#though I did like spidey's personality in the PS4 game

[jaggedwolf]

My most boring Spider-Man and Batman take is that they're most interesting when they are the one person their city has. Forget the Avengers, forget the Justice League, sometimes all you need is a guy and his city and his ≤ three friends

[everygame]

Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4)

Developed/Published by: Insomniac Games / Sony Interactive Entertainment Released: 12/11/2020 Completed: 11/01/2023 Completion: 100% playthrough. Trophies / Achievements: 82%

Well,  I wrote “see you in a year, Miles Morales” after playing through Spider-Man’s DLC and it took me about a year and a half to get to this, but I'll count it. I’ve written about two of these, so let’s just bullet point this one out, no order.

Peter Parker’s new face suuucks. I know it’s a done deal and it’s not even like the original face actor (John Bubniak) does his voice, but the new guy doesn’t fit the voice at all and does, as everyone says, looks like “we’ve got Tom Holland at home” except even more of a twat. At least he’s only in this briefly, but man, it’s going to be tough to play the next one. And I like the PS4 Spider-Man suit so much, too! It might even be my favourite Spidey design.

Miles is a great character. He’s completely out of his depth, and I love that they’ve drilled down on this even down to how he moves through the world, with a more awkward swinging style than the OG Spidey.

Unfortunately the main storyline here is a bit… cliche? Not only does it hit all the beats you expect, there’s far too much convenience to it. You’re in serious trouble when the mysterious baddie turns out to be like, the only other character that’s in the game, and without spoiling too much, super-hero stories are (imho) at their weakest when you think the existence of the hero might be the reason why the villains exist (rather than vice versa) and ending with the same “Eyyyy, New York protects it’s own, Spider-Man” beat again is played-out.

The worst thing about this is that the game is absolutely at it’s strongest when Miles Morales is doing what it feels like he set out to do, which is be his neighbourhood Spider-Man. I can’t tell if this is something that happened when they turned this from something DLC-adjacent into a full-priced game, but there’s a thread of missions where he’s helping out his local bodega and stuff that basically gets dropped completely and it actually feels unfinished. The conclusion is given in a… podcast, where your side-kick Ganke literally names every person in Harlem that helped which made me think it was going to lead to a conclusion where the big-bad kidnaps them all or something, but… no. Nothing.

To be honest, actually, that this uses the whole city is a weakness. Whenever I play these big open world games I think about how I never really learn the city, they’re just a backdrop to whatever I’m doing, unlike your Yakuzas and that, where you’re intimately familiar with the map and it becomes ever more real. Why couldn’t Harlem have been that? I don’t really need to be swinging all the way to the bloody financial district. Fence me in!

Yet… the game still feels great to play, all the side-missions and collectibles and shit are a breeze to play/fun to collect, and you don’t even notice that just as in the original the upgrades barely matter. Even here when combat and stealth are even more complicated with new invisibility and electricity powers (that aren’t especially well tutorialised) you can just basically play the game as competently as you wish and enjoy it.

Why does this game have a museum flashback? Is this something that all PlayStation Studios games have to have? It feels like such an afterthought here though, adding nothing to the major problem that the main baddie is a big-time idiot who, at the end of the game is basically running around with their fingers in their ears shouting “la la la I’m not listening” and it really, really undoes the pathos. I ain’t crying about a museum visit again, Sony!

I’m so very tired of Ashley Burch’s one voice. I guess I never played enough Nolan North games to feel this before.

Will I ever play it again? I like that the main storyline is so quick and actually, I did briefly consider beating the NG+ quickly to platinum this. But my backlog spreadsheet has more than 700 games on it. Really.

Final Thought: Starting to feel a bit weird about how much of my media consumption is Marvel now. At the time of writing I play about an hour of Marvel Snap a day and the next game I’ve downloaded to play through is Guardians of the Galaxy. Ah well, I did spend the Christmas period watching Rogers and Hammerstein musicals, I’ll let myself away with it.

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[a-n-conrad]

Cat and Mouse (PS4! Felicia Hardy x Reader)

[Summary: Being a new hero in New York was hard. It was even harder when all of Spider-man’s old villains broke out of the raft. You had worked with him enough, so when he called and asked you to help with a side project while he was busy, you agreed. Little did you know, the game of cat and mouse would end a lot differently than you expected. (She/her pronouns)

Warnings: Technology that I don’t understand, Cops, mentions of sexual themes, swearing

Request: From my request survey (https://forms.gle/37LyBcqSDHttv2Da9)]

You back hurt. Your chest hurt. Everything hurt. You had been out late at night, helping Spider-man stop a string of simple robberies throughout the city. You were still new at the whole hero thing, so you took quite a few hits. 

You had just started your hero work recently, after discovering that you had the power to summon a pair of wings to appear on your back out of nothing. They were nearly bullet proof, and after a bit of practice you could fly pretty fast. You were still getting used to actually using the wings in combat, though, and they weren’t much help when it came to anything stealthy. So there was still quite a bit of work for you to do.

But your rest was cut short by a familiar ringtone, “Uuuugh. What do you want, Spidey?”

“Sorry to wake you up, Angel,” It was odd to have a hero name like that, one that sounded like a pet name. He always said it so formally, though, which you appreciated, “I’m a little busy at the moment, but an old… friend of mine is in town, and I was wondering if you could help me out.”

“I’m not dealing with any of your big villains,” You said. A lot of them had broken out recently. You understood that it was a lot of work for him, but you really weren’t ready to deal with any of them.

“No, no, it's not that,” He sounded exhausted, “Blackcat might be back in business, and I was wondering if you could just check out what’s going on? I’ll send you the address she told me to go to, just check it out and see what’s up, so I have time to deal with everyone else?”

You had heard of Blackcat. She was good at what she did, but she wasn’t exactly dangerous. She played games, but she wasn’t likely to try to murder you, “Yeah, okay. As long as I don’t have to deal with any of your weird homicidal arch enemies.”

- - - - -

Maybe you were stupid to think this would go well. Finding the message she left for Spidey was pretty easy. Using the camera to find her little cat robot was pretty easy, too. What made it a lot worse, was the second you hung up the call with the police captain that Spidey had been working with, your phone pinged with an influx of notifications. Your map app had lit up like a Christmas tree with new addresses that Blackcat wanted you, or, well, Spidey, to go to.

You were pretty surprised, though, when your phone started ringing with a call from a number you had never seen before, “Hello?”

“Well, hey there, birdie,” You hear a voice purr from the other side, “I wasn’t expecting Spidey to send his pretty new sidekick, but I won’t say I’m upset.”

“I’m not a sidekick,” You say, trying to sound tough. Though, you couldn’t help but blush a little at the word pretty, “Did you need something, Cat? I thought you had retired.”

“Maybe I just want to play a game,” She purrs, “Won’t you play with me?”

- - - - -

She didn’t seem upset that it was you instead of Spider-man. She really seems to just be playing games, so you thought after she realized it was you instead of her boy-toy, she’d get bored. But she still seemed to be having fun. She had set up all the clues, and you could tell they were new, since the recordings were addressed to you instead of Spider-man. 

She seemed to be getting more and more flirty with each recording. You were starting to regret your choice in name every time she said it. You were really trying not to be so much of an idiot that you’d let a beautiful woman with a soothing voice convince you to let her off the hook just because you had a crush on her. But it was a bit of a challenge.

After a while, you were pretty sure that you had reached the end of the trail she had set up for you. It was a lot of flying, and a lot of taking five-minute breaks in order to stop yourself from losing focus. You had seen pictures of her, and at some point you started to wish you hadn’t.

Felicia Hardy was gorgeous. Her hair was white, and it always looked perfectly and shiny in the pictures. Her eyes were bright blue, nearly the color of the sky. She was tall, and surprisingly thin for someone who seemed so fit. And her costume itself seemed to add to her flirty nature. It was perfect for her job, but it also really gave off dominatrix vibes. 

You were landing on a rooftop in order to take a break when you got the phone call. The police captain. She didn’t call you usually. Something was very wrong, “Do you remember all those little cat statues at all of the places you reported Blackcat robberies?”

“Yes…” You drew the word a bit. You remembered. They weren’t really statues. Spidey had told you about them before. They were electronic. They had some sort of radio signal. You figured that the NYPD knew that, though.

“They set off some sort of signal when we put them all in evidence and Blackcat was able to break in and take all of her old gear,” You held back a string of insults. How were they so incompetent that they didn’t realize to block the signal those things put off? But you were sure it wasn’t her fault. It was likely that she just had some street cops deal with it. They didn’t really get a lot of training on mastermind burglars. 

“Alright, I’ll figure it out,” You sigh, still biting back a few snarky comments. You hang up, taking a deep breath before loading up a program on your phone that Spidey had set up. You just needed to find a trace of the radio signal and you’d be able to trace it to a specific location.

You flew up as high as you could, hoping it could pick up something. If there was anything relating to Blackcat in the area, you should be able to trace it. Otherwise, you’d just fly across the city until you could.

Luckily for you and your tired wings, your phone pinged in just a few minutes. You were pretty quick to make it over to the are where your phone marked. Nearby was a subway tunnel that was condemned until it was repaired. And it the theme Blackcat had going, she had marked it with a mural. She was theatrical. 

You ducked into the tunnel, running a hand along the wall to see if you could find anything odd. About halfway in you found a slight gap in the wall, about the same as a few of the other cracks in the wall, but it was too clean. It all seemed a little sloppy for Felicia, so you wondered if it was possible that she was leading you into some sort of trap. But of course, you didn’t think about that until you were already opening the door.

The room behind the moving wall was full of expensive things. Things you were pretty you couldn’t afford if you worked your whole life and spent nothing. Paintings, expensive wine, money. You knew Spidey was too much of a goody-goody, but you couldn’t help but be enchanted by the wealth surrounding you.

“An angel among her heavens,” a voice purred behind you. It was close. Closer than you thought it was possible to get without you noticing. 

White hair, blue eyes, and the signature black mask was all right in front of you. The smirk on her face was much more intimidating in person. Everything about her told you that if she wanted to, she could pin you to the wall with very little effort. And you were kind of into it?

“Cat, what exactly are you planning? Don’t you think that game was a little much?” You ask, trying to sound uninterested. 

“Aw, come on, Angel,” She pouts at you, and your heart flutters, “Maybe I just wanted a bit of attention. You know, I've been neglected lately.”

“Felicia, you stole your gear back. I know you’re planning something big. What is it?” You could tell that she could see that you were breaking, despite how tough you thought you were acting. 

“Hmmmm,” She hummed, shifting a bit closer to you, “Perhaps there’s a way I can convince the pretty little angel to let me slide for just a little while. You can even come catch me in a day or two if you really still want to.”

Her hands were on your shoulders, sliding down your arms. Her eyes were inches from your own. They really were as blue as you thought they’d be. Icy, like a frosty winter breeze. She was sliding her nails down your arms, lightly scratching your skin. God, she was gorgeous. Fuck, you were an idiot.

“Come now, Kitten,” She purred, leaning into your ear, “Let’s have some fun, and then we’ll continue our game.”

You knew it was stupid. But you couldn’t stop yourself. Before you knew it, you were pressed up against a wall, your mouth against hers. She smells like catnip and expensive perfume. Beautiful and floral. Your hands were wandering before you could even think about it. And before you knew it, you were in this far too deep.

[A/N: Btw, if you want to keep on on me with some more personal things, check out my tiktok @ al3x13l where I share my opinions on things, and sometimes post art when I’m feeling up to it. Also, I don’t know this character super well, so I’m sorry if this is ooc.]

[mattelektras]

ive only really encounted silver sable in the ps4 spidey game, do you think that is a good intro to her character eg well written not ooc etc

honestly not bad??? i think my main issue was the service she was providing being like a private military police because thats... not what she does. like yes the wildpack IS a private service but silver is pretty steadfast in her morals and i find it hard to believe comics silver would fuck with the kind of activity she was involved with in the game?? but i also think a lot of the shady shit that was going on was down to individual sable soldiers. in terms of her interactions and personality tho i think they did pretty well. they made her very professional and intolerant of peter but also with that begrudging respect when she gets to know more about him. a bit more about her backstory and symkaria wouldve been nice. sprinkle some characteristic nazi killing in there too. i think they did have their work cut out in trying to modernise her to be fair. shes very 90s

i did hate the hair though she looks like a suburban mother of 3

[webswingers]

welcome to avengers campus, isn’t it nice to be back, PETER PARKER ?  it’s been so long since i’ve seen you being a typical TWENTY-TWO year old INTERN AT OSCORP, the image of TOM HOLLAND against the retroreflective panels of headquarter buildings.  feels like forever since i’ve seen you hanging around PIZZA PLANET. i don’t blame you, though;  it fits your vibes perfectly given everyone associates you with BATTERED CONVERSE, INK SMUDGES, HALF EATEN TAKE-OUT.

death mention tw

...... hey, have you seen the news reports lately …?  i heard you’ve been getting visions from MARVEL beginning to return, waking up from dreams of J. JONAH JAMESON REVEALING HIS SECRET IDENTITY.  must be something in the water …  say, did you always have A LEGO ANAKIN SKYWALKER on hand ?  i’ve never seen you leave home without it.

BASICS:

birth name: peter benjamin parker

alias: friendly neighbourhood spiderman, pete, kid, queens, etc.

species: mutate: superhuman abilities/powers stemming from a bite from a radioactive spider

date of birth: august 10

sexuality: bisexual 

gender and pronouns: cismale, he/him

occupation: intern at oscorp industries 

CANON: 

“canon” timeline wise, peter’s taken from the mcu so everything on this wiki are the specifics if you wanted to know in depth, but long story short:

super secret superhero living with his aunt in queens (until the Reveal), only the four people closest to him know about this; Ned, May, MJ, and Happy

lived a relatively normal ‘teenage’ life when he wasn’t a vigilante: a little bit of a loser, friend-group of one (his guy in the chair) for the majority, had crushes, got good grades, just tried his best to make his aunt and tony stark proud after the death of his mother, father, and uncle.

joined the avengers to help iron man, got a little bit out of his depth but stark helped him become a better supe, he’s a lot better but he’s still learning.

the death of his mentor and third father figure heavily influenced his behaviours and added to his constant need to keep the people he loves safe, but somehow never manages to do so and it keeps him up at night.

trusts men too easily still for some reason??

everything that has occurred in peter’s arc in the mcu timeline to this point is all canon for him, he obviously is just slowly remembering it.

EARTH 200000:

for peter’s alternative timeline, i wanted to incorporate more of who he is in some of his comic arcs, in some of the cartoon tv shows, too, but primarily his personality/some relationships are inspired by the ps4 spiderman game.  i realise this can get a little confusing given all the different characters and plot lines, so if you’re confused at all please feel free to message me and we can talk about it ! i wanted to incorporate his canon relationships with people outside of what they’ve introduced in the mcu for peter, but this will be something that needs to be plotted out, so pls lmk if you wanna do so ! here are the basics:

still a super secret superhero living a few floors above aunt may, so he can still see her whenever but he has some adult privacy.

slightly older than the spidey on screen currently, is an intern at oscorp industries and admires what they do there (this is not his first internship rodeo, but he gets paid a lot better at oscorp)

still has a relatively small friendship group, peter will never be mr popular but he’s absolutely okay with that.

wants to help people constantly; other than his spidey work, he volunteers with his aunt at F.E.A.S.T and works with the people staying there so he can learn how to help the people who don’t get helped.

big believer in justice, probably rants a lot to his friends and co-workers when he’s in That Kinda Mood, but ultimately keeps to himself and stays in his lane (unless he feels he needs to intervene)

he is a lot more confident as spidey than he is as peter, so his personality shifts slightly depending on what he’s wearing

has been known to sell some of his photography when he’s a little low on rent 

just a big nerd who luvs his aunt < 3 

inspirations for earth 200000:

ultimate spider-man (tv), spider-man (2017, tv), spidermen (comic), mcu spidey, the spiderman ps4 game-- these are just inspirations for his personality and interests, but if there are particular plots you’d want to write out from these i’m more than happy to plot that out !

[ambivalent-anarchy]

Empire State Of Mind

Masterlist

Gender: Female

Pairing: Peter Parker x stark!reader

Warning: None

Summary- (FLUFF)(CRACK)the story of how Peter Parker got over his fear of heights (I was inspired by one of Peter's lines in the Spiderman ps4 game)

A/N: Okay this is me getting back to fics because apparently the only way I can actually get inspiration to write is if I'm procrastinating sooooooo since school has started I guess there will be lots of that lol

---------------------------------------

When Peter told Ned about his fear of heights, he completely freaked out.

"You can't be afraid of heights. You're Spiderman!," he whisper-shouted at their lunch table. "How can Spiderman be afraid of heights?!"

Peter shrugged. "I dunno, maybe I'll just have to get over it eventually."

"But if the spider gave you strength, perfect eyesight, and all those other awesome things. How could it not give you the ability to not be afraid of heights?!," Ned asked, utterly confused. "I mean, spiders aren't afraid of heights."

"Yeah Ned, I know. But-"

"And if spiders aren't afraid of heights then when the spider bit you, you should've picked up that trait too, right?"

"Ned-"

"-Maybe you just got a really lame spider. Maybe the spider that bit you was afraid of heights and he was a spider outcast and-"

"Ned!"

When Peter told MJ about his fear of heights, she immediately mentally prepared herself for his funeral.

"How is Spiderman afraid of heights?"

Pete groaned. "I don't know..."

"I knew it," she sighed. "You're gonna die."

"Wait, what?"

"You can't be out there saving the city while being afraid of heights. That doesn't mix," she explained matter-of-factly. "You're gonna die."

"I'll get over it, MJ. I just have to keep trying."

She shook her head. "Whatever you say, loser. But when you die, the only thing I'll be saying at your funeral is 'I told ya so'."

When Peter told Harry about his fear of heights, he teased him about it relentlessly.

Peter braced himself. "And before you say it, yeah I know: 'How is Spiderman afraid of heights?'. Ha. Ha. Funny."

Harry tossed a pretzel into his mouth. "That's pretty pitiful, Pete," he snickered.

"Yeah I know-"

"-You're supposed to be the 'Amazing' Spiderman, not the 'I-can-only-save-you-if-we're-under-fifty-feet' Spiderman."

"You know what? I'm just going to stop telling people," Peter mumbled, hiding his face into his hands.

"C'mon, I'm just messing with you, bro," Harry teased. "But seriously, how can Spiderman be afraid of heights? That's like Ironman being afraid of iron!"

Peter stared. "...it's really not though."

"Whatever." Harry reached over to ruffle Peter's hair with his hand. "Just come to the penthouse tonight and I'll throw you off the roof. Bam. Fear conquered."

"..."

When Peter told you about it, you did the natural Stark thing to do, and helped him out...after teasing him of course.

"How the fuck are you Spiderman and you're afraid of heights? How does that even work?," you laughed.

"Ugh, not you too [Y/N]," he groaned.

"Why're you scared if you've got your webs?," she interjected again. "As long as you remember those, you can't fall."

"That doesn't really help."

"Wait, so you save all those people in tall buildings while you're so scared of heights? Wow. You're even more awesome now."

Peter shrugged it off. "I guess when the moment comes to save people, I kind of have to push the fear aside, y'know?"

"Aaaand why are you even telling me this? What, you want me to fix you or something?" You laughed again, slapping the table. "I'm good with robots, Pete. I'm not a wizard."

Peter shuffled in his seat. "Well I-i was kind of hoping that... maybe you could h-help me?"

You raised an eyebrow. "And how would I do that?," you asked, giggling a bit. "Push you off avengers tower?," you teased.

"A-actually I was hoping for the Empire State Building..."

You paused. "...wait, what?"

Peter nodded in response.

"Pete..I was only kidding... Like really, are you being foreal?!"

He smiled, patting his hands on his lap nervously. "Will you?"

"You're going to fall off the Empire State Building to get over your fear of heights?," you asked.

He nodded uncertainly. "Yep."

"...And you want me to push you off said building?"

"Yeah pretty much," he confirmed.

You stared in disbelief for a moment before checking your watch. "The things I'll do for your dumbass," you sighed. "Alright. Meet me at the top of the Empire State at four. But if you die...I will not be held responsible.

--------

Peter crawled cautiously along the side of the Empire State Building, being sure to never look down.

'You're not that high, Pete. You're not,' he told himself. 'You're only like twelve....t-twelve....hun....'

"Twelve h-h-hundred fucking feet off the fucking ground oh my goshhh!," he whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut as he continued up the building. "Oh my God, please let me live."

He crawled with his eyes closed until he couldn't feel the thick glass wall anymore. Peter jumped over the railing of the 103 floor observation deck and finally placed his feet on solid ground.

"Wow, Spiderman. You're literally shaking," he heard your voice laugh.

Peter looked at you, wide-eyed as you sat on top of the railing, legs pointed outward, facing the city. "How are you not terrified right now?!"

You shrugged. "I literally take the iron suit for a joy-ride like every week. Heights don't bother me. Now, are we doing this or not?"

"J-just.. gimme a second," he mumbled. "You can do this, Peter. You can do this," he pep-talked himself. "You got this."

You remained sitting on the railing and swinging your legs, trying to give Peter some space to get himself together.

After what felt like about ten mintues, you looked over at him. "You okay over there, Pete?"

Peter took a deep breath and gave a small nod before peeking over the side of the building, which he quickly realized was more than just a big mistake on his part. "F-fuck no!" He quickly stepped back until he was the furthest he could be from the edge. "It's too high! I-i can't do this!"

You groaned. "C'mon, Pete. Wasn't this your idea anyway?"

"Actually it was sort of Harry's!," he stammered. "...[Y/N]..I-i really don't think I can do this."

You ran towards him, cupping his face with your hands. "Hey, hey... relax. You're gonna be okay. You hear me?"

Slowly, he began to nod. "...O-okay," he sighed and took the time to prepare himself again. "I think I'm ready."

You backed away a bit. "You sure?"

"..no."

"Look," you said. "Y'know, you don't have to do this if you really don't want to."

"No," Peter declared, squeezing his eyes shut, his hands turning to fists. "No, I said I'm going to do it today. So I have to do it today. I have to."

"Well then let's do it."

"But I can't!," he whined.

You groaned. 'If this dork doesn't make up his mind.'

Then it hit you.

"I guess when the moment comes to save people, I kind of have to push the fear aside, y'know?"

He'd told you the answer to his problems without even knowing.

"Got it," you whispered.

Turning around quickly, you climbed back over the railing separating the standing area from the edge of the building with a mischievous smile.

Once comfortable, you started to rock, swinging your legs back and forth. "Golly gee, Peter. I sure hope I don't fall!," you yelled dramatically in the perfect 'woe-is-me' fashion.

Confused, he looked up from where he was frozen in place. "[Y/N], what?"

You continued to speak dramatically and robotically. "Oh it would be such a shame if maybe I were to..." You gestured a person falling with your hand until it finally reached the end. "Splat!"

"[Y/N], c'mon. Stop."

"And I suppose if I were to happen to be plummeting to my death-" you looked over at him with wide eyes. "-The only person capable of saving me would be the AMAZING Spiderman!"

"[Y/N]. I'm not kidding around. Seriously, this is dumb."

"Gee wilikers! I guess my life is in your hands now Spidey!," you smirked before throwing yourself off the edge of the Empire State Building.

"[Y/N]! What the fuck!"

"Whooooooooooooo!," you yelled as you fell, confident that he would catch you.

Rolling his eyes and cursing under his breath, Peter immediately threw caution to the wind as he jumped over the fence. The only thing on his mind was catching you.

'You idiotic bitch of a girl that I love...'

Gathering his crazy surroundings, he looked around until he finally saw you. And there you were, free falling and whooping like you were on a rollercoaster and not actually almost dying.

'Okay, Pete,' he thought. 'Save her or Mr. Stark will literally kill you..Plus your girlfriend will be dead... yeah definitely that too.'

"[Y/N]!," he yelled.

"Any time now, Peter!," you shrieked once you felt you'd been falling for a bit too long. "C'mon, I know you can do it so how about you FUCKING DO IT!"

Finally catching up with you a bit, he shot a web out to pull you towards him, and then shot another on the building.

You gasped when you felt something yank you upwards. Immediately after you were scooped up by a blur of red and blue.

"I've got you, [Y/N]," he gasped out, one arm holding you while the other was busy holding the two of you up with the webbing. "I've got you."

You held onto him tightly and let out a laugh of relief. "I knew you would," you giggled. "That was awesome."

He began to laugh too. "Oh my gosh, you crazy little adrenaline junky!"

You smirked in response, looking around at where you were now "Sooo.. we're hanging off the Empire State Building..what now?"

Peter looked around too. "Uhh-" he smirked. "-wanna go for a swing?"

"That's just the adrenaline talking, Petey," you informed. "But I mean, I'm down if you are. You're not still scared?"

"Oh I'm terrified," he laughed before leaning in for a quick, messy kiss. He stared at you with nothing but love in his heart. "But I'll be fine as long as I've got you."

The next time Peter found himself swinging through the air, the last thing on his mind was how high he was going.

@spideyyeet, @soft-petey, @hey-its-grey, @allegra-writes, @chaoticpete, @underoosjae, @allegra-soleil, @sovereignparker, @lost-space-ranger, @kelieah, @spidey-reids-2003, @spidey-boy-89, @thesherlockianavenger, @crappy-unicorn

[faecaptainofdreams]

I kinda don't LOVE the art, but it's eh. I think it works though, maybe it'll grow on me. ^^ Keep in mind this is a head canon, don't like it don't look at it. MCU universe with me bending the rules a lot and taking inspiration from the PS4 game, bla bla bla.~ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~Scorpion~~ McDonald "Mac" Gargan was a mercenary with a predisposition for cold, violent behavior, though he hid it well. But when J. Jonah Jameson ended up funding research to create an "anti-Spider-Man" to do "real good" and be a "real" superhero, Mac jumped at the opportunity. Of course, he never intended to do any good with it; all concerns were centered towards himself. He figured it would make missionary work easier to complete, not to mention the powers would be fun to wield, but since Jameson was so adamant on rivaling Spider-Man, Mac thought the concept of challenging the spider to be thrilling. And of course, it was no accident that the mutagen created for this process would be drawn from that of a scorpion, a cousin of the spider -- but more importantly, a predator of the spider. While the labs used to create this new "superhero" were government authorized (which is why Jameson felt safe enough to invest), the regulation over its work was not as good as it could have been. Moreover, the scientists working on the mutagen were not prepared for just how unstable their product would become when mixed with the DNA of a human being. They thought they did everything right, but upon infusing the scorpion-based agent with Mac's DNA, the mutation erupted and went far further than they'd intended. And with Mac already being a born psychopath with a near-total lack of conscience, the cold, self-serving nature of the animal hind brain we all possess became enhanced in him. After nearly a week spent in a sort of incubation period in a bizarre cocoon formed of hardened skin cells, Mac emerged totally transformed. He was bigger, and it was clear that the scorpion-to-human ratio was unbalanced. A hollow, blood-thirsty gaze and sharp, toothy grin adorned his face, as did armor plating all down his body. And, eerily enough, an enormous tail equipped with a massive, functioning stinger. In awe of their creation, the scientists took notes, of course, and they attempted to study Mac. Mac was patient for about an hour, but ultimately decided it wasn't wise to have so much information on him available at the ready. After destroying the lab and killing half of the scientists, Mac broke out and escaped into the city. Eventually, he had a run-in with Spider-Man, whom he easily overpowered and wounded during their first fight. But a few tries later, Spidey subdued the Scorpion, and Mac went to prison. He would be there for five solid years before being broken out by Otto Octavius, along with a few other top-tier villains and Spider-Man enemies. ~~Personality~~ Mac Gargan is a sociopath with none of his humanity left. He is ruthless and not shy to kill, and loves more to torture his opponents. He's not the most intelligent, having a bad habit of taunting even his allies a little too much and getting himself into trouble. He's basically his own worst enemy in that regard. Although he doesn't appear to think things through very well, he is clever, and enjoys snuffing out the weaknesses of his foes. ~~Physiology~~ Mac is almost twice the size of the average human. One would think that with his enhanced strength, he would be able to lift and manipulate far more weight than Spider-Man, but as it is his max weight is 5.7 tons, which is just a little more than half of what Peter can haul. Regardless, he is a powerhouse and a force to be reckoned with, and that armored tail is nothing to sneeze at. His tail is considerably stronger and more flexible than his full-arachnid cousin, and this is thanks to his human DNA. Mac is still a vertebrate; he just has a bigger, stronger musculoskeletal system now. His tailbone extends into the full length of his tail, ending with a thick joint just before the stinger, which is filled with contracting muscles that regulate how much venom he can inject into his victims. This tail is far more precise during attacks as well, and the entire appendage itself can be used as a major blunt-force weapon. The venom in Mac's tail is a potent hallucinogenic neurotoxin that, in its lowest dose, causes muscle pain and spasms around the injection site, and causes the victim to experience imaginary bodily pain as the brain's frontal lobe and sensory cortex go haywire. The amygdala, the brain's fear-processing center, kicks into high gear as "bad trips" and horrifying hallucinations begin, often in relation to the imagery of scorpions and monsters resembling Mac. Each experience is different for each individual, but more often than not, the gruesome vision involve the victim's worst fears, phobias, and even drag feelings and hallucinations related to the victim's past traumas to the surface. The brain creates nightmares that the victim's body thinks are real, causing pain and all sensory input to feel very, very real. There is a chance of surviving envenomation at a low dose, but the victim needs to be taken care of immediately. At a moderate and high dose, the victim doesn't stand a chance. Organ failure, paralysis and respiratory failure kill in roughly a minute -- and that's ignoring the wound Mac inflicts with the stinger itself. Cruelly, Mac prefers to kill or get by using lower doses, as he is fascinated with watching his victims squirm and suffer. But when patience is lost or a deed needs quick doing, a hard strike in the right place can kill his target in seconds, hardly needing venom at that point. Mac's grip is vice-like and impossible for the average person to get out of. His crushing hold on a victim is helpful, needless to say. He's not nearly as fast as Spider-Man, but he's agile enough and is an expert at concealing himself. Like the scorpion, he can climb up most surfaces, though he doesn't have scopulae hairs like Peter. Rather, he relies on his enormous claws. Mac is nocturnal, preferring to be up and about during the night. And, like a real scorpion, he glows under ultraviolet light. Scorpions are not picky eaters, but they are carnivores. They'll eat anything they can get their claws on, including other scorpions -- even their relatives. Needless to say, Mac isn't a sentimental person. During his first time out in the city, Mac first killed and ate a few farm animals, but Spider-Man stopped him while he was in the process of hunting a person. Yes, he will eat people if he gets the chance. It would be an extra nasty sight, too, as the enzymes in his saliva are designed by nature to start breaking down his food before it even gets into his mouth. It would be...unpleasant to be spit on by Mac Gargan, so to speak. Scorpions are tough animals that can survive immersion in water for up to two days, and can withstand being frozen solid. Once the ice thaws, the animal simply gets up and gets on the move again. They can also go months, even a year without eating! Yes, these durability traits apply to Mac, which makes him all the more horrifying. ~~Preference~~ Mac is straight, though understandably, has never gotten too lucky, and is very aromantic. One would think that, violent as he is, he would simply force himself onto victims, but with the scorpion instincts he possesses, that reflex is inhibited. Rather, he will attempt to sway a potential mate, and of course, it never works, much to his deep frustration. He may injure whoever turns him down, but oddly, he won't assault them. In the animal kingdom, the female scorpion gets her say-so, and that's the end of it. Even though the average female human doesn't stand a chance against him, his instincts (awkwardly) tell him that pushing it will somehow result in his destruction. Don't be mistaken, he doesn't care about the woman; he's only protecting himself. It's safe to say, Mac experiences bouts of sexual frustration...especially during mating season. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hm. What do ya know, already growin' on me ^u^

[justalitlecreacher]

I’m here to prove that Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Spider-man/peter parker in The Amazing Spider-Man is objectively the best love action adaptation of the character. In this essay I will....(yes this is really happening)

Edit: 10/20/20- i want to indulge myself in spiderman content but finding non mcu spiderman content is exhausting so imma update this instead

TL;DR

Andrew Garfield is my favorite of the 3 Spider-Man actors. TAS’s Peter is more fun and dynamic than the cookie cutter “shy introverted nerd that has a crush on a girl who’s way out of his league” Peter in Tobey Maguire’s movies. I enjoy Tom Holland’s portrayal of the character, but hate the way Disney has written the movies.  I enjoy the characters, plot, and humor of The Amazing Spider-Man far more than the other 2, and i deeply wish we had gotten the third movie with the canon BIder-Man of Andrew’s (and my) dreams.

[DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NOT SEEN THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2 OR ANY MCU SPIDERMAN MOVIES OUTSIDE OF CLIPS AND REVIEWS ITS ALSO BEEN A VERY HOT MINUTE SINCE IVE SEEN A TOBEY MAGUIRE MOVIE]

Characterization

  Most arguments against Andrew Garfield’s Spidey( AG’s from now on) begin and ends with “he was a good Spider-Man but a bad Peter Parker”. This references an outdated post comparing all three Spidey actors.(Id attach the image here but i dont want the post to be too long(thats a lie this is so long what am i doing with my life)) The post also claims that Tobey played a good Peter and a poor Spidey; and that Tom is good at both “roles”.(Honestly I think it seems silly that this seems obey the “third time’s the charm” rule but thats just me).  Most people using this seem to be Tobey stans who have forgotten or ignored the rest of the post funnily enough, but the ones that go further into the WHY AG is a poor Peter are also incorrect. This argument also ignores the idea that there can be more than one version of Peter Parker which is blatantly incorrect.  Just look at Into the Spiderverse or the PS4 game; these provide 4(5 if you count the pig) versions of Peter themselves, and that doesnt even include the comics. 

 Arguments that go further in depth claim that the AS Peter is too cool or well liked by his peer to be a “true” Peter Parker. The evidence for this seems to be that Peter has a skateboard.(which what? didnt realize that having a skateboard would instantly make you cool brb guys). Adding to that i dont really see where people get the idea that Peter is popular or well liked. While looking for complaints i found this qutoe from reddit(theyve since deleted it looks like but i’ll add a link in the notes) “He's angsty, pretty socially awkward, has an aptitude for science, and is kind of an outsider. He gets bullied by Flash and he gets his ass kicked after trying to stand up to Flash. He isn't a "cool" person in any way (until the ending, in which he's best buds with Flash, so I'll give you that). While Maguire is more accurate to the 60s comics where Peter in high school is just a fucking loser with basically no friends, in the ultimate comics, Peter is more of the kid who has a small amount of friends, but isn't popular.”. Honesty i fully agree with this because once again, other versions of a character are allowed to exist. You can dislike one version, but its silly to dislike something for not being exactly like another thing.

Ive also heard that Peter isnt “nerdy enough” in this movie which really doesnt make any sense considering the entire plot happens because Peter was looking into some of his parents’ research. If he wasn't interested in looking further into his father’s work what reason would he have to go to Oscorp where he’s bitten by the spider? Why would he have become Dr. Conner’s assistant? If he wasn’t intelligent how did he develop the web shooters?(something that Tobey!Peter doesn't have to do out of plot convenience might i add).  

 Another complaint i see is that the quips he uses in the movie(the first one specifically it seems) makes him seem like an asshole. Honestly thats a fair complaint, but i think its a good bit of characterization; espcially if he does get better about it in the second movie like the internet suggests.The Peter in this movie is a rightfully angsty teen; of course he acts a bit of an ass to criminals(also i feel like its important to mention that he’s like that to criminals? its not like hes being a dick for no reason).

  Compare this with the Tobey Maguire(TM) movies. Like i said i haven’t seen these in awhile but as far as i’m aware TM’s Peter doesn't really do anything particularly nerdy in the film? I may have forgotten something( ok in the scene before he gets bitten he knows a cool spider fact) but he doesn’t have to invent the web-shooters because they came with his powers and he’s only at Oscorp in the first place because it’s a school field trip that he appears to be taking photos for. This Peter does fit the definition of outcast(friendless and bullied for it), but honestly i just dont like him. He’s weird and something about the character makes me feel like i should be a little grossed out every time he looks at MJ at the beginning of the movie.  

   I honestly don’t have any complaints for Tom Holland’s(TH’s)Spidey. Tom is a great actor and from what ive seen i enjoy his portrayal of the character.( He made me cry when i character i actively dislike died).  

Story

  I cant really say much for TAS story. It’s interesting but nothing special really. However, there is one scene that i don’t think i’ve seen anything like since( the closest would probably be the train scene in the original trilogy). 

 The crane scene. Early in the film Peter saves a boy from a car that has fallen off of a bridge, and at the end of the movie this becomes relevant again when it is uncertain that Peter will be able to get to the lizard to stop him in time.(as Peter is already injured and pretty far from the lizard’s location). The boy’s father is then revealed to be a construction worker who recognizes that Spider-man is going to need help to get to the lizard; he remembers how Spider-Man saved his son and organizes the rest of the construction workers to build a path out of crane arms for SM to swing from. All of them are putting themselves in danger by not evacuating, but SM’s actions in the first act of the film motivate them to do what’s right. 

  I love this scene primarily because it highlights something that i think is a really important part of Spider-Man’s character; his connection to the people he saves. SM is often shown interacting with and chatting with the people he has saved after the fact. One comic shows Peter accidentally scaring some bullies and then taking the time to ride the bus to school with them to continue their conversation and educate the students on bullying.( There’s definitely more but this is off the top of my head).

  Another scene in TAS that i love is shortly before the crane scene when Peter is originally attempting to make his way across the city to stop the lizard, and he is shot down by the police. They manage to unmask him before Peter comes to his senses( he had just been shot and fallen pretty far out of the sky in his defense). From there Peter is able to deal with the police while keeping any of them from getting a good look at his face. The one cop he cant take out happens to be Gwen Stacey’s father who had previously had an argument with Peter about Spider-Man(Peter obviously on SM’s side and Mr. Stacey against SM). Peter turns and allows Captain(?) Stacey to see his face. I believe that this is an example of an unwilling identity reveal done right. i really enjoyed this moment because Peter had just shown that he likely could have gotten out of this encounter with his identity in tact as he had just taken down however many men. This implies that it was an active choice on Peter’s end to trust that Captain Stacey would ultimately do the right thing and allow Peter to go fight the Lizard, rather than a final desperate attempt to get away unscathed. Whether or not this interpretation of the scene is correct or not it still gives the character a bit more agency than some versions have done with their identity reveals.

  In Spider-Man 2 Peter starts to lose his powers because he’s having internal conflict about wether or not he should be Spider-Man. Honestly thats kinda neat and i might want to give that a rewatch. As for the one i have seen i don’t have any complaints. I do however prefer the way that Peter was bitten in TAS because it was a result of him poking around where he shouldn’t’ve been rather than him just happening to be standing in the right place for a spider to land on him. 

  Onto TH’s movies; the way Disney has treated Spidey in the MCU is why TH’s is my least favorite version of the character. I feel like too much of the story revolves around Iron Man; Iron Man made Peter’s suit and equipment, Iron Man introduces Peter to the MCU(via blackmail but thats another rant for another annoyingly long post), its Iron Man that “makes” Spidey in this universe rather than Spidey being self-made. In Homecoming(which remember i havent seen outside of clips so bear with me) most of the conflict is cause directly or indirectly by Tony’s refusal or inabilty to communicate with the teenager he’s meant to be mentoring

 For one the entire incident with the ferry could have very easily been avoided had Tony bothered to communicate with Peter enough to tell him that the situation was being taken care of. On top of that at the moive’s climax Peter is shown trying to get in contact with Happy(from what ive picked up isnt he a chauffeur? like idk his deal i just know he’s someone Peter got pawned off onto after Civil War). Peter even goes as far as to somehow hack into Happy’s phone(i think thats what happened it was a weird tech thing that shouldve been a red flag that the call was important though) but instead of listening; Peter is ignored. If this was a different kind of movie Peter literally could have died and itd be the fault of Happy and Tony like..... A large portion of conflict comes from characters being incompetent and not communicating and thats just poor storytelling.

Before this turns too much into an anti mcu rant id also like to say that the way they did Civil War was really dumb considering that Peter defects to Cap’s side in the comics, but whatever.

 Also i loathe the way they handled the identity reveal at the end of Far From Home. With MCU movies most people know to expect an end credits scene by now, but typically that scene is not important to understand what’s happening in the films; they just aren’t important. Putting an identity reveal here makes it seem significantly less important than it is. On top of that i dislike their use of J Jonah Jameson for this scene.

  JJJ is a character who has been repeatedly shown to have a genuinely good heart. All of his anger comes from a place of love for his city(he even says this hemself in the ps4 game when May writes in to tell him that he needs help). He hates Spider-Man because SM reminds him of the masked man who killed his wife; JJJ has never been able to get past that( and Peter’s antagonism of him definitely doesnt help) However, JJJ has been shown to care for people; he has a son who he often brags about, and one comic shows that JJJ is paying Peter for “amateur” quality photos because he knows that Peter is having a hard time and “just need some help”. JJJ has even learned Peter’s identity before and kept his secret for him(seriously though i cant remember the name of the comic but its defiantly worth the read), and in the original trilogy when Goblin threatens JJJ he claims that he doesn’t know who sends in the photos of Spidey because he does it via email( this is a lie). The MCU will have a very difficult time convincing me that JJJ would ever out a teenager’s identity and put him in danger like that. It goes too far against his character.(this could be hypocritical of me to say considering how i just insisted that multiple versions of a character can exist but whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) 

This is accidentally turning into an MCU rant but id also like to say that i hate the lack of a TH!Spidey origin movie because it gives you no motivaion for Peter becoming SM or explanation of his powers; most people will know these things but if youre unfamiliar with the character its bound to be confusing(and im a sucker for origin movies)

[mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker]

Peter and MJ in Far From Home

SPOILERS!

I will be talking about the movie over all but I feel given the subject matter of this blog that this aspect of the film deserved it’s own section.

Basically they did our ship a disservice.

If you ever see anyone daring to bring up the MCU movies as superior to the Raimi films and are using the Peter/Mary Jane romance as ammo against the latter shut that shit down because they don’t have a leg to stand on.

I’m not going to die on the hill of the Peter/MJ romance under Raimi being the best thing ever or there being the greatest possible chemistry there. But at least from a plotting point of view it was competently executed, at least it was believable on paper. *

In this movie it’s like they hook up because the plot says so.

And I know this because in Homecoming, Peter had a crush on Liz and Michelle was...a rude jerk to him basically and then abruptly at the start of this film BOOM Peter has the hots for MJ. Out. Of. Nowhere.

In fact he’s MORE into her than he was into Liz.**

In Homecoming Peter’s drive revolves around his relationship with Tony whereas in this film his primary motivation at first is to hook up with MJ until that goal then has to be weighed against being a hero. Chunks of the movie are dedicated to him thinking about ways to get close to her, to get her the right gift, to take her to the right place, to charm her basically. And further chunks are dedicated to the obstacles he faces to that end (namely a deep cut comic book reference from Marv Wolfman’s run which was kinda cool)*** and her gradual reciprocation of his feelings...oh and her knowing he’s Spider-Man.

In contrast Peter’s feelings for Liz weren’t nearly as big of a deal and yet somehow were much more believable.

Oh and to say the PS4 game delivered a better relationship would be an understatement. I think we all knew that was going to be the case going into this but even I wasn’t expecting the chasm to be this big. I thought we’d get a competent teen romance story if nothing else. But we didn’t even get that.

As problematic (in all the ways you can use the word) as the John Hughes movies that MCU Spidey borrows from are, they were better than this.

I think the word that comes to mind the most when looking at the handling of the relationship is ‘rushed’.

And yet ironically when they finally do get together their first kiss is awkwardly overlong. I mean maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe that was the point because they’re awkward teenagers but I think it was just incompetence.

I look at both characters and I cannot really fathom why they like one another. They just do because the plot demands it.

You can headcanon and contort the plot as you like but the end result is the film gives you nothing. They are together because...Tom Holland is the lead and Zendaya is a hot property right now I guess.

Now MJ is better than in the last movie, much more likable and less Ally Sheedy from the Breakfast Club. I guess that goes against her prior characterization but I can buy it.

She’s gone from boring and someone you could never see hooking up with Peter because she’s a jerk to him to...well someone who’s a bland goth-lite stereotype I guess but is capable of the odd compliment.  Stiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill don’t see what either of them see in the other though. They have nothing in common and they also don’t have traits that balance one another out.

But that’s all looking at Michelle and the relationship unto itself...how does it stack up as an adaptation.

Well how should I put this?

FUCK THIS MOVIE, THIS ISN’T MARY JANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can’t believe Mary Jane has been given the Dark Phoenix treatment of screwing up once then getting a second chance only to screw up again.

What the fuck are (the live action) Spider-Man movie’s problem with just doing the female love interests from the comics rather than mix and match elements from different characters, AUs and OCs?

At this point Betty Brant and Liz Allan have been the most faithful!

...Sigh...

Okay so first of all if you were still holding out hope Michelle/MJ might not be Mary Jane sorry you are shit out of luck. When they kiss there is a visual reference to ASM #143, their first kiss. They also never refer to her as anything other than MJ in the movie.

So she’s MJ.

And no, despite your hopes she never dyes her hair red either.

As I already made clear her personality is nothing like Mary Jane’s. Which is like disrespectful even beyond how it’d be disrespectful for any character because Mary Jane’s personality is essentially her super power.

I died a little every time she was on screen and uttered some eye roll worthy bullshit about how people died here or there or how she likes broken things more.

It’s not even that they gave her a different personality to comic book MJ’s but rather that they almost went out of their way to give her the absolute opposite personality.

Just about the only thing they sort of took from the comics was her knowing Peter’s identity, but they play it more the way it was presumed she found out before Parallel Lives was published.

It even creates something of a plothole because it’s made clear she learned because it was an obvious secret, so why hasn’t anyone else deduced this besides this cynical high schooler?

I might write more about this as thoughts come to me but that’s all I got for now.

They fucked up MJ, they fucked up the relationship. Go rewatch that fucked awesome texting scene from the PS4 game.

*Hell in a rare instance where I will invoke the Webb movies and Gweema Stoney positively, even those movies did the romance better than this. Put aside the chemistry the pair had, at least you could understand why Peter and Gwen would like one another.

**I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I feel so sorry for Laura Harrier. Not only was she a good actress delivering a likable performance and had chemistry with Holland, but you could buy her and Peter getting together even if it was a bit fanboy wish fulfillmentey. Plus their relationship was seriously plot relevant beyond just coaxing one half of the equation to be in the right place at the right time and ultimately get themselves endangered.

And what did she get for her trouble?

Publicity played up Zendaya, Zendaya gets on the posters which Harrier is wholly absent from and she isn’t even mentioned in this movie.

***On a side note that scene where the SHIELD lady demands Peter strip in front of her and get into his new costume and then Brad stumbles across them...and takes a picture that he’s going to use to prove Peter was trying to hook up with her and thus torpedo Peter’s chances with MJ...

Um....WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

An adult authority member lures a minor away into a secluded area and exerts their dominance by demanding they strip in front of them. Then in a state of undress another minor comes across them and their reaction is that this is perfectly fine but they’re going to use this as ammunition to protect their romantic relationship.

Like no dude you just stumbles across a scene from a PSA about pedophiles.

Why was this scene played for cringey laughs it’s really fucked up, imagine if the genders were swapped for a moment holy shit!

[bluemilkboys]

Kev’s Comic Book Odyssey #1 - Spider-Geddon and The Batman Who Laughs

Hello there! Haven’t posted to this blog in a minute! Last time I did I talked about Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, what an absolute riot that was, huh? Well this is going to be different. In my isolation in attempt to help stop the spread of coronavirus, I have dived deeper into comic books. 

Now, the world of comics is one of the most complicated mediums of entertainment one can simply just venture into. And to avoid having existential anxiety about knowing exactly what was going on in the Marvel and DC Universes respectively, I devised a very simple method of how I would get my feet wet. My favorite superheroes are Batman and Spider-Man. So when trying to find something to invest my time in, I sought out the popular stories from those characters. This rang true more for Batman than Spider-Man (I’ve been on a pretty heavy DC kick in general lately).

So in my story hopping, I found myself really sinking my teeth into two stories in particular, Spider-Geddon, and The Batman Who Laughs. Let’s start with Spider-Geddon. 

What originally drew me to this story was the inclusion of the version of Spider-Man from the 2018 PS4 game, and my familiarity with the previous event of this nature, Spider-Verse. It’s relatively easy on new readers like myself, and I and I had enough familiarity with characters like the Superior Spider-Man to be able to infer enough and be able to understand the story completely. I guess I should give props to more stories that are able to do that until I gain enough comic book literacy to where it’s not needed anymore, huh?

Anyway, the story centers around the villains from the previous Spider-Verse event, and they’re back for more. And to be honest, the Inheritors are fine, but I wasn’t focusing on them much. They make an immediate impact in their first big confrontation with the Spider-people, killing a few of them including Spider-Man Noir, but this story was much more for me about the seeds of dissent that were slowly and gradually planted throughout the series. Otto Octavius, the Superior Spider-Man, is very adamant that he be the one to lead the team of Spider-people in the absence of Earth-616 Peter Parker, who is gone for the majority of the story, and throughout the story there is a natural sense of distrust in Otto, due to him you know, being a supervillain before, and all that. Otto is determined to end the threat of the Inheritors forever by killing them, something that the Spider-Gang elected not to do the first time around, and honestly I think this is where you see one of the weaker parts of the story. Maybe I shouldn’t call it a weak point as much as it is a missed opportunity. I think the entire moral conflict on whether to subdue or kill the Inheritors is not explored enough, and there was an opportunity there to do a little bit of a character deconstruction about Spider-Man’s willingness, or lack thereof to kill his enemies. And I LOVE character deconstruction. It’s one of my favorite things that people can do with a character. To display such an understanding of a character, that you’re able to peel back the surface layer stuff and give readers a deep tissue narrative massage, I LOVE that shit. 

I also really enjoyed PS4 Spidey’s role in this story. He was obviously not in Spider-Verse, and I don’t think anyone should have expected him to come in here and be the center of attention, so the way they utilized him really resonated with me. He was the newcomer who didn’t really have a full grasp on everything that was going on, and so I was able to appreciate his perspective because I personally do not have a full grasp on everything that’s going on. Not just in the Marvel Universe though. Just generally. In life. Anyway, PS4 Spidey gets consistently surprised and amazed at all the different Spider-Totems across the multiverse, including my personal favorite moment in the entire series right here:

All in all, I had a great time reading this event, it was a really fun Spider-Man story, and not to spoil, but the twist toward the end really got me. I’m not sure if that’s because I’m a novice in the game, or if it was just that good, but nonetheless, I still enjoyed it. Spider-Geddon gets a solid 8.5/10 good book!

Alright let’s get edgy, lads. It’s time to talk about The Batman Who Laughs. 

BWL is such a wild part of DC’s Rebirth. And according to people I talk to who’s opinions I trust, Rebirth is largely a big stinky mess, so I feel confident in saying this is one of the bright spots. God, this character, it’s entire existence is so chaotic. BWL exists in a negative version of earth, in a “dark multiverse” where different versions of Batman have become evil in different ways. Among them is the Batman Who Laughs, a terrifying fusion of Batman’s intellect, and the immoral propensity of the Joker. His origin issue was absolutely fucking wild, and a hell of a way to introduce a character, but now, he’s got his own series. From like 2 years ago. But I digress, let’s talk about it!

What I liked about this series was that it returned an element of horror that is always somewhat present in Batman’s best stories. I also love when an author knows a character so well, that they feel comfortable deconstructing that character and really exploring what makes, in this case, the Batman the Batman. BWL does a good job blending those two concepts. We’ve seen Batman pushed to the edge before, but me personally, I have never read a story that featured Batman getting pushed by someone who knows him so intimately, literally another version of himself. The story however is relatively low stakes, and relies a lot on the power of the characters and how attached you are to them. I wasn’t familiar enough with Jim Gordon’s son really at all before reading this, and a decent part of the story revolves around him, so I guess that was one aspect of it that fell short for me. And for a story literally called, “The Batman Who Laughs” there really isn’t a deep dive into the namesake character. I would actually even go as far as to say the Grim Knight gets more attention. It’s a good Batman story, but what drew me in was the Batman Who Laughs character, but this story doesn’t have much to say about him opposite of Batman.

I think Batman has been in a weird spot since the New 52, and this story, while imperfect, I believe was a step in the right direction. 8/10.

Thanks so much for reading this first in hopefully my long series detailing my journey into comics! Make sure you check out the Blue Milk Boys podcast, and follow me on Twitter @kevinOMO_. See y’all next time. 

[loopy777]

Peter parkers main 3 love interests is generally accepted as Gwen Stacy, Mary Jane Watson and Felicia Hardy/Black cat. Taking your favorite/best written portrayals of each of them as a starting point, what would you say is the biggest strenghts and weakness of each of them as a permanent Romantic partner to peter on a romantic writing level, and a overarching plot writing level?

Hm, this might get complicated. I guess I’ll take it character by character.

Mary Jane

MJ is my preferred romance for Peter, and my favorite portrayals of her are the Spectacular cartoon, the Ultimate comics, the Renew Your Vows AU, and the mainline comics- in that order. (I also like Michelle from the MCU, but I don’t consider her Mary Jane Watson. Michelle just happens for share a nickname with her. For some reason.) The thing that I think helps MJ rise above the rest if that I don’t consider her to have been created as a love interest. Yes, I know, she was literally created to be the Veronica to Gwen’s Betty, but that’s the thing- she wasn’t really intended to be the winner, from what I’ve read. She was meant to be a challenge, a brief diversion, and only accidentally wound up as the winner due to the chaotic nature of comic book production.

As such, MJ has a resilience that most love-interests don’t. Even when she wasn’t dating Peter, the character was able to stick around and continue to develop. She was able to leave the narrative for a while, possibly with no intentions from the writers for her to return, and yet she did and extra layers were added to her character as a result. Even now, her marriage to Peter was sold to the devil as part of a writer agenda to make Peter swingin’ and single again, and yet she’s stuck around and the character has continued to find places in the story. What hasn’t killed MJ has made her stronger, and if she was always intended to be the Final Girl, then I don’t think she would have gotten the opportunities. Sure, it’s a messy history of character development and retcons if you look at it in detail, but that’s true for any comic book character that’s passed through multiple hands and lasted more than a decade.

Within the story itself, I like when MJ is spunky and able to roll with Peter’s life as Spider-Man. I like when her career, whether it’s acting or something else, is only a modest success if a success at all, to fit with the whole Everyman theme of the Spider-Man stories. I’m fine with her feeling stress or angst because of Peter’s heroing -- after all, Peter gets so angsty about he quits every five years or so -- but I do want her to generally buy in to the whole thing; if she’s in love with Peter, she’s in love with the dedication that makes him use his powers for others. I also like when she’s portrayed as an old hand at dealing with the superhero life and gets to meet the other heroes, despite not having powers. It can be contrived when she gets involved with Peter’s adventures, but I do think it can be a great angle, as she can provide even more of an Everyman perspective to the proceedings.

(I haven’t played the PS4 game, and I recognize that making MJ a reporter is an easy way to get her involved, but as I’ve said before, I always feel like making the Love Interest a journalist is rip-off of Lois Lane. I’d like to see a bit more creativity in such things. Personally, I someday want to pitch a ‘Mary Jane: Agent of SHIELD’ book to Marvel where she works in SHIELD’s public relations office in New York.)

In terms of personality, I think the Spectacular cartoon nailed exactly what I want. The show didn’t get to the really juicy stuff of a romance with Peter or her knowing his secret identity, but her every scene felt perfect to me and she really did add a nice dynamic to the cast. I think the Ultimate comics captured a good depiction of the character dealing with her background as an abused child from a broken household, but I think it missed the mark in the whole ‘Brainy Janey’ thing where she was supposed to be a nerd like Peter. It felt like little was done with that, and Peter still eventually emerged as smarter than all the other students anyway, so I’m not sure what the goal was. I prefer the idea of MJ putting on a facade of a Cool Extrovert to cover her angst.

Gwen

Gwen is odd to me in that I mostly know her as Dead Love-Interest Walking. The only times I feel like I’ve experienced her as a real character are the Spectacular cartoon and the Ultimate comics, and my understanding is that neither captures the character as portrayed in the comics. Comics Gwen was the acerbic rich girl who evolved in a sweet rich girl. Ultimate Gwen was a punk rock rebel with a sense of justice. Spectacular Gwen was a sweet nerd who pined after Peter. (I don’t remember much about Amazing Gwen, other than the moment of her death and her glaring dad.) All of those are a bit different, but I feel like the only thing they all have in common is that they’re a girl who Peter falls for before he eventually marries MJ.

To that end, though, I think that’s enough to define Gwen as something of a fantasy. She should be The Ideal Love-Interest, which is not to say that she should be some kind of flawless angel, but she should be what most people’s fantasy should be of a great girlfriend for Peter. She should be a smartie like him, and either be sweet enough for them to be natural buddies or else spiky enough for them to be rivals with romantic tension. Or, like Ultimate Gwen, she should be interesting and living an exotic lifestyle but Good in a way that makes her uncomplicated for Peter to love.

And, in the end, the romance with her should always fail. Perhaps due to her death, or perhaps due to other factors if we don’t want her to be Dead Love-Interest Walking. Either way, I think she should be the precursor to Peter’s true love interest, with whom he has a messier romance that eventually becomes a perfectly-fulfilling endgame. Gwen should be the person we all think we’re going to marry when we first start dating, but later comes someone else and a more adult connection where we end up with someone we never would have imagined when we were young and naive.

Felicia

I hate to say it, but Felicia should be Catwoman. She’s the naughty, slightly dangerous lady who’s super sexy and is always offering an exciting time. She’s the love interest for the superhero side of Peter’s life, a wild fantasy of leaving all the concerns about Peter behind and just being a fun adventurer all the time with a hot cat-chick by his side. But, because such fantasies are always false, there needs to be a problem with Felicia that ultimately makes her a poor match for Peter. Usually, it’s her morals, where she’s fine with theft or violent revenge or other compromises that Peter himself fights against.

Ironically, the version of Felicia I’m most familiar with is nothing like this. That’s the 90′s cartoon, of course, where she’s mostly a version of Gwen Stacy. There’s a bit of it when she becomes the Black Cat, but her grand romance was with Morbius, and my memory is fuzzy enough that I’m honestly not sure what the short-lived romance with Spider-Man was really like. Honestly, I’d look at the animated Felicia as more what to do if anyone wanted to give Gwen superpowers. XD

But as far as my ideal depiction, I like a Black Cat who’s a thief, but not a full baddie. She should walk moral line and sometimes cross over, but not in a big way. (I’m not really a fan of Dan Slott making her a full crime lord who wants revenge on Spidey, but I admit I didn’t read the storyline. I hear it worked pretty well in the Silk comics but didn’t otherwise make a whole lotta sense.) She should be flirty and sassy and clever. I like when she comes on so strongly and so quickly that she flusters Peter. And I also like when she has superpowers, because that more firmly puts her on that side of things, as compared to someone Peter could bring into his civilian life. Peter’s civilian life should always be in conflict with his life as Spider-Man, and his love-interest should always play into that dynamic.

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (semi-stream of consciousness) Thoughts Part 3: Spider-Miles and his Amazing Friends/Foes

Apologies for not getting this out sooner. I’ve been/still am unwell so I was physically too energy drained to crank it out.

For this outing we’re going to discuss the characters not named Miles Morales. Spoilers ahead.

 As I have said before, Miles might be the primary protagonist but he is not the sole one.

Alongside him we have the Peter Parker who died (who, in what is surely a Clone Saga reference, is blonde), the older washed up Peter Parker, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir and Peni Parker with her SP//dr mech...with a cameo by Spider-Man 2099 and 1960s Spider-Man.

Going up against them are Kingpin, Prowler/Aaron Davis, Doctor Octopus/Olivia Octavius, Tombstone, Scorpion and Green Goblin with cameos by the Lizard/Spider-Gwen’s Peter Parker and some versions of Doc Ock and a reference to Electro. Honestly there were probably more villains too I just missed them because this movie is such a feast for the eyes that you need to see it more than once to take everything in. For example my friend caught a Ditko reference I missed.

I already gushed about how impressive it is that the movie balanced so many characters so lets not go over that again beyond saying that it is honestly mind blowing that us Spidey fans got all THOSE villains (some of whom have never been on film before) in this movie and what is essentially a Carolin Trainer Doc Ock reference rendered as a really cool villainess.

For real Olivia ‘Liv’ Octavius was bad ass. If Kingpin was the Big Bad she was his ‘Dragon’ to use TV Tropes terminology. Her design was unique to Molina’s Doc Ock and her unveiling was one of the movies best twists that I really didn’t see coming. Also Aunt May seemed to know her which means in my headcanon they were like old friends and had tea together sometimes. It is also worth of note she is technically one of the relatively few Marvel movie villainesses.

Sticking with the villains for now Tombstone and Green Goblin were the least interesting. Goblin here existed essentially to serve as reference and honour to the Death of Spider-Man arc from the Ultimate comics as he is very much involved in Blonde Peter’s death and dies himself. Tombstone was just...Tombstone. He was just Fisk’s bodyguard and nothing else. Still the fact that there even exists a Spider-Man movie WITH Tombstone in it is something of a marvel. Scorpion is elevated somewhat beyond Tombstone and Goblin by virtue of his interesting redesign and the quirk that he speaks Spanish, thus connecting him to Miles. Whilst the movie doesn’t use it’s relatively even hero and villain count to just pair the characters off, it should be said that Tombstone and Scorpion do exist specifically to give Noir, Ham and Peni something to do in the second and third act climaxes.

This is not a detriment to the movie though. Although this is an ensemble movie, it is Miles movie primarily, Peter and Gwen’s secondarily and the other Spider-Heroes’ behind them. This point is accentuated when we are given their origins simultaneously in a three panel sequence. It is understood that these three characters are to be regarded somewhat collectively, sort of like the Warriors Three from Thor.

Getting back to the villains though, I have little to say on Prowler I didn’t cover last time. All I will add is that his visuals are very cool. Even though he is based upon Ultimate Prowler his look is more 616 Prowler influenced, but imagine if instead of a misguided antagonist he was a scary slightly Spawn inspired villain. So he was totally bad ass.

However hats must go off to Kingpin. He was the main and best villain of this story. It is funny this year has been oddly Kingpin focused in terms of Marvel content.

He was brought back superbly for Daredevil season 3. He was a notable figure in the PS4 Spidey game. He was the main villain of the PS4 prequel novel. He got a lot of play in Daredevil and Spider-Man comics where he was the mayor and he is now serving as a Marvel movie villain for the second time. For me personally I complimented all this by checking out Daredevil Born Again and Last Rites, two very Kingpin centric stories.

As far as his portrayal here is concerned, the central conceit of the movie again creates a potential get out of jail scenario for any direction the writers want to take with the characters. This is an AU version of Kingpin and so is at liberty to deviate wildly from the 616 version as Liv Octavius did.

How interestingly what we wind up with is an interesting rendition of Kingpin who’s deviations from his canon counterpart’s personality are relatively minor and his overall portrayal is different more in where it places the emphasis as opposed to what the specific traits of his personality are.

Comics Kingpin is defined by his cold controlled and sophisticated demeanour hiding a thuggish, cruel and raging temper beneath the surface. He is the boss of bosses, the biggest criminal ever in more way than one.  

Spider-Verse Kingpin is a little more ‘street’ in his dialogue and vocal performance than we might be used to with classic Kingpin and ever so slightly more prone to making jokes, but beyond that his personality is very similar. Essentially he is Kingpin with a bit more Tony Soprano injected into him. The idea of his calm exterior hiding a cruel raging monster beneath is very well realized though via his gimmick of clicking his pen as a kind of stress ball to maintain his temper and his beating Spider-Man to death with his bare hands. Not to mention his flying into raging bull mode at the climax of the movie when things go all wrong.

Where the key deviation lies for this rendition of Wilson Fisk though lies in his motivation for the movie. Whilst various stories in comics and other media depict Kingpin’s motivation to simply rid his criminal empire of one superhero or another, or else further expand and secure that empire, Spider-Verse Kingpin is all about his family. The entire reason he is investigating parallel universes is in order to find alternate living versions of his dead wife Vanessa and son Richard. They died fleeing him in horror upon witnessing him fighting Blonde Spidey, so Wilson feels guilty and heartbroken over their deaths.

What is ingenious about this take upon Kingpin is that you could entirely see his canon counterpart doing something like this and it serves to add a note of sympathy to him in spite of his directly murdering Spider-Man and Miles’ uncle. Whilst it is perhaps not as nuanced or multilayered as the Netflix Kingpin, it still serves to make him more than a two-dimensional, black and white gangster. So as a villain he is simple, yet effective.

  Kingpin, like all the Spider-Heroes sans Miles, also has a backstory flashback sequence that  explains his history with his family. These are strategically placed throughout the movie and are reminiscent of the origin sequences from the Suicide Squad movie. However what worked so poorly there works magnificently here.

These origin sequences do much more than simply drop exposition for each character. Putting aside how the movie does enough to build up and endear us to most of the characters who get such sequences, the sequences are actually in aid of conveying to the audience the primary conceit of the film, that of alternate realities.

And the best way to convey this idea is to prevent the familiar with deliberate changes.

What I mean by this is that the movie sets up these origin sequences in deliberate contrast to one another and signposts this fact with repeated dialogue and visual cues in each sequence. This even applies for Kingpin as the visuals of his origin sequence are evoked for the climax wherein he briefly does see flashes of his wife and son from other realities.

As far as the Spider-Heroes are concerned though, the first of these sequences is at the top of the movie with the background information for Blonde Spidey.

This helps immediately hint that the world we are watching is both similar to yet different to the ones we might be familiar with, noticeably the world of this Spider-Man is more similar to our own as Blonde Spidey (surely a Ben Reilly reference unto himself) is a beloved and highly merchandised celebrity. Even the iconic upside down kiss with Mary Jane occurs for him with MJ upside down. A fun little in joke for the audience, or sly easing in of the idea that this Spider-Man is not the one we know?

A little of both probably, but that one scene illustrates what I mean because the second origin sequence we get is about the older Spider-Man. Like I said it plays itself in deliberate contrast to the Blonde Spider-Man, retaining the same narrative/dialogue structure within the short vignette to convey for us how this Spidey is different and thus develop his character. E.g. he is older and yet less successful, he is underappreciated and in bad shape and his marriage to MJ (whom he shares a more traditional upside down kiss with, see what I mean, it slyly hints this Spidey is more like the ones we recognize) has ended in sad divorce and he is a wreck.

Further origin sequences repeat for Spider-Gwen (she is similar to her comic counterpart, but her hang up is distancing herself from her friends), Noir, Peni and Ham.

As I said before Noir, Peni and Ham have their origin sequences play out simultaneously on the screen. This cements their lesser status within the movie compared to the other protagonists.

Collectively the sequences not only use the individual Spider-Heroes to mutually develop and build up each character on the most basic level to the audience (Spider-Man but a Looney Tune pig, Spider-Man but if he was a drummer Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man but if he was Humphrey Bogart, Spider-Man but if he was an anime girl from a mech anime, etc) but also serves to hold the audiences hand as it gets them to accept the conceit of parallel universes.

Of course the concept is first broached at the start of the movie where Blonde Spider-Man’s origin sequence concludes with him declaring himself the one and only Spider-Man (a sentiment echoed in other origin sequences too) and is then immediately followed by Miles’ introduction. We also have the topic raised in Miles classroom.

When combined with the other origin sequences, this opening obviously challenges the audiences idea that there could only ever be one Spider-Man and that it would have to be Peter Parker (a fair presumption, most audience members would be unaware of any other Spider-Heroes). This I think is part of the ingeniousness (forgive my repetition of the term but it is true) of featuring the two Peters in this movie.

See both Peter Parkers are as much positioned as deliberate deviations from the norm general audiences would expect as Spider-Ham or Spider-Gwen. Whilst one Peter is blonde and a successful married celebrity with essentially his own Spider-Cave, another is the oldest on screen Peter Parker we’ve ever had, pot-bellied and a divorcee. Outside of some video games and two 20 year old cartoons general audiences have never even seen a married Spider-Man so presenting not just one but two, and one of whom is post-marriage to boot, is a brilliant way to sell ‘this isn’t the Spider-Man you know’.

But these Spider-Men ARE Peter Parker. So if there can be versions of the Parker Spidey audiences are familiar with that are so different to what they know, the idea of Peter Parker but an anime girl or a 1930s noir character or a cartoon pig becomes easier to accept as does Gwen Stacy (whom audiences ARE familiar with from the recent Marc Webb movies) as ‘Spider-Man’ becomes yet easier to accept.

All of which build to what is second half of the question the start of the movie raises.

The question is partially ‘Does Peter Parker have to be the one and only Spider-Man’ (obviously not there are alternate versions of him as well as Gwen Stacy in the role) and, perhaps more poignantly, partially ‘Can Miles be Spider-Man’.

And this is the the most important purpose that the origin sequences serve. They are all building towards the climax of the movie which bookeneds the start wherein it is at last Miles turn to relay his own origin, allowing the movie to put to rest the question it raised at the start and cement in the audience’s minds that YES, this kid can and now IS Spider-Man.

As Stan Lee said, part of the appeal of Spider-Man is that under that costume anyone can imagine themselves to be Spider-Man. This movie embodies that message, embeds it into itself and in that sense serves the fundamental ethos of Spider-Man or him being the relatable everyman, even whilst Peter himself is not the heart of this movie.

And it did all that via having comic book style flashback exposition dumps!!!!!!!

I might have said this before or elsewhere but this is the most ‘comic book’ comic book movie I’ve ever seen! As in it is a movie that looks like and plays out like a comic book!

And just like the best comic books and comic book movies it always remembers that these stories are someone’s first so whilst it presumes a certain amount of foreknowledge (like you know who Spider-Man is) it leaves nothing to chance and organically walks you through everything you need to know. Again, those origin sequences by being placed in contrast to one another walks audiences gently through the massive concept of multiverses which no other theatrical comic book film before this to my knowledge has ever touched (sorry DC..).

Sticking with the Spider-Heroes for a moment, what should be understood is that the characterization of them is all geared towards the needs of the specific story being told, which obviously has Miles at the heart of it.

What I mean by this is that whilst the movie doesn’t give you the most detailed or faithful rendition of Spider-Gwen or Spider-Man: Noir ever they are the right takes for the movie’s story, for selling the concept of parallel universes and Miles development.

Blonde Spidey is not just hyper successful in order to contrast with Old Spidey. His success and competency (his brief action scene is incredibly impressive) is designed to also contrast to Miles inexperience and to sell him as almost a Superman/Captain America figure within Miles’ world. His death is mourned as the passing of a great and revered hero, a national day of mourning and even made me tear up a bit. This is done to accentuate the guilt Miles feels and the burden Miles feels to live up to his dying wish and shadow, the latter of which could fuel a potential sequel. His specific death scene itself is played as very different from the Ultimate comics. There his death was the grand finale (we thought) to the saga of a hero we’d been following and gave him a fittingly grand death. In the movie since his death is primarily the launch pad for Miles’ journey it is less grand, even cruel in how quick, blunt and undignified it is.

Old Spidey’s failure is not undertaken because the filmmakers believe Spider-Man is or should be some abject loser or failure, as I and others have feared. It is a direction taken because it gives him an arc for the movie. His hang up is wrapped up with his divorce from Mary Jane. But refreshingly for comic fans their separation occurred because MJ wanted children and he couldn’t bring himself to go there. It is through his tutelage of Miles (and hilarious confession to Blonde Spidey’s widow, a reflection of his student’s poor attempt to woo Gwen earlier) that he works through his issues and gets his happy ending of reuniting with his MJ. He thus has an arc intertwined with Miles even as he serves as his reluctant and somewhat haphazard mentor. If you think about it, having a version of Spider-Man more akin to the ‘default’ version would have made for a boring and underwhelming movie as far as Miles and Peter’s relationship is concerned. In this dynamic though master and student mutually grow.

Moreover his arc is interesting on a meta level as his pot belly somewhat resembled Tobey Maguire in some infamous and unflattering post-Spider-Man 3 images and Peter and MJ having a child and divorcing were in fact concepts toyed with for the aborted Spider-Man 4. All of which lends credence to the idea that Old Spider-man could very well be the actual Maguire Spider-Man. Indeed Maguire was apparently considered to be cast for this Spider-Man.

Between them Blonde and Old Peter represent something of the best and worst case scenarios for the ‘standard’ Spider-Man that broadly exists in the popular consciousness of general audiences.

Also one of these two Peter Parkers is explicitly Jewish. They have a Jewish wedding with Mary Jane which is a lovely touch as both his creators were Jewish and it has often been said the character embodies certain characteristics that recognizable within Jewish culture.

Spider-Gwen is changed into being more snarky than her earliest comics depicted her mostly because she has to be a more in control and experienced counterpoint to the in experienced Miles, serving as the subtextual second-in-command of the team. Her character’s conceit of being distant from her friends was something sort of present in her comics but is played as her central emotional problem in this movie that is also worked out through the course of teaming up with others. Additionally the film, seeking to connect her and Miles romantically (perhaps unnecessarily, but it is a sweet enough young romance nevertheless, helped by their similar age for a change) draws a parallel between how both her and Miles lost a Peter Parker. Parker in her universe was the Lizard as in the comics which further helps sell the idea of ‘Spider-Man’ being flexible.

The other Spider-Heroes are again, bodies to pad out the team and all of them are geared towards comic relief which helps balance out the team and movie over all, even if it goes against how Peni and Noir were originally characterized in their solo outings. But again this isn’t a solo outing, it is a team outing centred around Miles.

And the key thing to note here, as I noted in previous instalments is that all these other Spider-Heroes NEEDED to be in here and (to a lesser or greater extent) needed their own arcs because Miles was not going to hold the movie all on his own.

As for the other characters not much to say really. Miles parents are done well though his Dad gets more focus, a biproduct think of the movie focussing upon his brother Aaron. Aunt May has a small but lovely role as the keeper of Blonde Peter’s legacy. There is a touching scene which adapted Spider-Men better than the actual story. In the comic book 616 Peter meets Ultimate May in the relatively recent aftermath of Ultimate Peter’s death. In the movie, apart from Blonde Peter being older (meaning more years with Peter), Old Peter has also lost his Aunt May meaning the moment is much more emotionally packed as bereaved aunt and nephew reunite.

Then there is Mary Jane. Again a small role and she is somewhat relegated to a motivator than her own character but in a movie this packed where the heart isn’t Peter Parker you can understand why. You do feel bad that every (good) character in this movie got a happy ending or at least a happy final scene except her...well sort of. She is just left as the widow of Blonde Spidey but she gets a nice scene where she reunites with Old Peter. So ONE version of MJ has a happy last scene.

I will say this, the movie treated the character with respect. It is MJ who delivers her husband’s eulogy that prompts Miles into action and sums up the message of anyone being Spider-Man. It is made clear MJ was not the root of her split with Peter because ‘she couldn’t handle it’ or some shit like that. So whilst the movie didn’t give her much to do it also didn’t punch down on her or disrespect her legacy the way Homecoming did. And if nothing else how cool was it that we got not one but TWO Peter/MJ marriages on screen in a major motion picture. Take that Marvel!

But I cannot talk about the characters in this movie without talking about the three best cameos in any comic book movie.

The first was the surprise post-credits sequence where Spider-Man 2099 showed up! Of all Spider-Heroes he was the one I wanted most to show up. I love Mayday of course but I never deluded myself she could show up and in fact Old Peter’s story opens up that possibility for her more down the line.

2099 shocked me (how appropriate) and I thought we were going to get some nice sequel bait. That was until that was subverted for the second cameo that made me and my friend split our sides with laugher.

1960s cartoon Spider-Man, specifically with him and 2099 recalling the ‘Spider-Man pointing at himself meme’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is how you integrate a meme right!!!!!!

They even paid the 1960s show homage by referring to it as going back to the beginning since the 1960s show was in fact the first time Spider-Man was ever adapted into animation.

The third and best cameo goes to the Stan Lee appearance.

I am not ashamed to tell you dear readers that when I saw Stan Lee, even a cartoon version of him, saying in his own voice that he was friends with Spider-Man and will miss him I genuinely cried a little.

Even seeing the grave of Blonde Spider-Man shortly afterwards, a scene I’d already seen as the after credits scene for Venom, hit me hard and felt very different in a post-Stan Lee world.

And of course there was that ending title card crediting Lee and Ditko. Beautiful, no other word for it.

And given the movie’s fundamental message I can think of no more fitting way to honour the fathers of Spider-Man.

[firstpuffin]

Possible improvements to the potential second Spider-Man PS4 game: story

-Note: sorry this is late, I have no excuses. I simply got the days confused.

There are a few issues with the story that I would like to bring up but it was generally good. If you focus solely on the story then it is short; this isn’t really a problem in and of itself but it makes it difficult to flesh out certain characters and relationships.

The villains

  We get to see the main villain’s decent into- well, villainy, and it’s pretty good; unfortunately I feel that it gets a bit rushed towards the end and, while we have a reason for it, I would personally have liked a bit more of a lead up to this though. Octavious goes from a nice man with a progressive neurological disorder to a murderer of innocents; sure he has some- outside stimuli (by which I mean tech to the brain), but we should have seen more of the change.

  It’s not terrible though and his story is absolutely emotionally gripping.

-credit to u/MightUlt-7 on reddit for thinking of taking a picture here of all places-

More importantly though, this is supposed to be constructive so how could this be improved on for the sequel? A bit more show and a bit less tell; I think I know where Octavious’s problems started but it’s only a guess and they should have shown a bit more throughout the game. A bit more anger, more desperation, some clearly irrational thinking; it could have been done without too much problem either. Might not even need to change much, even a few tentative touches to the back of the head, an uncontrolled angry expression, just little things.

  It’s hard to say anything more without knowing what the sequel is planning, but they have a good head start on the Green Goblin so it should be easier to flesh him out some.

  There was some confusion (for me at least) about Martin Li, aka Mr Negative, and how Peter knew he was responsible for a certain event. It was only upon watching someone else play it that I realised it was because Peter saw him; I missed it the first time because it was a hectic moment with faded colours and Li only being onscreen for a moment.

  My recommendation is to make the big reveal a bit less fleeting.

-did Peter not consider that philanthropist and close friend of his aunt may also (also May) be brainwashed?-

Devil’s Breath

A large part of the story revolves around the Devil’s Breath superweapon and when I heard the name pop up I was excited as all hell!

  In the comics, Devil’s Breath is a gas that targets specific bloodlines so you could gas a city and only kill a certain family; it’s a weapon of awesome power due to its ease of deployment and precision. In the game- well it’s a generic bioweapon, ‘nuff said. I mean, sure, it’s technically a cure for genetic disorders that is still in progress, and that it’s relevant to the story, but it’s still very boring.

Side-characters: John Jonah Jameson

The infamous JJJ was always going to be tricky to write, with his raw emotion, irrational hatred of Spidey but otherwise sound judgement. I know a lot of people don’t see his competent side as when we see him it’s usually connected to Spidey, but he made it big in the newspaper business for a reason.

  In Spider-Man PS4 he is Alex Jones, who is quite honestly a joke here in England and hopefully everywhere. JJJ is proud but not so much that he won’t own up to his mistakes; he prints retractions, he apologises and accepts where he messed up. He knows full well that he made a big mistake in having the Scorpion created; but in Spider-Man PS4 he rejects the responsibility and blames others.

  That’s a big no.

  This is probably one of the issues with the game that I do thoroughly dislike. JJJ is a good and complex character but they’ve made him a joke. Although, in his defence, he does appear to step up when the city goes to hell.

Miles Morales

There aren’t a lot of side characters worth mentioning but Miles has been set up to be very interesting in a sequel. We’ve been shown that he’s brave and kind and all of the things that a Spider-Man needs and most importantly, he has powers by the end of the game.

  There were a number of token character swaps where we played as powerless Miles or MJ, which sucked, but now that there are two Spider-Men we can have some decent character swapping. I don’t know if Peter has any powers that Miles doesn’t have, but Miles has at least two powers that Peter doesn’t and I suspect that Peter has greater scientific know-how so if done well then it could be really fun to switch between the two.

-credit to u/SebVettel5 on reddit for being so inconsiderate to our hero-

Side missions

While playing I had to pretend that many of the side missions were happening after the story for the sake of immersion. Like many open world games, time may not actually pass unless you do the main story, allowing you to spend unrealistic amounts of time doing side missions; it’s a good thing for the player but when one of those side missions changes the time of day before sending you back to the same time, causing you to both miss and not miss in game appointments, it’s hard to justify it to yourself.

  Speaking of side missions (but applicable to anything Spidey has to interact with), quite often the game will target something that you can interact with, but you have to get the camera in the exact right position before you can interact with it. This may not sound too annoying but it can be quite picky at times and sometimes it seems to affect the webslinging as well as combat which can be incredibly annoying.

-sorry about the poor quality, I don’t understand transferring files from the PS4-

This was supposed to be the end of my Spider-Man constructive criticism, but I haven’t even gotten onto the bit that I really wanted to talk about: the costumes. One of my favourite parts of any game is character customisation and I have great memories of the PS1 Spider-Man games allowing me to play with the different costumes which, let’s be honest, is one of the things we love about superheroes: the costumes.

  I guess I’ll have to do just one more.

[silversablinovaallday]

A Slice Of Pizza

Description: After the events of the Spider-man ps4 game and it's DLC's Silver Sablinova actually decides to take Peter up on his offer to get pizza. 

Read it on A03 Here

Hammerhead was finally down. With all the flames and sparks licking at his metal body, it was hard to be sure that he was really gone; but after a few long moments of locked servos and unseeing eyes remaining motionless, they knew they had accomplished their goal. It was almost sad to see the lump of robotic parts, hunched over themselves in an ocean of fire, while the barely visible, still flesh covered face was charred by the inferno. He had a rule against killing, but this time it may have been the only way. Hammerhead was too strong and if allowed to come back, would; no doubt, be near impossible to beat.

Attempting to use that fact to block out the terrible feeling of watching a man die at the hands of his partner; or rather, her jet, he instead used his regular wit to defuse the situation. “Huh, that was fun,” he beamed, turning to look at Sablinova. “Hey, do you have dinner plans? I know this great pizza place.”

She seemed taken aback by the invitation, standing still, thinking about it for longer than Peter would have expected. She hadn’t said yes but she hadn’t said no either. After the longest minute of his life, she sighed. “I cannot. I must return to my home country.”

“Oh, right. I know you’ve got a war but can’t you spare ten minutes? Send your men back and get some good food. You deserve it, you know? After everything.”

She began walking towards one of the jets left untouched in the hangar after the battle. The cockpit door lifted open as she got closer but she stopped before hopìng in. Not turning around fully, only tilting her head slightly towards him she calmly asked, “how close is this pizza place.?”

Peter perked up significantly. “Oh, it's super close! Especially for your jet! It's the best! You’ll love it!” He ran over, jumping in the pilot's seat before she could. “I’ll drive. Fly. I’ll fly!”

“You absolutely will not,” she protested.

“I’m already in here. What are you going to-” She lifted him right off the seat by the collar of his suit before he could even finish asking his question. “Oh, I guess that's what you'll do.”

“You are much lighter than I thought you’d be. I am concerned about how you deal so much damage in combat.”

“Well placed hits more than anything. Can you put me down now? This is kind of embarrassing.” She gave him a half-hearted smile that he had never seen before just as she threw him off the jet and back to the cold, hard, metal floor of the hangar. He recovered quickly, jumping back onto his feet with little effort. “Thanks, that was really uncomfortable. Come on let’s go! My treat! But we should keep out of the public eye so I’ll have them deliver to a rooftop. I’ll call, you fly.”

She rolled her eyes, jumping down into the cockpit. “Input the coordinates in the terminal. Then hop on and we can go.”

Peter did as he was told, already getting Eddie on the phone to order to the usual location. It only occurred to him as Sablinova took off, that he had no idea what type of pizza she would like. “Hey Eddie,” he yelled over the roar of the engine as it pushed off of the ground. “It’s me, Spidey! I’d like to order my usual and like two or three other pizzas. I’m with a friend and I don’t know what she likes so can you make a couple different ones. Like a cheese, veggie and maybe a meat lovers? That covers all the bases right?”

“Sure Spidey! Anything for you and you’re in luck; we’re not busy over here tonight so it’ll probably be really quick. Ten, maybe twenty minutes.”

“Thanks, Eddie! See ya then!”

He hung up just as the jet set down on the all-too-familiar rooftop. Peter walked along the wing waiting for Sablinova. Through the glass, he could see her fidgeting expertly with the controls. Suddenly, he was very thankful she didn’t allow him to take the controls. He may be a scientist with a degree in chemical engineering, but that didn’t mean he knew how an advanced fighter jet worked; or how he could go about figuring it out.

“We got some time to kill before the delivery. Want to play a game,” he asked when the door opened.

“How old are you,” she asked sarcastically.

“Old enough to drink, not old enough to like it; know what I mean?”

“No.”

“Alright well I’m older than 21,” he laughed.

“I find that hard to believe,” she scoffed at him in a slightly more playful tone than usual. It was still forceful and direct but had a hint of humour in the tone. “I’ve done some research on you. You’ve been in the news for eight years.”

“Yeah? So,” he asked, extending his hand to help her step down from the jet and onto the rooftop.

She neglected it of course; leaving him hanging as she jumped down on her own. “Why then? Why did you suddenly appear then?”

Peter sighed and took a seat on the wing of the jet, leaving his legs dangling over the edge; watching as Sablinova paced with her arms crossed in front of him. She was waiting for an answer and; knowing her, would not let it go until he answered. “It’s when I got my powers. I wasn’t born with them, it just kind of happened one day. Long story.”

“How did you do it?”

“Now that’s classified. Forgive me but I’m not exactly planning on giving my secret of superpowers to anyone; especially violent mercenaries who have tried to kill me. And a few times at that. Besides,” he continued; his voice getting a little cheerier. “You can't anyway. The spider is dead and it's a complete fluke that it didn't kill me in the first place.”

“How old?”

“Fifteen when I started.”

She stared blankly at him for a moment with almost a hint of concern in her eyes. “You are a child. Twenty-three is far too young to be involving yourself with such dangers; spider powers or not.”

“You couldn't have done it without me.”

“We could and would have.”

“Yet I did all the work while you chased me like I was the criminal.”

“You were are a criminal.”

They reached a standstill. Conversation stalled, filling their air with the noises of the city once more. It was awkward and unnerving.

Her gaze never broke, and even through his mask, he felt as though she could see right through him. Perhaps she could. In all of a second, he realized just how oblivious he had been. He changed into and out of costume in alleyways and rooftops all in the time and her men were on surveillance duty. Perhaps one had managed to find him in one of these inopportune and compromising moments. Oh god, Peter thought. What if she’s seen my Spiderman briefs?

Peter tried to shake the thought and blurted out the first thing he thought of. “I feel like there's a ‘but’ coming. I was a criminal; but…”

She took her time responding. “But,” she continued. “I am thankful for your help in the end. You kept my client alive and I do believe you were the one who put my rogue outpost in their place during the devil's breath incident, and that; I have to thank you for.”

“Don’t sweat it,” Peter chuckled softly. “Oh, our pizza’s here. I can hear Eddie climbing the stairs.”

He jumped down from the wing and ran to the side of the building where the short but ever cheerful pizza shop owner was trying desperately to navigate the bulky pizza boxes through the narrow fire escape. Without a moment's hesitation, Peter lept from the building's edge, easily catching the railing on the balcony Eddie was standing on. “Hey, Eddie! How you been?”

“Better since you’ve given my place a shoutout. Thank’s for that Spiderman. Here’s your pizza.”

“How much do I owe you?”

“Nothing. Anything for you.”

“No, no. I can’t do that. This is four pizzas.”

“How about a picture of you eating it then for the company website?”

“You got it, Eddie. I’ll send it your way later tonight.”

“Thanks, Spidey. Enjoy your pizza date,” Eddie laughed pleasantly while handing over the pizzas and beginning his climb back down to the alleyway below.

“Ding, ding! Soups on,” Peter shouted as his head popped over the ledge. “I got a bunch because I didn’t know what you liked and I thought you’d kill me if I interrupted you when you were flying. So we got cheese,” he tossed the box like a frisbee at her; which she caught easily. “A meat lovers,” again tossed lazily to her. “Veggie,” another one on the pile. “And double pepperoni but that's mine so I’ll keep that.”

“You are not keeping the best to yourself.”

“And; let me guess, you'll fight me for it?”

She smirked at him, “you are learning. Very good.”

He laughed and passed the final box to her; topping off the pile like it were a layered cake. “Care to join me on the edge?” He lightly patted the railing beside him as he took a seat. “Second best view of the city from here.”

Sablinova took his suggestion and sat down on the railing; having to keep most of her focus on staying centred on the slim metal bar. He; of course, didn’t have to worry about that. He stuck firmly to any surface and didn’t need to worry about falling to the cold pavement below. Because of this, he seemed to be in better spirits than her; folding his mask up just above his nose, exposing most of his face making it easy to shove nearly the entire slice of pizza into his mouth without hassle.

She was shocked. Not surprised that he would do this: he had to eat somehow, but amazed that he would show her this with no hesitation. He was far more open and exposed like this. Was it possible that he trusted her that much?

For the first time, she could see the smile that she could only have imagined before; only it was nothing like what she imagined. It was much more full and sweet; curving lopsidedly whenever it wasn't being stuffed with greasy, cheesy, bread piled high with pepperoni. It was warming and comforting; reminding her that there was; in fact, a person behind that mask. Someone who had a life outside of being a vigilante. A man who had hopes, ambitions, family. For a moment she regretted all of the things she had done. How her men had hunted him. How she had given the command to bring him down no matter the cost.

A quick memory of her home country and how the money from Osborne would aid her cause reminded her that she had no choice but to follow orders and her feelings were mutual again.

Trying to break the silence; and hopefully, her unblinking stare, he took out his personal cell phone rather than his suits built in phone and snapped a selfie. “For Eddie,” he clarified as if she was confused. “Want to get in on a pic? I won’t send that one to him though.”

She was still mesmerized by the half-masked face. “Why take it then? If you aren't going to do anything with it?”

“Oh, I will! It’s gonna be my new phone background. Proof that you like me now.”

“I don't like you.”

“Oh really?” he smirked, raising his arm to take the picture. “Come on, smile! Turn that frown upside down.” She didn’t, so he raised his opposite, grease-soaked hand to lightly grip either side of her cheeks and pushed them into a chubby-cheeked smile. “There!” He snapped the picture before she could swat his hand away, violently grabbing his wrist in a death grip.

“Do not touch me like that again!” There was a new-found softness in her voice; matched with the residual smile that stayed after his fingers were removed.

“Lesson learned! My bad,” he laughed. “But I did get the picture.”

The phone was pushed closer to her and to her surprise, it depicted not her with a forced smile, but instead; the aftermath of his childish antics. She was smiling of her own free will, and so was he. Their hands a blur as she swatted him away. It looked almost friendly.

“That's definitely one for the scrapbook. At least it would be if I still had it. But that's fine; phone background it is. Do you like it?”

“I do,” she answered honestly; a soft smile creeping back on her lips. “You are a remarkable man, Spider. Something else entirely. How do you do it?”

“Do what? I already told you I'm not going to explain my powers.”

She took a slice of pizza and ate it while her eyes traced the skyline. “No. Not that. How do you manage your life? You must have a job, family, friends.”

“Oh, that. Well, it was really difficult when I first got my powers. Between learning how to control them, designing my suit and web-shooters, family, school, friends. To be fair though, I only had two friends so it kind of worked out on that end. Not too much obligation. Then one… he went away for a while, and the other became my girlfriend who broke up with me not long after.

“After the Devils’ breath incident I lost the only remaining family member I had. She was a wonderful woman. I wouldn't be anything close to the man I am today, had it not been for her.

“With her estate, I was able to get an apartment; I’ve been homeless for a while you see. Couch surfing; not that I sleep that often though. Not with being Spiderman. Oh, and my job doesn't exactly help either.”

“Nothing you are saying makes it sound like you are doing well.”

Peter huffed, “yeah. Saying it out loud now makes it sound a lot worse.” He scratched his chin absentmindedly. “I’m doing alright. It just sounds bad. I just need a job that forgives me being late and absent a lot.”

“I will add you to Sable's payroll.”

He choked on his pizza; and kept choking until he slapped his back hard enough to dislodge the hunk and send it falling to the ground below. “I’m sorry what?!”

“I will add you to our payroll. In exchange, you will continue to keep New York; and more importantly, Norman Osborne safe. And report directly to me at least once a week.”

He was still recovering; breathing heavily. “Is-uh, is this just a macho way of asking me to keep in touch?”

“It’s a business proposition.”

“Well; in that case, I accept. Even if it’s just so you can talk to me more. This has been nice. I always said you guys should pay me for my work. But wait,” he paused. “Don’t you need all that you can get to fight the war?”

“It’s worth having a strong ally in the wings in case we need them. That is if you'd be willing to come to Symkaria if your help is necessary.”

“Absolutely. Actually, I'd like that. Someone I care about is a reporter and she's going there soon to do media coverage and I’d prefer to keep her safe.”

“I will keep an eye on her. Mary Jane Watson correct?”

“Y-Yeah. How’d you-”

“I had this entire city under personal surveillance. I know everything, Mr. Parker.”

He choked for a second time that night, sending another chunk of pizza to the dirty alleyway beside the other. “You know who I am?!”

“Yes. Do not worry; only I know. None of my men are aware of your true identity.”

Peter could feel the anxiety rising in his chest. “How do you know?”

“I was given; no I should not say it like that; I took the surveillance tapes of the fight with Doctor Octavius. Oscorp has some of the most advanced surveillance technology in the world. Not only did I have multiple angles of your face once you removed your mask; but I also had clear audio of him calling you ‘Peter.’ Not much digging and research lead me to the one and only Peter Parker. Orphaned as a young boy, raised by an aunt and uncle until the uncles unfortunate passing. A genius; soft-hearted by nature with an outstanding lust to help people. Friends with a reporter named Mary Jane Watson at the Daily Bugle, who just so happens to have a history of working with Spiderman. I cannot say it was entirely too difficult to piece together who you are.”

“You never said anything,” Peter sighed. “I would've thought you’d out me when you came back.”

“Personal lives should be left outside of work. Secret identities are no different. I would gain nothing from revealing who you are to the public.”

“I guess I should thank you then.” Slowly he peeled away the mask revealing the blushing babyface underneath. “It’s nice having someone I can show my real self to. It’s lonely being behind a mask all the time.”

She seemed somewhat taken aback. She already knew what his face looked like, but there was a distinct difference between the grief-stricken and injured man in the video, and the sweet grin of the child-like boy in front of her now. “I can imagine your struggle.”

“Well since you already know, I think its time for a real introduction.” He extended his hand towards her, “hi! My name is Peter. Nice to meet you.”

She rolled her eyes; taking the hand nonetheless. “You may call me Sablinova or Sable if you wish. It is good to meet you officially.”

“You too!” He shook hands over enthusiastically and with a rockhard grip that may just leave bruises. “Now may I offer you some of the cold pizza that I can't seem to get a bite of? We have four after all.”

“I would like that very much.”

They spent many long hours up on the rooftop chatting, with only a few one-sided threats thrown in for good measure. And even though she hated to admit it; she was grateful for his unwavering kindness.

[patjansmedia]

Spider-Man PS4 Review

Developer: Insomniac Games

Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment

Rating: 9/10

2018′s Spider-Man is a PlayStation exclusive that has you take control of, well, Spider-Man throughout a breathtaking open world Manhattan. The story has you control a few characters, including Mary Jane Watson, and includes plenty of references to the Spidey universe as well as the MCU.

I wanna start by talking about the story, because this is where the game really surprised me, and that’s by how incredible the story actually is. While it starts off rather slow, as any superhero movie would as it introduces key characters, gameplay mechanics, etc, holy hell does it pick up. And I wanna talk about the pacing, because that contributes well into the story. This thing is paced exactly like a movie that you’d watch within the MCU, and deserves to be recognized as such. Aside from the many side activities you can complete, the story is just perfectly paced. It’s engaging, it’s emotional, it’d funny, sad, and everything in between. I’m just shocked at it’s quality, which brings me to an important contribution to the great story, and that’s the characters.

I truly never expected to like this version of Peter Parker quite as much as I did, but he’s a solid version of the beloved web-slinger. His character is witty, funny, and conveys his emotions well. I was just shocked during the games final leg how well he grew into the character, mad props to voice actor, Yuti Lowenthal. And it’s certainly not just Peter’s character, I loved basically every key character of this game. Mary Jane, Aunt May, and everyone in between from protagonists to villains. Each character and voice actor mixed in with a great script just made the story phenomenal.

Aside from the story there’s a mess of things to do within the map, which is huge by the way. I don’t wanna talk too much about it before I discuss the graphics and environment, but it’s just great. When you’re not swinging from building to building there’s crime to fight, side missions to complete, photography, finding lost backpacks, and more. I admit the side missions DID get a bit repetitive, but there’s enough story for you to space it all out if need be. Most of the missions are fun, and even the repetitive bits are made better by the great fighting mechanics of the game, which I’ll discuss now.

Spider-Man isn’t that difficult of a game, but there is a lot to learn. There’s various combos that you can learn, new moves, and new gadgets to give you the edge in battle (definitely inspired by the newer Spider-Man films.) Mastering these takes practice, but once you do, these fights will feel straight out of the MCU films, believe me. What’s the true star of the show though is the web slinging mechanics, which are an absolute blast. From the tallest buildings, to the trees in central park, swinging across the beautiful city is so much fun. I remember 2004′s Spider-Man 2 video game was revolutionary for it’s time, playing it as a kid was jaw dropping, and to feel that again in this game is so nostalgic while obviously keeping up with the current gen of gaming. You’ll never not have fun exploring the map, trust me. 

Really quick, I wanna discuss the various suits that you can unlock throughout the game, because these are a lot of fun as well, ranging from ridiculous, to fun, to actually pretty helpful in combat. All of this contributes to the skills and movies that you can choose and unlock, but more so it’s just great to play as different variations of Spider-Man. From the Raimi suit, to the Stark suit from the newer MCU films. There’s a few callbacks to the comics, and more. It just adds a lot to the game to play with more than one Spidey suit. My personal favorite is the comic book style suit.

Lastly I wanna discuss the graphics and the map itself, which, holy shit, are incredible. Manhattan looks so full and alive in this game. You can swing past a traffic jam of cars, people having dinner on near restaurants, and you can engage with civilians on the street. My favorite attention to detail is that most windows on buildings has an interior, it’s the little things that make an open world game feel so open. There’s too many tiny details to count that make this map feel real, as well as plenty of tiny easter eggs. This is definitely one of the most impressive game of this current gen as far as graphics and open world maps.

All in all Spider-Man wasn’t a game I had any doubts on enjoying, but I found myself completely blown away at how good it is. 

[spaghettificationstation]

2, 14, 39, 58, and 69 for the video game asks?

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.

Final Fantasy XV! Not only did that game really get me into wanting to draw human anatomy well (and pulled me out of my brief but chaotic furry phase ghgh) it also was the first really big fandom that I participated in. I created art for character weeks and zines and secret santas and so much more. I’m just super inspired by everything in the game! Even now as I’m revisiting it after like a year of not playing it, I can just scroll the camera around Noctis and think, “Oh, I wanna paint that,” and take screenshot after screenshot so that maybe later, I will!

14. Favorite game music?

I have so many, but here’s some Good Picks

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39. A sequel that you would die for them to make?

Metal Gear Rising!! It was a super solid game that was totally cool with not being deep and just having fun, and the only problem with it was how short it was. I’d die to have a sequel with the same gameplay and just more story and character interactions-- just more of what it’s already nailed. Plus, with it being at the end of the Metal Gear timeline, it’s totally opened up for whatever they’d want to do.

(And I want more dorky costumes for Raiden)

58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?

Answered this already, but I think my basic list would be FFXV, Spider-Man PS4, and Uncharted 4 (love me some 3rd person action adventure)-- HOWEVER, after thinking for a hot second, I’d also squish the Resident Evil 2 remake in there. I played it at a friend’s house over a few days and just adored the environment and characters. Plus, I only played Leon’s route, so if I could only play this game and two others, there’s still content for me to find and explore.

69. In your opinion, best game ever made?

Hmm.... is it wrong for me to say a game I’ve only played a little bit of? I just adore everything about The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Every design choice, the tiny details (i saw someone on twitter talk about how they couldn’t figure out why the ice blocks they created were melting, and then they realized they had a fire sword equipped and on their back! The engine and design of the game recognized that, even if the player didn’t, and that’s just so fascinating to me). I love the graphics, as most 3rd person adventure games that I’ve seen have been more gritty, and yet BoTW keeps everything lighthearted and soft-- but not without stakes. The premise of an amnesiac character is pulled off well, to introduce the player to the world, but Link still has personality that you can see in the dialogue boxes (though I think that is a low point, that Link never really speaks). And like... idk the cooking system is just so fun to me. This is absolutely personal bias, but minute, mundane things are so fun to explore in fantastical games, and the fact that you cook, and it isnt just like a menu you select and then bam there’s food, you gotta actually explore with combinations and manually drop everything into a pot-- like thats SO fun to me. In my ceramics class my teacher talked about how no matter the culture or identity or ideas of a person, everyone has to eat, which is why every culture makes plates and bowls and vases and pots and like, even here in Hyrule we gotta eat. It’s just a human thing! And I will jump on any chance I get to see video game characters be as human as possible.

However, I don’t have a copy of BoTW (I played our mutual pals @burningbaconarts‘s copy ahaha) so if I had to choose out of the games I have played, I’d say Spider-Man PS4! I’ve said already that it’s my favorite game. It’s got it’s own twists and turns that change up your usual Spider-Man plot, and the gameplay is SO slick and smooth. How you are able to explore the world as Peter Parker is just as fun and fascinating as exploring the world as Spidey. The cinematic parts know how to turn up the tension, the writing is SO good (I especially adore the dialogue), the voice acting is incredible and I cried! I cried at the end of the game! I won’t spoil it because I want everyone to play it but it’s just a gorgeous, amazing game. Playing it, I had no complaints at all throughout. (This isn’t including the DLCs, the last two actually do bring the whole game down I think, sadly.) But the main game is just a gorgeous exploration of a modern superhero, and the world around the superhero (like how you can check your social media feed and see what people are saying about Spidey, or about the situations, or just about their daily life-- that’s really good world design!). I care about the characters and want to hear their thoughts and I get to do that. I love love love Spider-Man PS4, so much. 10/10 easy.