Spider-Man's greatest foe, Venom, is a fun character, but he's been seen many, many times in comics, video games and beyond. The Marvel's Spider-Man 2 reveal trailer revealed that the symbiote will return for Insomniac's sequel, which puts the game in a challenging position. If successful, it could distinguish itself and reinvigorate the fanbase's love for the character. However, it also runs the risk of being a huge disappointment.
The game needs to avoid brushing Venom's story to the side the way its predecessor did with some of its antagonists. If it is to blow fans away with its depiction of Venom, Insomniac needs to look at how the iconic symbiote supervillain has been presented to gamers before. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 should take notes from developer Shaba Games' Spider-Man: Web of Shadows and Neversoft's Spider-Man. One of those games gets Venom right, while the other gets him completely wrong.
Web of Shadows didn't seem to understand why Venom works as a character. Populating a city with symbiotes and bonded versions of iconic superheroes and supervillains might seem like fun in theory, but as the basis for a video game, it proved to be over the top. Web of Shadows missed the entire point of who Venom is, which is far more complex than being another hulking monster jumping around, trying to invade the planet. In contrast, 2000's Spider-Man captured that almost perfectly. To understand the crucial points these games hit or miss, it's important to understand who Venom really is in the comics.
Venom made his first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #300 (written by David Michelinie with artwork by Todd McFarlane) with a design intended to highlight the monstrous nature of the symbiote, burying the human within. In fact, McFarlane came up with Venom's look before he was told Eddie Brock was inside the suit. All it was at that point was the living costume Spider-Man had once worn, now driven by vengeance and hatred for how the wall-crawler spurned it. It was driven to Brock by the former Daily Bugle journalist's shared loathing for Spidey.
Brock had his own reasons to hate the web-head. Spider-Man's capture of Sin-Eater led to Brock's ruin after the journalist got Sin-Eater's true identity wrong. Brock lost his credibility and couldn't find work. He lost his wife, his family and suffered a decline in his mental health. As he hit his lowest point, Eddie found the symbiote and a new purpose: to kill Spider-Man.
Everything about Venom reflected his roots and drive. He was obsessed with Spider-Man, and it showed in features like the warped spider symbol he wore on his chest and some of the abilities the symbiote chose to use. As a character, Venom was a corruption of everything Spider-Man stood for, possessing a misguided sense of morality and refusing to take responsibility for his own failures and actions.
That being said, Venom has never been evil per se. Michelini even introduced the Carnage symbiote later on to make Venom's antiheroic qualities more obvious. Venom was not a villain for the same reasons as other members of Spider-Man's rogues' gallery. Venom acted, in his own twisted way, to protect the innocent.
When it comes to video game adaptations, none has hit the nail on the head more effectively than 2000's Spider-Man. Much like Web of Shadows, Spider-Man featured a symbiote invasion, albeit on a far smaller scale. The difference between the two games is that Spider-Man placed heavy focus on Eddie Brock and Venom, distancing them from the mindless, hostless symbiotes players would fight later on. The introductory cinematic quickly established the internal conflict, insecurity and anger that drove Eddie Brock and his view of Spider-Man. When Spider-Man proved his innocence, Venom aided the superhero in his fight against the game's true antagonists: Doc Ock and Carnage.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 shouldn't necessarily take the same lighthearted approach to Venom as 2000's Spider-Man, but it should place some focus on Venom's drive and internal struggle. It's uncertain if Eddie Brock will be the alien symbiote's host in Insomniac's game or, as some have speculated, the host will be Harry Osborn. Either way, Insomniac has an opportunity to depict Venom as more than just the monster, and it needs to take advantage of that by delving into the symbiote's hatred for Spider-Man and desire to be a lethal protector.
It's hinted that Kraven the Hunter is in this game, but he shouldn't steal the spotlight from the more complex villain. Judging from Kraven's monologue in the trailer, it would appear that the animalistic villain will resemble his comic book counterpart in motivation. A supervillain searching for a challenging hunt is not as interesting as an aspiring hero twisted by hatred and insecurity.
With Marvel's Spider-Man, Insomniac has proven that even the most die-hard Spidey fans can trust the developer with the mythos. Treyarch's stab at Venom in Ultimate Spider-Man was nowhere near as great, Beenox's Spider-Man: Friend or Foe certainly never came close to succeeding and, of course, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows gave it a decent try, but failed. Venom is a difficult character to get right, but Insomniac could gives fans a Venom story unlike any other.
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