Spider-Man 2 features quests that reference the Spider-Verse

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is just over a month away, but a new round of previews has provided us with much more information about this new version of New York and what players can expect as they swing through the city. For instance, we have discovered that the backpack collectibles, featured in both the first game and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, have been removed and instead, small Spider-Bots have been introduced, which can be found throughout New York.

What makes them particularly interesting is the fact that there seem to be some that directly reference characters from the Spider-Verse movies. Content creator CabooseEK shared on Twitter that during a quest, he found a few Spider-Bots that apparently allude to Peni Parker and Spider-Gwen, both of whom appear in the first Spider-Verse film. After collecting some of them, he received a call from Ganke, stating that the signal of the collected bots came from "millions of miles away."

During her time with the game, our own Features Lead, Jade King, also managed to find some Spider-Bots that hint at specific characters. These include subtle references to Spider-Noir and Spider-Man 2099, indicating that there will likely be further allusions to the more recent film "Across the Spider-Verse" as well. If you're interested in learning more about what we think of Spider-Man 2 based on our personal testing, you can read Jade's preview here.

It makes sense that Insomniac would incorporate some references to the Spider-Verse movies in Spider-Man 2, especially considering that "Across the Spider-Verse" had some subtle nods to the game as well. Not only did Insomniac's version of Peter Parker make a few appearances in the film, but you can also see Miles' best friend Ganke playing an early version of Spider-Man 2 in a scene in their dorm room.

However, you should not expect more than subtle references or brief cameo appearances from other Spider-Man media within the game, as Insomniac has made it clear that they want to tell their own story. This was emphasized by Narrative Director Jon Paquette, who recently stated that while they are "always open to the idea of including all characters," Gwen Stacy will not be featured in Spider-Man 2 because she is "not part of our story."