With the release of Spider-Man 2, we thought it'd be nice to a look back at the previous Marvel's Spider-Man games and find out when Spider-Man 2 takes place in the timeline!
In order to be perfectly prepared for Spider-Man 2, we need to take a quick look at the previous games: Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Both games lead in to the story of Spider-Man 2, but with our short recap of the previous games and DLCs, you won't even have had to play them to be able to jump right into Spider-Man 2!
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Marvel's Spider-Man Timeline Explained
Marvel's Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover
You would think that the timeline begins with the first Spider-Man game, but that's not the case. There's a prequel book to the first Spider-Man game – Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover, written by David Liss.
The book leads directly into the events of Marvel's Spider-Man, first introducing Wilson Fisk, aka Kingpin, as he returns to New York, only this time he's built himself a pretty sturdy reputation as an altruistic entrepreneur and philanthropist.
While Peter tries to juggle his responsibilities as both Peter Parker, who's working in a cutting-edge laboratory, and as Spider-Man, who's trying to uncover Kingpin's scheme before it's too late, he also has an evil doppelgänger to worry about – The Blood Spider.
If you want to fread it for yourself, here's a link to Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover .
Marvel's Spider-Man
Insomniac Games' Marvel's Spider-Man takes place shortly after the events of Hostile Takeover. The official time point of the video game is set in 2018-2019.
Marvel's Spider-Man shows a more experienced Peter Parker than we usually see, as he's been Spider-Man for around 8 years already at this point. Still, while he may have mastered his fighting skills, Peter still struggles to balance his personal life and his life as a crime-fighter.
After struggling to deal with Kingpin in the prequel novel, Spider-Man successfully defeats him at the beginning of the game (don't worry, he'll be back, though), which opens up the door for a new crime gang to take over the throne.
The "Inner Demons" try to take over what Wilson Fisk left behind, all while searching for the "Devil's Breath" under the Leadership of Mr. Negative, aka Martin Li.
While Spider-Man is trying to find out what the Inner Demons are up to, he finds out that his place of work, the lab that Dr. Otto Octavius leads, is forcibly shut down by the city's Mayor, Norman Osborn.
Peter finds himself in multiple tricky situations here, as he discoveres:
- Devil's Breath is a bioweapon inadvertently created by Osborn, when trying to create a cure-all, figures out why
- Martin Li has a strong grudge against Osborn because he was a test subject for the cure-all.
- Otto Octavius is plotting revenge against Osborn, but he's losing his sanity due to untested neural implant that he uses to control his new mechanical arms.
In the meantime, Miles' father is killed at a rally for Norman Osborn's reelection, and so he decides to start volunteering at F.E.A.S.T, where he meets and befriends Peter.
Otto Octavius later turns into Doc Ock and frees Mr. Negative, Electro, Vulture, Rhino and Scorpion to form the Sinister Six. Doc Ock takes the Devil's breath and releases it in Times Square, also infecting Aunt May. While Mary Jane informs Peter of the location of the cure, Spider-Man is forced to build a new armored suit in order to defeat Doc Ock, who has beaten Spider-Man and taken Osborn and the cure.
With the help of his new suit, Spider-Man defeats Doc Ock and takes the cure, but there is only enough left to save either Aunt May from dying or to replicate the formula to save everyone else. Peter chooses to save everyone else, which leads to a tearful goodbye from his loved one.
Miles reveals to Peter in the credits' scene that he has gained spider-like powers after he was bitten by a spider that escaped Osborn's personal lab. Additionally, we're shown a teaser for the Symbiote in Osborn's lab, where he has also kept Harry in a tank until he finds a cure for his illness.
The City That Never Sleeps (DLC)
The DLC to Marvel's Spider-Man takes place a few months after the main events of the game and includes three episodes you can play: The Heist, Turf Wars and Silver Lining.
It introduces Peter's ex and master-thief Felicia Hardy aka Black Cat, her father and retired thief Walter Hardy and also the mob boss Hammerhead, who's trying to work his way up the laddder of the criminal underworld.
The DLC also brings back multiple characters from the base game like Yuri Watanabe, Silver Sablinova and Screwball, just to name a few.
If you're interested in playing the DLC, it's included in the Marvel's Spider-Man: Game of The Year Edition .
Marvel's Spider-Man: Velocity
Of course, for those of you that can never get enough of Spider-Man, there's also a tie-in comic called Spider-Man: Velocity . It's a five-part comic series written by Dennis Hopeless that continues the story of the video game Marvel's Spider-Man.
The comics not only show how and why Peter built the Velocity Suit, but also, according to the comic book description:
After the shocking events that turned his life upside down, Spider-Man continues to balance his colliding worlds as he attempts to protect New York City against super villains like Swarm - while reporter Mary Jane Watson delves deep into an investigation with legendary Daily Bugle journalist Ben Urich! As unexplainable occurrences bedevil the city, our heroes come face-to-face with…a poltergeist?! But will teaming up to solve the mystery strengthen Peter and MJ's relationship - or doom it?
Spider-Man: Velocity dives even deeper into the story, so if you're a nerd that loves knowing anything and everything about your favorite superheroes (or super villains), then this short comic series is worth checking out!
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Wings of Fury
If Peter Parker's Spider-Man game got a prequel novel, then so should Miles Morales, right? Well, you're in luck, because that's absolutely the case! Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales – Wings of Fury (what a mouthful) takes place right before the video game Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
The book came out at the same time as the game did, in November 2020, and it depicts Miles' struggles as he fights to figure out what type of Spider-Man he wants to become, all while battling his own personal problems.
Miles eventually teams up with Peter Parker to fight Vulture and his new accomplice, Starling, but will Miles be able to step up to the plate?
If you want to learn more about Miles' struggles in the beginning stages of his newly found powers, then this book is worth a read!
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales takes place in late 2020, so quite some time has passed since the events of the first video game. In the meantime, Miles has completed his Spider-Man training with Peter, and he's now ready to protect his home, Harlem, and the rest of New York City.
Peter puts Miles to the test, going off to Symkaria for a couple of weeks to help MJ with her work as a reporter there and leaving Miles in charge of protecting the city, leaving him as the sole Spider-Man in NYC for the first time.
Just like Peter, Miles struggles to balance his responsibilities as Spider-Man, while also helping his mother Rio Morales run for City Council.
There's a bunch that takes place in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but the short version of the story is: Miles has to protect Harlem and the rest of NYC from an ongoing gang war between Roxxon, an energy company, and the Underground, a high-tech criminal army led by the Tinkerer that are trying to get to Roxxon's experimental power source, Nuform.
The game introduces an important game mechanic known as the Spider-Man app, which allows citizens to call for Spider-Man's help directly. This app will also be featured in Spider-Man 2!
It later turns out that the Tinkerer was Miles' childhood friend Phin, who wants to avenge the death of her brother, as he was poisoned while working on Nuform and killed by Simon Krieger after he tried to sabotage Nuform. Phin and the Underground want to blow up Roxxon Plaza with Nuform in order to show the public how dangerous it actually is, which Krieger attempted to hide.
Miles found that out by working with his uncle Aaron, aka Prowler, who was also spying on Miles for Roxxon.
Phin attempts to go through with her plan but this fails as the overloaded reactor almost destroys all of Harlem, and Miles's mother and his uncle work together to evacuate Harlem. Miles uses that as his chance to talk to Phin, and he convinces her not to go through with it. Ultimately, Phin sacrifices herself to help Miles save the city, by flying him high above the city, so he can release the energy where no one else will be harmed from the explosion besides herself.
Roxxon and Krieger have to face legal consequences for this tumult, as Aaron turned himself in and revealed the truth to law enforcement.
The mid-credits scene reveals that Harry is to be released from his stasis pod, even though his health is still unstable.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Prequel Comic
Don't worry, Spider-Man 2 also comes with a prequel book to get us hyped (and properly informed) for the next installment in the Spider-Man series, but this time it's a comic book! It's literally called Spider-Man 2 (2023) , and it's written by Christos Gage and illustrated by Ig Guara.
The comic shows what Miles and Peter have been up to since Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
It not only gives us insight as to what Peter and MJ were doing in Symkaria, but also shows us a new threat that Peter and Miles have to face together in NYC, as there's a new supernatural gang on the loose that are led by a villain called the Hood.
For more information, you'll have to read the Spider-Man 2 (2023) comics yourself!
Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Spider-Man 2 takes place about 10 months after the events of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Obviously, since the game hasn't come out yet, we can't give you a summary of Spider-Man 2 (we also wouldn't want to spoil your next adventure).
We do know some villains that are making their way to Spider-Man 2, so if you don't want any spoilers, here's your warning!
We can expect to see: Lizard, Kraven the Hunter, Grizzly, Mr. Negative, Sandman and of course – Venom!
I can't wait to see how the story unfolds!
For more information, check out everything that we know about the game so far, as well as other interesting news that you might want to check out!