Who will be the next Marvel’s Spider-Man game villain?

❘ Updated: 2023-10-25T12:07:17

Insomniac Games

Are you wondering who will be next Marvel’s Spider-Man game villain? If you’ve played through Insomniac’s latest adventure and are looking toward the future, here’s what we know about Marvel’s Spider-Man 3.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is here, and players are out there enjoying this virtual recreation of New York as everyone’s favorite web-slinger. There’s a lot for you to explore too, be that taking a moment to stop and take a photo or track down Unidentified Targets, New York holds a lot for you to do.

However, if you’ve been flying through the story, you may have a lot of questions as to what’s next for Peter Parker and Miles Morales. Or, maybe you’re willing to forego spoilers and want to know where the series is headed even before you play. We’re not here to judge.

What, we are here to do is shed some light on the situation. Here are our best guesses on what villains could be coming in the next Spider-Man game based on what happens in the game.

Just in case it isn’t obvious, this article will contain end-game spoilers.

Green Goblin

The Green Goblin is the most obvious option for the next Marvel’s Spider-Man game villain. This has been a thread that Insomniac has been pulling on for the past two games, though relatively lightly. Norman Osborn, the usual Green Goblin, has been prominent in both games as a force in Peter’s life. That is made even more explicitly clear in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 with the reintroduction of his son Harry into Peter’s life.

Following the end of the events of the sequel though, it seems the Green Goblin is ready to take the stage. Harry ends up in a coma at the end of the game with little chance of waking up. Norman, in a last-ditch effort, tells someone to prepare the G-Serum, a not-so-veiled reference to the Green Goblin.

More than that, Norman blames Spider-Man for the state of his son. This gives Norman the motivation to talk to his one-time rival, Otto Octavius about how to take down the web-slinger. The real question is if Norman himself will become the Green Goblin, or if his son Harry will. Harry has already taken on the moniker of Venom, could he also be about to become the Green Goblin himself?

But let’s not forget, that it’s entirely possible for different people to hold the mantle of certain villains in Spider-Man lore. Afterall, there have been multiple Goblins and Venoms in the comics.

Doctor Octopus

As stated, Otto Octavius is featured in one of the post-credit cutscenes, with Norman seemingly turning to his one-time partner. Osborn has been locked up in the Raft since the events of the first game, but it’s clear he’s not been sitting on his hands.

Otto Octavius has clearly been planning something with his time in prison. He has apparently written a scheme down – something he calls ‘the final chapter’. It’s becoming that clear whatever happens in Marvel’s Spider-Man 3, he will be involved. However, will he get his arms back, and become Doctor Octopus again? And will he reveal Spider-Man’s identity to Norman? We will have to see.

Chameleon

Through tracking down a series of unidentified targets that Kraven was hunting, you’re able to finally track down Dmitri Smerdyakov. For Spider-Man fans, you’ll know this villain as the Chameleon, a bad guy who is able to morph into the face of anyone. He never came face-to-face with Spider-Man, but you do explore his apartment, and see a cutscene of him once you finish the side-missions.

There are a couple of things we know about the Chameleon in this universe. Firstly, he has tussled with Peter Parker in the past. Their inevitable future clash won’t be their first. However, interestingly, we also find out he is the half-brother of Kraven the Hunter. This should make Kraven’s influence be felt in the future of the series. That’s even though he had his head eaten in the main story of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

Carnage

It doesn’t appear we are done with the symbiotes in the Marvel’s Spider-Man universe, even with the fall of Venom. In a Peter Parker side story, he and Wraith look into a cult called the Flame. This cult is run by an unknown red-headed figure, though it’s clear he and Wraith have a history from her time as a police officer.

It’s eventually revealed that this figurehead goes by many aliases, one of which is Cletus Cassidy. Spider-Man fans will know, that that’s the name of the serial killer who eventually dons a symbiote and becomes Carnage in a range of Spider-Man media.

Indeed, by the end of the side story, we see Cletus steal a second Symbiote from Oscorp and disappear. This is very clearly setting up a Carnage arch at some point in the future. The big question is will we see this in the next game, or will it be DLC? Insomniac may not want to throw yet another symbiote into the limelight of the third entry. That’s why it might make sense to keep it within the confines of DLC for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. We will have to see.