New Spider-Man 2 trailer reveals hench Venom and returning foes for the first time

Insomniac Games released a new trailer for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 last night.

While relatively short, coming in at just shy of two minutes, it covered a fair amount of ground, giving us a peak at some of the ordeals that will be heading Peter, Miles and MJ’s way this Autumn.

Notably, we got a look at Harry Osborn out and about with his friends again following a period in stasis, and of course, what we have all been waiting for – Venom. See for yourself in the video below.

So what’s going on here then? Let’s break it down – beware some spoilers for the first game.

Insomniac has said that Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will take place 9-10 months after the events of Miles Morales. We can see this time jump shown in the characters’ updated looks, with both MJ and Miles sporting slightly different hairstyles.

But, more important than new coifs, during this time Harry Osborn has been released from the mysterious tank that was keeping him in a coma at the end of Marvel’s Spider-Man.

The trailer opens with Harry reflecting on this, noting that a lot has happened, and it is a “miracle” he is still here. He then tells Peter he is going to “heal the world”. An important bit of foreshadowing? I certainly think so, as while this trailer doesn’t explicitly say, it seems to be setting up Harry as Venom.

Towards the end of the trailer, the hulking great mass of Venom is finally shown on screen in all his glory. Just before he makes his debut by leaping bodily onto what appears to be one of Kraven’s helicopters (more on Kraven in a moment), the ominous vocal stylings of Venom actor Tony Todd proclaim “we’re going to heal the world”, reflecting Harry’s earlier comment.

Again, while Insomniac has not said one way or the other yet, I would put money on Harry being Venom. We did see that symbiote substance in his tank, after all. I just hope this sets up Norman Osborn’s Green Goblin for a third Spider-Man instalment.

Elsewhere in the trailer, we get another look at Kraven and his band of hunters. They featured prominently in this years’ earlier gameplay trailer, which also hinted more villains would be showing up on Spider-Man 2’s release.

I previously asked Spider-Man 2’s creative director Bryan Intihar about concerns the game has tried to pack in too many characters, and he assured me this wasn’t going to be an issue.

“I think that our job is to really just, whatever we put in the game, to make it the highest quality we can. And everything that people think they saw in that Kraven reveal, there may be more. Again, it comes down to whatever we put in the game, it’s at the highest quality we can deliver. And I think when people play the game, they’re gonna see that,” he told me.

Why am I suddenly sharing this little nugget with you now? Well, it’s because I think we got to see Wraith in this trailer (more than just on Kraven’s little iPad screen thing). There is a moment in this footage where the camera pans to a figure standing in front of a burning building. While I can’t say 100 percent for sure, the silhouette really looks like this is Insomniac’s Wraith.

As for other villains, we got a little moment showing Miles confronting Martin Li, aka Mr Negative.

This suggests Miles will be facing some of his personal demons in the Spider-Man sequel, with Martin Li being responsible for his father’s death.

As for Kraven, I actually don’t think he is going to be as much of a part in the sequel as earlier trailers may have suggested.

Having watched this trailer again (and again), I almost suspect that a lot of his presence is fairly early to mid game stuff. Much like the way in the first Spider-Man game Mr Negative was our main ‘big bad’ before focus moved on to Doc Ock.

Perhaps it’s Kraven’s arrival in New York that triggers the events of the overarching story, such as Peter and (I am guessing) Harry seeking out the symbiote as a means to help rid the city of these hunters. This is all my speculation, however, so I would love to hear your thoughts.

We also actually got to see what I am guessing is the symbiote arriving in New York, in the sense that a writhing black tentacular something can be seen amongst flames and scorched earth.

Does this mean that the symbiote that infects Peter is different to the one that infects Venom/Harry, which I presume is the one we have seen in the stasis tank?

As for that infecting symbiote, this trailer once again shows the impact it has on Peter’s once amiable character. MJ and Miles are shown at points to be untrusting of Peter, saying he is “not himself”.

This tracks with what the developers have said previously, with Intihar describing the Symbiote suit’s effects on Peter Parker as an addiction.

When we discussed this point, he said: “It’s about really playing into those themes of addiction, how that can impact someone’s personality, impact the people around them, and you’re going to see that it’s not just how it’s impacting Peter on his own, but also those close to him.

“You’re going to see that play out throughout the game.”

I think we have seen a little bit of it already.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is set to launch on PlayStation 5 on 20th October.