There’s an argument to be made that Marvel’s Spider-Man should be considered a definitive iteration of Peter Parker. In Insomniac’s first Marvel’s Spider-Man game, specifically, Peter’s character was developed with such immense care regarding his relationships with others, including Mary Jane Watson, Dr. Otto Octavius, Aunt May, and Miles Morales, and Yuri Lowenthal’s performance as the character is fantastic.

Insomniac has the privilege of crafting its own Marvel continuity for its Marvel’s Spider-Man franchise (Marvel’s Wolverine, too), and part of that undertaking demanded worldbuilding and novel designs for characters in its new Spider-Man mythology, eight years into Peter’s crime-fighting career. For instance, Spider-Man dons a brand-new suit early on in Marvel’s Spider-Man, and though there are plenty of fans who adore it, the hate for it almost led to a knee-jerk redesign after it was revealed a decade ago.

On X, Insomniac community and marketing director James Stevenson reflected on the 10th anniversary of Marvel’s Spider-Man’s E3 2016 reveal trailer by sharing that the white spider symbol was nearly scrapped in favor of the traditional black symbol. This is because of fans’ “visceral reaction” to what would soon become Insomniac’s Spider-Man signature via Marvel’s Spider-Man’s Advanced Suit.

Stevenson acknowledges that there was indeed a positive response to Marvel’s Spider-Man’s reveal teaser, but the response to the white spider must have been considerably negative if it nearly resulted in such a profound change to the game and the suit’s identity. Thankfully, Stevenson “spent a huge chunk of that next week with [Marvel’s Spider-Man creative director Bryan Intihar] trying to calm people down internally.”

The developers fought for the white spider to stay, and Stevenson remarks on that being the “correct decision.” Plus, as Stevenson mentions, there are abundant suits in Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man games for anyone who disliked it. In fact, players get to experience the whole tutorial sequence at Fisk Tower with the Classic suit, which features a traditional, small black spider symbol.

Additionally, Stevenson states that the reception to the game’s reveal was apparently “literally 50:50 positive/negative sentiment at the time online and most of that negative was about the spider.” If nothing else, this is a testament to how opinionated and biased many Spider-Man and Marvel fans are, and not everyone could’ve possibly been satisfied with whatever Insomniac was going to choose in its own original Spider-Man costume designs.

It’d be interesting to learn how many fans still dislike the white spider, or how many fans grew to like it over the course of three games. Either way, there’s no doubt that it’s been an easy way to distinguish the Marvel’s Spider-Man version of the character from a bottomless sea of Spider-Men, and that alone is a sign that it was a terrific choice.

Systems

Released

September 7, 2018

ESRB

T For Teen Due To Blood, Drug Reference, Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence

Developer(s)

Insomniac Games

Publisher(s)

Sony

Engine

Insomniac Engine v.4.0

Franchise

Marvel’s Spider-Man