that did not materialize as agreed, so both the client and the employees began a pitched battle. In the middle of the fray, the symbiote appeared to merge with Lee, who proved to have an iron will with which he managed to dominate the alien. Thus, he became an unstoppable force that was difficult to handle and wiped out all the participants in the fight.
As we see, we have the Black Cat and Tombstone in the equation, because they are characters that have already appeared in Marvel’s Spider-Man and it would not be too difficult to believe that Price was Venom. All in all, there are much juicier options out there.
Mac Gargan
Be very careful that Mac Gargan becomes Venom, because there are many factors that make it possible. First of all, the character itself has already appeared in Marvel’s Spider-Man, although it would be necessary to explain how he would be able to escape from prison. Be that as it may, we are talking about an extremely violent man who has been seen in all colors with Spider-Man, but in the version of him with the symbiote he showed unusual aggressiveness.
It all started when Norman Osborn revealed the identity of the web-slinger to the villain and ordered him to kidnap Aunt May. At that moment the symbiote appeared, looking for a new host, and found the perfect host in Gargan. With a massive criminal record and a visceral hatred for Spider-Man, the union took place to create a new Venom. Once again, we can see that in this case the owner of Oscorp Industries has a relevant role in the plot and it could be justified that he resorts to the villain in the video game.
This could be because Peter somehow appropriated the parasite, which aims to be Harry Osborn’s life support. Given this fact, the businessman would resort to illegal methods to recover it and thus this version would originate. On the other hand, Mac Gargan’s Venom is one of the largest seen to date and that is precisely what emerges from the illustration revealed by Insomniac Games, as well as from the collector’s edition figure. The size of the character is much higher compared to Peter and Miles.
Flash Tompson
¿Do you remember Flash Tompson in Marvel’s Spider-Man?? Most likely not, since Peter Parker’s stalker in high school does not appear at any time, but the protagonist does mention it. The Flash exists in the universe created by Insomniac Games, as Parker mentions that his friend is helping army veterans.
That’s precisely what Flash is doing in the comics just before the symbiote becomes a part of his life. The athlete enlisted in the army to fight in the Iraq war, but unfortunately he lost both his legs in the battle. When the time came, he decided to enlist in the Rebirth 2.0 project, which consisted of using the symbiote in a host to create a super soldier. Flash became said host and for a very long time he was a US government hero who went by the name Agent Venom.
The small detail that had to take into account Flash is that he could not stay more than 48 hours with the parasite on, since it could begin to break his will to control him. There is a big difference between Agent Venom and what the developer has shown so far, but the possibility cannot be ruled out.
Angelo Fortunato
One of the most pitiful hosts ever to enjoy Venom. Angelo Fortunato was the son of a mafia boss who continually humiliated him because of his unimposing appearance and attitude. Don Fortunato goes to an auction in which the big prize is the very symbiote, which he manages to win for 100 million dollars. Angelo gets the black suit, discovers Spider-Man’s secret identity and decides to kill him to prove his worth.
The result is that he is no match for the wall-crawler and the symbiote abandons him because he doesn’t want to bond with a loser like Fortunato. The problem is that it separates from him in midair, so the character falls into the void without the hero being able to do anything and dies. The truth is, it would be very rare for Insomniac Games to bet on this host.
Bonus track: the characters that are already in the game
Venom has joined many other characters from the Marvel factory, be it Peter Parker in the body of Doctor Octopus, Ms. Marvel, Anne Weying (Eddie Brock’s wife) and even Mysterio, but they are fortuitous unions or that would not be possible in the context that handles Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. For this reason, we must look at the current roster of characters that the studio has arranged on the table.
Norman Osborn, Kraven and Flash Thompson seem like suitable candidates, although my personal bet is Osborn’s. He is the closest evil character to the symbiote and would be a surprising twist to decide that he will not finally be the Green Goblin, but Venom. The spark for his fusion could be due to revenge against Spider-Man for taking the life support of his son and thus he would know all the secrets that Parker hides. In the case of Kraven, it would be a bit disappointing to use the same character for two such emblematic roles, although it cannot be ruled out. Finally, Thompson could be perfectly introduced in the plot so that he rebels against Peter and Miles, although he would have to have a compelling reason to do so, since in the comics he is the biggest fan of the arachnid.
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