Peter Parker and Miles Morales’ Spider-Men finally take on fan-favorite villain Venom in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. The arrival of the Venom symbiote had been teased from the first moment. Marvel’s Spider-ManThe post-credits scene, and Insomniac Games has taken inspiration from various media and made its own changes to create its own spin on the Venom saga.
The story of Insomniac’s Venom begins with elements familiar to fans of both the The last Spiderman comics and the television show of the same name. The suit is used as a way to treat illnesses, as in the comics, and creates bonds with Harry Osborn, as it did in the television show. This was used to tell a story that was much more personal to Peter and Mary Jane, as defeating Venom could result in the loss of a close friend, as Harry was diagnosed with a terminal illness and the suit was the only thing keeping him safe. kept alive. Later in the game, however, Insomniac took more from Donny Cates. Poison comics in their designs of a winged Venom and showing Venom taking command of an army of symbiotes.
As the symbiote invasion spreads across New York in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2In the third act, the symbol found on the symbiotes and the icon of their nests is that of the Symbiote God, Knull, who was also created as part of Cates. Poison run.
What are the weaknesses of symbiotes?
The symbiotes have had several weaknesses over the years
When the Venom symbiote was first introduced in 1984, it appeared as a new suit for Peter Parker after his previous one was destroyed during the secret wars comic arc. Only after returning home and studying him with people like Mr. Fantastic did she discover that he was alive and was corrupting Peter and changing his behavior for the worse. In the years that followed, Spiderman The media has explored the symbiote’s weaknesses, the two main ones being vulnerability to intense sounds and heat.
Other stories have introduced other man-made weaknesses, such as chemical dopamine inhibitors that could keep the symbiotes in check, and Tony Stark once transformed Dr. Doom’s virus-like biological organisms from being a biological weapon to a antidote for symbiotes. There is also the symbiont element that requires the chemical phenethylamine to survive, which is often found in chocolate and human brain tissue. This has resulted in Venom having some cannibalistic traits in some media and is often used as one of the main causes of Eddie Brock and Venom’s feuds in the Poison films.
Fire does not harm the symbiote in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Symbiotes have fewer weaknesses in Insomniac history
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 makes it clear that its depiction of the symbiote would not have the same weaknesses as other media from the beginning. In one sequence, Peter and Harry, carrying the symbiote with an appearance inspired by Agent Venom, infiltrate one of Kraven’s lairs in a steel mill to rescue a refurbished tombstone. Understandably, the steel mill is extremely hot, with large fires and vats of molten metal around. Longtime Venom fans were probably hoping to see some kind of reaction from Harry to this intense heat, but Peter directly asks Harry if the fire bothers him, and he says that he doesn’t even feel it.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2Senior Creative Director Bryan Intihar spoke about the symbiote immunity to fire in an episode of IGNPodcast beyond. Intihar stated that the symbiotes having multiple weaknesses posed a problem for the team, as they discussed how they could convey them all in the story. Therefore, the decision was made to reduce Venom’s weaknesses to only high-frequency sounds.
These high-frequency sounds can be seen impacting the symbiote in scenes such as Peter’s confrontation with Kraven in the church where he rings the bell and first detects this weakness, as well as when the Lizard roars during his fight with a powered-up Peter. the symbiote It is also used in the game when Miles uses a bell to weaken the suit’s control over Peter in a fight between Spider-Man and Spider-Man, and later through an enhanced sonic device.
The church bell sequence is a nod to other Spiderman media like classic Amazing Spider-Man comics, 90s animated Spiderman show, and the spider man 3 Movie where Peter goes to a church steeple to take off the suit himself after seeing how much it is corrupting him.
The entire subplot would likely have had to be changed if the symbiotes had been weakened by fire, as pyrotechnics-obsessed cult leader “The Flame” is shown seeking a symbiote of his own at the end of a series. of secondary missions. This leader was revealed to be Cletus Kasady, who escapes with the symbiote that will inevitably transform him into Carnage. If symbiotes couldn’t withstand fire, being surrounded by people who use it as their primary weapon wouldn’t be an ideal situation.
How have symbiote weaknesses been addressed in other games?
Venom and other symbiotes have appeared in many Spider-Man games
Venom and the symbiotes have had a long history of appearing in games and their weaknesses have been addressed in different ways. 2000 Spiderman the game had a fire net cartridge pickup that was done by Peter mixing his webs with magnesium to create a chemical reaction. This could be used in later missions to fight symbiotes, but aside from the boss battle against Carnage in the penultimate level of that game, his weaknesses at certain frequencies were not explored.
Players can turn Carnage into a sonic bubble to quickly reduce his health bar. Spiderman (2000).
In Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, SHIELD used force fields similar to the aforementioned sonic bubble to protect bases, but the symbiotes’ weaknesses were not explored much in combat. Spider-Man could switch between the traditional red and blue suit and the black symbiote at any time during that game, evening the odds as he fought them on the ground, in the air, and on walls, although he did not use any additional ones. sonic or fire devices to help defeat them, probably due to him using his own symbiote.
The 2007 spider man 3 The movie tie-in only had players fight Venom once in the game’s final boss battle that took place at a construction site. In this sequence, they could attack certain items, such as stacks of metal poles, to make a sound that could stun Venom and provide a window to deal damage. However, outside of this, his weakness was shown more through cutscenes than in combat.
The last Spiderman showed a different type of weakness for Venom, as players could take control of Venom throughout the game and could see that the suit was eating Eddie Brock alive through a constantly depleting health bar, which forced him to “consume” civilians and enemies in the city. Silver Sable and his mercenaries also had special equipment to combat it, but this did not seem to be related to sonic frequencies or fire. Even in the final boss battle of that game, the roof of Trask Tower was on fire, and this seemed to have no impact on Venom.
Spider-Man 2 Gives Symbiotes an Extra Weakness
Spider-Man 2’s New Symbiote Weakness May Be Unintentional
In Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Peter and Miles upgrade their grenade-type Concussion Burst device to emit a powerful sonic wave to stun the symbiotes, and the Anti-Venom suit Peter obtains towards the end of the story also severely weakens the symbiotes in combat. However, while symbiotes may be immune to fire in this story, some moments in the game seem to take this in the complete opposite direction by giving symbiote enemies some vulnerability to water.
When fighting symbiotes in the game’s open world, Spider-Man can throw or launch his enemies into lakes or rivers, which appears to instantly destroy the symbiote and free its host, which begins to float in the water. This is probably because the tactic of throwing enemies into water or from rooftops (in the latter case, they are conveniently caught by a web device to avoid certain death) defeats most enemy types instantly by default in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and its predecessors, but it’s a fun change for those familiar with the weaknesses of symbiotes in other media.
Sources: IGN/YouTube, IGN/X