Developer Insomniac will return to the Spider-Man universe with the recently revealed Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales for the PlayStation 5.
This stunning follow-up to one of the best superhero games in recent years (and one of the PlayStation 4’s best exclusives) helped kick off Sony’s PS5 reveal showcase. While we had heard some speculation that Insomniac was working on a Spider-Man sequel for PlayStation 5, recent reports suggested that may not actually come to pass quite so early into the next-gen console’s lifespan.
Then again, it’s actually not clear whether this upcoming title is a sequel in the strictest sense. It’s certainly not named Spider-Man 2, but given some of the events of Insomniac’s PS4 Spider-Man game (which we won’t spoil here), it makes sense that this game would share a universe with that title.
Sadly, we don’t have many details available regarding this project at this time. The debut trailer features a narrator (who we assume is Peter) talking to Miles about his responsibilities as a hero. We then see Miles in action as he battles crooks, swings about the city, and shows off an incredible suit. We also see what appears to be a much older Miles Morales in comparison to the version of that character featured in the PS4 game.
Some of the slightly futuristic design elements of the enemies Miles battles again suggests that this is still based in the same universe as the PS4 Spider-Man game. Again, we can logically conclude that this title takes place sometime after the events of the original game, but that does still raise questions regarding why this isn’t being treated as a sequel.
If pressed to speculate, we’d guess that Insomniac is saving the Spider-Man 2 name (if they ever actually use that designation) for a continuation of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man story. As such, we’re not entirely sure if some of the cliffhangers at the end of Spider-Man PS4 will be addressed here or if this will instead serve as a kind of side-story for Miles as well as a way to help build his character within the context of the fairly unique Spider-Man timeline that Insomniac is creating.
So while it’s certainly possible that this will be a smaller game in comparison to a theoretical Spider-Man sequel we’ll get further into the lifespan of the PS5, the quality of Spider-Man for PS4 and developer Insomniac’s track record fills us with confidence regarding the outlook of this adventure. Besides, many of us were not-so-secretly hoping that Miles would be the star of Insomniac’s next Spider-Man adventure.
We’ll bring you more information on Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales as it becomes available.