In most Spider-Man video games, the webslinger can wear all sorts of costumes from the comics, and sometimes they even offer specific powers. But they’re often little more than fun cosmetic Easter eggs. That might not be the case at all in the upcoming PlayStation 4 Spider-Man video game. In fact, one recently leaked costume could be a huge spoiler for something that happens in the game.
Potential spoilers follow for the Spider-Man PlayStation 4 video game.
The folks over at CBR.com noticed a post on Reddit Thursday from redditor Taclooc that shows a new Funko Pop! inspired by the new Spider-Man. Rather than the red and blue costume with a white spider that’s prominently featured in the game’s marketing, the costume is black and silver and is almost definitely Spidey’s Negative Zone costume from the comics.
Could Peter Parker acquire this new costume as part of the story in the game? Based on what we know so far about the various Spider-Man costumes, this seems totally possible, especially considering one of the game’s primary villains is called “Mister Negative” and looks remarkably similar.
Spider-Man's Negative Zone suit in 'Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions'.
In the comics, Spider-Man has to enter the Negative Zone at one point to save three children. This bizarre universe consists entirely of anti-matter, so anything made of matter has to reverse its molecular polarity or risk total annihilation. Essentially, this anti-matter costume allows Spider-Man to survive in such a harsh environment. The only reason he’d need this suit would be if he had to go to the Negative Zone — unless the Spider-Man game rewrites the canon and makes this suit the only one that can effectively combat Mister Negative.
Normally, we’d assume that this costume being in the game would be just a fun way to reference the storyline from Marvel Comics, because that’s how Spider-Man games have functioned before. But in a trailer released earlier this August, J. Jonah Jameson describes the various special powers that each Spider-Man suit has.
The trailer could be some kind of marketing stunt that’s not actually in-universe, but it does make it seem like Spider-man actually uses different costumes in this world. This is a veteran Spider-Man well into his 20s after all, so him designing his own suits and upgrading them offers a way to organically create an upgrade mechanic for the game.
Spider-Man squares off against Mister Negative in the 'Spider-Man' game.
Mister Negative’s prominence in the game could also be a huge clue. In the comics, Mister Negative is a Jekyll and Hyde type of character — Martin Li the philanthropist and Mister Negative the superpowered gang leader. His split personality is created when he’s exposed to the same drug that gave Cloak and Dagger their powers. As such, energy from the Darkforce and Lightforce Dimensions kind of split him in half. Surprisingly, he actually has no connections to the Negative Dimension.
But what if the Spider-Man video game rewrites his origins to tie directly to the Negative Zone instead? Most trailers make it seem like both Mister Negative’s personalities will play huge parts in the upcoming game, so it’s not totally outlandish to wonder if Mister Negative has the power to bring Spider-Man to the Negative Zone.
Such a huge revelation would explain why Sony has been very secretive about spoilers pertaining to the game’s core plot. We’ll find out soon enough when the game releases in a couple weeks.
Marvel’s Spider-Man will be released on Sony PlayStation 4 on September 7, 2018.
