Insomniac’sSpider-Manseries takes place in a fairly well-established Marvel universe. Though no other Marvel heroes make full cameo appearances, Nelson and Murdock’s law firm can be found in Hell’s Kitchen in the firstMarvel’s Spider-Man, as can Jessica Jones' Alias Investigations office, andMarvel’s Spider-Man 2features a chase sequence where Black Cat steals a magical device from the Sanctum Sanctorum. But Insomniac’s Marvel universe was about to get a whole lot bigger.
In December 2023, Insomniac was hacked by a ransomware group. This resulted in a slew of confidential documents and files being leaked to the public, many of which discussed unannounced in-development projects. According to these leaked files, amultiplayer Spider-Verse gamewas once in the works at Insomniac, though it was seemingly canceled during development. But the potential of a Spider-Verse game is simply too great to leave alone, especially when the perfect groundwork for one already exists.
A Single-Player Spider-Verse Game Deserves Another Shot
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions Laid The Groundwork for a Spider-Verse Game 15 Years Ago
Released in September 2010,Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensionssees players take control of four different Spider-Men, each one coming from an alternate Marvel universe. Now household variants,Shattered Dimensionsfeatures the classicEarth-616 Spider-Man, his Ultimate universe counterpart, Spider-Man 2099, and Spider-Man Noir, all of whom are forced to work together when Mysterio fractures the Tablet of Order and Chaos.
Each level follows a different Spider-Man through their distinct reality as they take down well-known Marvel universe threats like Sandman, Kraven the Hunter, Electro, and Juggernaut. Each Spidey has a unique moveset and their levels focus on a different style of gameplay, such asSpider-Man Noir’s playstylerevolving around stealth and Ultimate Spider-Man’s playstyle centering around his powerful Symbiote abilities.
WhenSpider-Man: Shattered Dimensionscame out, the concept of a Spider-Verse wasn’t a fully established thing. Though the last few episodes ofthe 90sSpider-Mancartoonbrought together a handful of Spider-Men from different realities, and the comics explored alternate versions of the Wall-Crawler, the Spider-Verse as fans know it today didn’t exist until 2014’sAmazing Spider-Man #9.
Dan Slott, a writer onSpider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, went on to write the 2014Spider-Versecomic run.
Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensionsmay not feature a massive open-world or a ton of optional content, but its linearity helps to keep its experience concise and well-paced. Even 15 years later,Shattered Dimensions' formula still lays the perfect blueprint for a modern Spider-Verse game.
How a Modern Spider-Verse Game Could Put a Modern Spin on Shattered Dimensions' Formula
While a linear, mission-based Spider-Verse game could be great, many fans expect a modernAAA superhero adventureto be open-world. A Spider-Verse game could go above and beyond by offering not just one open-world, but multiple, each one themed around an alternate Marvel universe. These would be inhabited by unique enemies, buildings, and bosses that put fresh spins on classic Spidey villains.
Of course, these distinct open-worlds would be accompanied by a set of distinct playable characters, each with a unique set of attack and traversal animations, and each with a slightly different set of abilities.Shattered Dimensions' Spider-Man line-up would still work all these years later, but it might be smart to swap out the Ultimate version of Spidey for a more popular variant like Gwen Stacey’s Ghost Spider.
