Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 writers recently explained the actual meaning behind the game’s ending, which made everyone tear up. The sequel seems to be the main topic of conversation among players after having featured an amazing story full of exciting challenges, twists and turns.
In short, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 showcased the return of both Peter Parker and Miles Morales together in the same game as they fight against two of the most evil Marvel villains: Venom and Kraven the Hunter. It’s important to note that the rest of this article contains spoilers for Spider-Man 2!
The Meaning Behind The Ending Of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Once Venom was successfully defeated and New York (as well as the rest of the world) was saved from a symbiote-infused invasion, Peter and MJ decided to host a dinner at May’s house in Queens. They also invited Miles Morales and his mother, Rio Morales, Ganke, and Hailey. Later, Peter takes Mary Jane outside to share his plan with her about reviving the Emily-May Foundation from their garage.
This emotional moment is disrupted by the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man app, which sends out an alert before MJ can ask Peter if he has "talked to Miles about..." and then points toward the Emily-May Foundation. Peter claims that he hasn’t yet told him about it, and then Miles comes out suited up and ready to go out as Spider-Man. Peter struggles in telling him that he wants to take a break from the crime-fighting business and focus on other priorities in his life.
Miles supports Peter in his decision and says, “I got this. All of it. Go be Peter Parker for a while." When Peter points out that it’s a big city and if he’s sure about it, Miles tells him that he can take care of it "as long as [he] can still call [him] for advice." Peter tells the other Spider-Man that he doesn’t really need his advice before he goes on to hug him.
This can be considered a moment in which Peter is most probably passing the torch from one Spider-Man to another. The ending of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was somewhat unclear, and players can’t figure out whether Peter was stepping down from the title for good or simply transferring a lot more responsibility to Miles.
In an interview with Gizmodo, Insomniac Games’ advanced writer Brittney Morris and narrative director Ben Arfmann discussed the actual meaning behind the game’s ending. They confirmed that Miles Morales is now going to be the main Spider-Man in the future while Peter rests. Morris explained that the transition from Peter to Miles as the main Spider-Man “always felt very natural:”
It always felt very natural, and I think we all collectively thought it would happen. To me, it shows a great deal of evolution from Miles; at the beginning of the game, we see him struggling to figure out what he wants to do with his life. By the end, we had Miles carrying the burden of saving the city, and also carrying Pete when Pete wasn’t strong enough to carry himself at various points.
The Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 writer then shared that "Miles is more confident" by the end of the game, further solidifying his status as New York’s lead web-slinger. She said:
That’s what’s been so cool about writing a story about two Spider-Men: they’re both strong, and one of them can be strong when the other is not. By the end, Miles is more confident and he’s like, 'Yeah, I got this. How much worse can things get after what we just went through?'
Arfmann then said that Insomniac Games knew they "wanted to have that moment of handing the reins over" while being in the early stages of development. They acknowledged the fact that the moment Miles and Peter share in the end "just felt more and more right:"
To echo what Brittney said: the idea of a two Spider-Man story was always really essential to this game. I think pretty early on, we knew that we wanted to have that moment of handing the reins over. And as we developed it, as we started to lay down more track leading up to that moment, it just felt more and more right.
The sequel’s narrative director then finished by explaining that they "always felt" that the moment in which Peter passed on the torch to Miles was "the only way the game could end:"
I think it was Jon [Paquette] who wrote that scene in Aunt May’s garage, and it’s one of my favorite scenes. The way that Miles intuits exactly what Pete is thinking and stops him from stumbling through trying to hand over the mask. Miles goes, 'You know I got this, bro,' it’s such a great moment between the two of them. And it felt like such a natural conclusion; I’m not sure when specifically we decided to do that, but it always felt like the only way the game could end.
However, there’s a chance that Peter Parker might wear the suit once again in the unofficial Marvel’s Spider-Man 3 game. We’ll just have to wait and see what the future holds. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is currently available to play on PlayStation 5.
