Summary
TheMarvel’s Spider-Man 2story trailer at SDCC 2023 evoked a ton of interesting parallels between it and other Spider-Man media.Harry Osborn being revealedas a character who’s released from his stasis chamber has clear parallels between his depiction inThe Amazing Spider-Man 2, for example, and just like in that sequel he seems pivotal to the plot. There obviously could be some shots in the trailer intended to be red herrings, and an abundance of speculation is sure to come from the many montage shots that briefly appear near the end.
One such shot involvesMarvel’s Spider-Man 2’s Mary Jane Watson, who has had fans questioning her decidedly new look. This particular shot shows her ducking into cover and seemingly hiding from Peter Parker, who comes dropping into view wearing the symbiote. This cuts away quickly and is only about a second long, but unless another villain or enemy is somewhere in the area it looks fairly explicit that she is purposefully hiding from Peter while the symbiote has affected him negatively. Insomniac has the opportunity now to make this sequence harrowing by reintroducing the franchise’s most divisive moments through a terrifying new lens.
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Mary Jane Being Playable Again Could Turn Peter into a Horrific Pursuer Enemy
Being able to play as a powerless Miles Morales and a mild-mannered Mary Jane was a great way for Insomniac to portray characters without abilities. This way, gameplay was made more dynamic at the cost of having it be arguably less interesting at times, especially because these sequences revolve almost entirely around stealth which is less fun than when Spider-Man can sneakily pick enemies off one by one. That’s what madeMary Jane’s Grand Central Terminal levelfun since she put out hits on isolated Inner Demons for Peter to incapacitate.
Otherwise, it would be difficult to find sequences where playing as Spider-Man was less fun than MJ or Miles. It would be surprising, then, if Insomniac has chosen to reprise these kinds of sequences in the sequel, butMarvel’s Spider-Man 2ironicallyestablishes a wonderful moment to do so. Mary Jane’s stealth was elementary and relatively unengaging while maneuvering through Tombstone’s garage or within a Sable outpost, for example, but having her fleeing from Peter in a horrifying pursuit sequence could be exhilarating.
IfMarvel’s Spider-Man 2could emulateMr. X from theResident Evil 2remakeand depict Peter as a sinister pursuer enemy, playing as Mary Jane could be frightening with an appropriate length and jump scares. Mary Jane wouldn’t be able to easily outrun Peter, but hiding here and there while evading him could be nerve-wracking until Miles suddenly appears to rescue her, and gameplay could swap to him for a boss fight, perhaps. It will be interesting to see why Peter is pursuing Mary Jane if that is what transpires in the sequence at all, but it could also turn out that she is simply hiding while he arrives someplace and he doesn’t know she is there.
Either way, Mary Jane likely thinks he is a threat at this point due to the dissociated lines of dialogue that are heard of hers while the shot is seen: “He’s not himself” and “Go help him” while talking to Miles. It’s already been heavily teased that Miles’ bioelectricity will be what repels the symbiote from Peter, but in the meantime, a pursuit sequence with Mary Jane running froma tendril-laden Petercould be a moment of horror that the franchise should lean into.
