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Tag: gwen stacy

  • Let’s Discuss Spider-Man 2’s Post-Credits Scenes

    Let’s Discuss Spider-Man 2’s Post-Credits Scenes

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    Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is out, and that means we can talk about the game’s post-credits content and how the big PlayStation sequel seems to set up some very interesting, and very predictable, scenarios for future games and DLC. So uh, we’re gonna do it.

    But before we go any further, a big ol’ spoiler warning is needed. Seriously, I’m about to openly discuss Spider-Man 2’s ending and post-credits scenes. If you haven’t finished Insomniac’s latest PS5-exclusive open-world superhero action game yet and don’t want any surprises ruined before you reach the end yourself, this is your last chance to turn around. You can always come back and read this later! Only scroll down if you want Spider-Man 2 spoiled, understood? Good. Okay, let’s go.

    Spider-Man 2 wraps up like most superhero stories, with our heroes—Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Mary Jane Watson—saving the day, but not without some sacrifices. After Peter Parker aka Spider-Man freed himself from the symbiote suit, it re-joined with the dying Harry Osborn, best friend of Parker and MJ. From there, Venom was formed, took back an alien MacGuffin that then let him spread his symbiotic goo all over NYC, and eventually led to the citizenry being turned into symbiotic monsters. Things got rough.

    Eventually, the Spider-Men and MJ work together and defeat the monsters, stop the invasion of New York, and Peter defeats Venom using a cool new suit. However, in the process, Harry nearly dies and is now in a coma. Norman Osborn—Harry’s dad, rich CEO, and former mayor—is very upset at Spider-Man and calls someone within his company to ask them to bring him the “G-Serum.”

    Norman Osborn visits Doc Ock

    ScereBro PSNU / Insomniac / Sony

    That leads us to our first post-credits scene, featuring an angry Norman Osborn visiting Dr. Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus at the Raft—a prison for supervillains. Osborn has figured out that the doc knows who Spider-Man is and Harry’s dad really wants that information. When Osborn tells Octavius that the Spider-Men “ruined” his son, the villain says “good” and is happy that Osborn is experiencing “loss.” (Doc Ock doesn’t like Norman Osborn, in case you forgot.)

    Then, after Osborn asks him what he’s writing, the supervillain menacingly replies “The final chapter.” This is ominous and also could be a reference to a controversial Spider-Man comics story arc that involved Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin and revealed that Aunt May didn’t die in a previous story but was being held prisoner by Goblin. It was not a fan-favorite arc at the time, and today, most people don’t remember it fondly.

    But considering by the end of Spider-Man 2 Norman Osborn seems to be heading down the path that will lead him to become Green Goblin, Aunt May is dead, and Peter Parker is retiring as Spider-Man (something that happens in The Final Chapter, too), it appears that Insomniac might actually adapt this arc, but likely with some big changes. Or the devs and writers are just messing with fans.

    Meet Albert Moon and his daughter

    Anyway, after more credits, Spider-Man 2 has one last surprise to share in its second and final post-credits scene.

    During the main campaign, Miles Morales is too busy being Spider-Man to meet up with his mom’s new boyfriend. It’s clear that Insomniac is teasing something, but it’s not until the very end of the game, after all the credits, that we get the reveal.

    Miles and Hailey, after sharing a kiss, are hanging out in his room when they’re interrupted by a knock at the door. Miles’ mom is excited that her son will finally meet the new man in her life and answers the door to introduce…Albert and his daughter Cindy. The music swells dramatically here, in a way that tells you “Hey, this is important.” But most players will likely not understand why. So what’s up?

    Well, Cindy Moon is a character from the comics more commonly known as Silk. She’s a relatively new spider-person, only appearing in comics since 2014. But she has a direct connection to Peter Parker. In the comics, Moon got her powers from the very same spider that bit Peter Parker. She has similar powers to him, though she’s able to produce organic webbing and doesn’t rely on cartridges. She also boasts an eidetic memory and is sometimes said to be faster than Peter, but not as strong.

    And Albert is her dad. He uh…doesn’t have a very interesting backstory. I mean look at this Marvel Comics Wiki entry. It’s one paragraph. Poor guy.

    What does it all mean?

    The Norman Osborn scene is pretty easy to piece together. The dude hates Spider-Man so much that he is willing to work with someone he also hates, Doc Ock, to get his revenge against the webhead. I wouldn’t be surprised if some other villains get involved too and team up to finally kill Spider-Man. And because Peter Parker is seemingly retiring from the role, that will mean Miles is forced to deal with it on his own until the OG Spider-Man is forced out of retirement one last time to stop his archenemies. That seems like the kind of story that you save for a big sequel rather than DLC.

    An image shows Silk as she appears in the comics.

    Image: Marvel

    As for Cindy Moon aka Silk, I’m not as sure where Insomniac is going with this tease. It’s possible Silk shows up in DLC and later plays a bigger role in the (not yet announced but going to happen) Marvel’s Spider-Man 3. It’s also possible that she gets her own spin-off, standalone adventure like Miles Morales, introducing players to the newest spider-person and helping get her settled in the universe before the events of the next big entry.

    I’m very into the idea of a Silk-focused spin-off game and I’m excited that Insomniac didn’t just use Gwen Stacy aka Spider-Gwen as some fans had predicted or hoped, but instead introduced a newer, lesser-known character into the franchise.

    However, Stacy’s most famous storyline, one which has been recreated in TV and film, involves her getting killed by Green Goblin after he learns who Spider-Man is. So perhaps Gwen Stacy will be a part of the next game, but not as a superhero. Again, we’ll have to wait and see what happens.

    Feel free to discuss all of this and other spoilers from Spider-Man 2 in the comments below. This is a safe place where you can chat about anything that happened in the game or its previous entries without fear of spoiling anybody.

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    Zack Zwiezen

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  • Spider-Man 2 Has One Hell Of An Opening

    Spider-Man 2 Has One Hell Of An Opening

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    Spider-Man 2 doesn’t waste any time showing you all of the ways it’s bigger and better than the first two games. The result is one of the best video game openings ever.

    If you plan on playing Spider-Man 2 and haven’t finished the first half-hour yet, you should go do that first.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    Spider-Man 2 stars Peter Parker and Miles Morales, so naturally the first mission features both of them working together like a well-oiled superhero machine. Miles is a high school student and Peter is teaching his class. When dust starts coming in the windows and an emergency breaks out downtown, the two bounce out of the building and strip down to their uniforms as the game’s hip-hop theme (“Swing” by Atlanta-based duo EarthGang) plays.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The opening cleverly makes use of Spider-Man 2’s bigger New York City map, which adds t Queens and Brooklyn on the other side of the East River. The first thing Peter and Miles do is web-swing across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to Manhattan’s Financial District where another villain is once again on the loose. It’s immediately clear just how much more expansive the game looks and feels, with glistening skyscrapers in full view across the shimmering water.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The villain in question is none other than Sandman, probably my least favorite entry in the Spider-Man rogues gallery. His shoehorned inclusion in 2007’s chaotic Spider-Man 3 did little to help that. But there’s no origin story here, just Flint Marko transformed into a 40-story-tall sand monster rampaging through the Financial District. He’s massive, but not so massive the Spider-Men can’t web his eyes shut and punch him in the face. It’s absurd but immensely gratifying.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The initial slugfest is just the start. The fight also takes Peter and Miles inside a nearby building, battling armies of mini-Sandmen while they run through the halls saving civilians and scrambling to get to the water tank on the rooftop as everything around them breaks apart. It’s an incredibly elegant sequence of real-time action and quick-time cutscenes that’s visually stunning and feels seamlessly stitched together.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    This intro alone, topped off with a final boss fight sequence that looks better than most Marvel movies, would be enough to make it one of the best setpieces ever in a first-party PlayStation game. But then there’s something Insomniac does just because it can: fling Miles halfway across Midtown and back again in a 20 second shot that never cuts.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The entire encounter feels like some of the best tricks from Uncharted and God of War blended into Insomniac’s unique spin on cinematic comic book choreography. It even uses the action-packed chain of events to introduce the web wings, Spider-Man 2‘s best new trick which lets Peter and Miles glide through the air like Batman.

    Gif: Insomniac Games / Sony / Kotaku

    The opening scene takes less than 20 minutes and succeeds at both reminding players how to play a Spider-Man game and proving why Spider-Man 2 is more than just more Spider-Man. Some games start with drawn-out conversations or extended cutscenes. Others have you rigidly go through a tutorial bogged down in explanations and button prompts. Spider-Man 2 is like getting dropped into a rocket that’s just started counting down to lift off. More games should do that.

                   

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    Ethan Gach

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  • Spider-Verse Fans Have Compelling Evidence That Gwen Is Trans

    Spider-Verse Fans Have Compelling Evidence That Gwen Is Trans

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    Just in time for Pride, Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse moviegoers think the summer box-office phenomenon offers some pretty compelling evidence that one of its heroes, Gwen Stacy, is trans.

    While the film never explicitly raises the issue of whether or not Gwen Stacy is trans over the course of its two-hour and twenty-minute runtime, some Spider-Verse viewers feel that her character arc, which includes a painful coming-out of sorts to her father, functions as a trans allegory. And the visual motifs that the film employs during this pivotal scene only serve to drive home that interpretation.

    Throughout the film, the watercolors lending their hues to the background of Gwen’s universe shift to match the emotions she’s feeling. It lends her whole world a similar look to that of Robbi Rodriguez’s cover art for her 2015 comic book, Radioactive Spider-Gwen.

    However, during a pivotal scene where Gwen reveals to her father, Captain George Stacy, that she’s Spider-Woman, the entire backdrop of the Stacy household is awash in white, blue, and pink watercolors: the same colors that make up the trans pride flag. The tri-color art direction during Gwen’s anguished confession about an aspect of her identity she fears her father won’t accept underscore a conflict that resonated with many trans viewers.

    “I truly thought the ‘Gwen is trans’ stuff in ATSV was just Twitter doing its usual thing but no it’s AGGRESSIVELY loud about it,” Twitter user Blankzilla wrote. “Being draped in the trans colors while giving a speech about having to hide half of yourself from the people you love is as subtle as a brick.”

    “Thinking about Trans Gwen Stacy and her entire plot being about centered around her father’s struggle to believe her and accept her identity,” tori_af said.

    “Mfs be like ‘gwen stacy isn’t trans’ and then they have a four minute sequence in the movie where she’s just the trans flag colors,” Moshy_Maybe wrote.

    Aside from Gwen’s confessional with her father feeling akin to a trans person coming out to their family for the first time, eagle-eyed Spider-Verse viewers also spotted a bunch of items scattered about her house as evidence supporting their ongoing fan theory. For example, one Twitter user pointed out that Gwen has a trans pride pin on her jacket and a “Protect Trans Kids” sticker on her wall, and her dad has a trans pride flag on his police uniform.

    Kotaku reached out to director Kemp Thompson and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller for comment.

    Sony Pictures Animation

    Gwen Stacy’s visual motif is like a ‘mood ring’

    Spider-Verse fan theories about Gwen Stacy being trans might not be entirely off the mark. In an interview with Cinema Blend, Gwen Stacy actress Hailee Steinfeld revealed that Spider-Verse director Kemp Thompson and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller described the watercolors of Gwen’s world as “like a mood ring.”

    “It will visually change as her circumstances change, and the emotions she feels we will feel in the audience on screen,” Steinfield told Cinema Blend, adding, “I’m biased, but Gwen’s world is pretty beautiful.”

    If the filmmakers had the wherewithal to drop a visual hint that Miles altered his fate from becoming Prowler back in Into The Spider-Verse, who’s to say they didn’t also deliberately drop the most obvious artistic clue that Gwen is trans in Across The Spider-Verse?

    Whether or not Gwen is trans, Twitter user RawbertBeef perfectly encapsulates what Spider-Gwen means to the trans community by saying, “even if the movies never outright confirm it…if she can make somebody feel represented, who are you to tell them they’re wrong?”

       

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    Isaiah Colbert

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  • Gwen and Miles’ Relationship Seems To Still Be a Highlight in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’

    Gwen and Miles’ Relationship Seems To Still Be a Highlight in ‘Across the Spider-Verse’

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    A new trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse dropped and with it came a look into Miles’ (Shameik Moore) relationship with a whole new team of Spider people. And while it might not be the easiest working relationship with Oscar Isaac’s Miguel O’Hara, there is one thing that we’re gifted yet again with: Gwen and Miles.

    In the first movie, the two were in school together mainly because it is what Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) decided to do in order to figure out why she was brought to this universe in the first place. But it set up an easy connection for them and throughout the movie, we got to see the two interact with each other on a different level than Gwen with Peter or Miles with Peter. Their friendship was something that was born out of necessity but strong nonetheless.

    And the new trailer gives us just the briefest of moments between them, but it is enough to have me absolutely screaming at what Across the Spider-Verse could bring to them. Are they going to remain best friends? Are they going to be something more? Or is this a friendship based purely on shared trauma and understanding? These are all question I now have and need answered.

    A leap of faith

    It is a connection from the comics if you want to get technical. So Miles and Gwen falling in love in the Spider-Verse movies would not be outrageous. In fact, they were from different universes in the comics, too. His other love interest is an alternate version of Kate Bishop, which is doubly funny given that Hailee Steinfeld plays both the animated Gwen and the live-action Kate in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So maybe Miles Morales is just destined to fall in love with Hailee Steinfeld in some way, shape, or form.

    The thing is: This can be the start of their relationship. In the first movie, Gwen’s reasoning for them just being friends is because she’s a little older than him—not by much, less than a year, but that’s her excuse in the movie. The reality is they were leaving Miles’ universe to go back to their own, and it felt like a final goodbye for all our favorite Spidey friends. She leapt back into her home universe never to see that version of Miles Morales again.

    Or so we thought. The end of the movie had Gwen coming to see Miles yet again (and the trailer has her in a new sweater insteadm so can’t wait to see what that’s about).

    But the trailer gave us what I think is one of the prettiest shots of Gwen and Miles. It’s the two of them hanging upside down, looking at the city and it is a perfect look into why they work as two characters together. Just two Spider-people, relating to the struggling that the other has faced and understanding this experience in a way that no one else can.

    I’m sad I still have a little over six months left to wait until I get to be reunited with Miles and Gwen in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

    (featured image: Sony)

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    Rachel Leishman

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