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Insomniac Games on creating its own Spider-Man universe

Things can sometimes get complicated when reading comics. What should you read? Where should you start? Why are there so many different Spider-Man titles?

The stories within Marvel Comics all take place in the fictional Marvel Universe, which forms part of a larger multiverse. However, there are alternate universes that also fit into this multiverse which serve as a platform for comic writers to tell different stories about popular super heroes. With Marvel’s Spider-Man, Insomniac Games was able to craft its own universe which not only borrows from well-known Spider-Man titles, but means it was also able to make some big changes in order to tell a unique story.

We spoke to James Stevenson, Community Director at Insomniac Games, about what it was like to create a new Spider-Man universe, touching upon major changes.

“We knew we didn’t just want to retell anyone else’s story”, Stevenson began. “You don’t want to play a game for a story that you’ve already seen before and if we are going to spend years making this, we wanted to make something that was exciting to us and which felt fresh and original.

“I don’t know exactly when we landed on Mary Jane being an investigative reporter, but it was fairly early on. Norman Osborn being the mayor and Peter Parker being twenty-three was very early – we wanted Peter to be post-college. We also knew we wanted to put Miles [Morales] in the game as a character that existed in the same universe as our Peter Parker. Normally they don’t exist in the same universe – until recently though, everyone has had the same idea.”

Stevenson said Insomniac used the chance to change the Spidey suit to better suit its needs.

“It’s funny, even in Captain America: Civil War with their suit and the way they did those eyes,” Stevenson said. “We went with emotive eyes in our game when we didn’t know they were doing the same thing. So, when we saw that in the film, we knew it was a good idea because they did it too.

“For the people who are working on this stuff, they kind of have fifty to sixty years of comics to go look at for ideas, characters and villains. It’s this huge base to draw from, but at the same time you don’t want people to see things they’ve seen before. You want to mix it in a way that feels fresh and new.”

Marvel’s Spider-Man is due for release 7 September, exclusive to PS4.


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About the author

Luke Lawrie

Writing and producing content about video games for over a decade. Host of Australia's longest running video game podcast The GAP found at TheGAPodcast.com. Find me on Twitter at @lukelawrie