Reporters Assemble!
As a sucker for in-universe content, I have been absolutely loving the marketing push for Spider-man: Mile Morales. Taking the form of Daily Bugle blog posts, Insomniac is showing off the deep roster of supporting characters that the game’s writers have to draw from, as well as the rich 80 year history of Marvel comics, while offering clues as to what we can expect in the game.
In a post written by Katherine Farrell, we learn about the Roxxon Corporation’s new clean energy initiative. Farrell is an ace reporter in the Spider-man universe, often embroiled in corporate conspiracies. One of Farrell’s most important storylines sees her investigating the death of Michael Hart and his wife Alice, the case sees her discover the Tinkerer’s involvement and also Michael’s return from the grave as the vigilante Judge.
The post acknowledges Roxxon’s new Head of Research and Development – Simon Krieger. A historical villain in the Marvel Universe, Krieger has been known to impersonate Tony Stark to try and further Roxon’s agenda. In Spider-man: Miles Morales, Krieger is spear-heading a new technology called Nuform, taking over the whole of East-Harlem to do it. The city has been suffering blackouts (much like in into the Spider-verse!) and the Tinkerer’s gang has a lot of high-tech weaponry, so it is logical they are all involved somehow in a criminal conspiracy.
Ben Urich, another classic Marvel reporter who notably showed up in the Daredevil Netflix series, posts about the fall of Oscorp. The first Spider-man PS4 game revealed that Mayor Norman Osborn was desperately pursuing dangerous science to save his son, and it seems this pursuit has cost him his political career and business empire as Oscorp is collapsing in Spider-man: Miles Morales. With Roxxon making waves, the stage is set for a clash of the Marvel business titans, and Norman Osborn is not a man to underestimate! Whether we will be seeing the Green Goblin in this game remains to be seen, but I would guess that he will be saved for the next title.
The final story comes courtesy of Betty Brant, a classic Spider-man character and Peter Parker’s very first love interest. Betty is known to be an ally of Kat Farrell in the Spider-man universe, which may play out in some of the game’s found narrative. Betty is often the secretary to notorious blow-hard J Jonah Jameson, who she points out in her article is in talks to return to the Bugle after having his own podcast in the first game. All of this suggests that the Spider-Man Playstation Universe is shifting to more closely resemble its comic book counterpart, while retaining its own uniquely modern flavour.
Did you spot any clues we missed in these posts? Let us know in the comments below.