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In addition to being one of the best superhero games ever made, Marvel’s Spider-Man also features one of the best adaptations of the Spider-Man comics in any medium. That gripping saga continues in Spider-Man: Miles Morales, as we watch a rookie hero prove his worth and face the deadly threat from The Tinkerer.
The ending of Spider-Man: Miles Morales might leave you with a few questions. Did that character really die? How will Miles’s career be affected by the final battle? With a little help from Marvel’s Spider-Man library, we’re going to break down the endgame and what these plot twists could mean for Insomniac’s next Spider-Man adventure.
Warning: Watch out for full spoilers for Spider-Man: Miles Morales below!
Is The Tinkerer Really Dead?
Although The Tinkerer is apparently the main antagonist of Spider-Man: Miles Morales, he’s actually more of a tragic character who does the wrong things for the right reasons. Fortunately, Phin redeems himself at the climax of the game, though that means sacrificing his own life to save Miles and the entire Harlem district from a destructive detonation by Nuform. But did Phin really die?
It certainly looks like it, at least based on the post-credits scene showing Miles leaving his shared science trophy with Phin at Trinity Church. Still, this is the Marvel Universe, and if we’ve learned anything from the last six decades of Spider-Man comics, it’s that hardly anyone stays dead forever.
Certainly, there are ways that Phin could return in a future sequel. We still don’t know what effect Nuform has on the human body, in addition to making scientists like Phin’s brother Rick and other researchers seriously ill. Could Nuform transform human biology into something more, in the same way that Terrigen Mists turned Kamala Khan into Ms. Marvel in the Marvel’s Avengers game?
We could see Phin being reborn as a superhuman character in a Spider-Man sequel. As it stands, although she calls herself The Tinkerer, Phin only shares a vague resemblance to the villain from the comics. Phin could end up transforming into another Spider-Man villain entirely. Molten woman? The living laser? Point? Everything is possible.
Does Miles still have a secret identity?
Good thing the game focuses so much attention on Miles’s efforts to make Harlem a better place and grow closer to his new community. In the end, Miles reveals himself to his mother and several other Harlem residents. But in a twist that seems inspired by the iconic train sequence in 2004’s Spider-Man 2, these New Yorkers agree to keep that secret in homage to their shared advocate.
It would be nice to believe that everyone involved will stay true to their word and that Miles’ identity will remain a secret outside of his neighborhood. But realistically, it’s probably only a matter of time before someone spills the beans. This is how Daredevil came to light in the comics. First, a drug addict Karen Page sells Daredevil’s identity in exchange for a solution, causing the Kingpin to learn the identity of his most hated enemy. Years later, that information is expanded when the possible Kingpin assassin, Sammy Silke, needs to reach an agreement with the FBI. It only takes a Harlemite desperate for money or fame for Miles’s secret to vanish overnight.
This definitely feels like a plot point that could be explored in a sequel. What happens when Miles’s identity is leaked and his friends and family suddenly find themselves in the crossfire of all the supervillains Spider-Man has bothered? How will Peter Parker respond? This could be one way for Insomniac to highlight the growing disconnect between the two Spider-Men, with Miles becoming a true common man’s hero, while Peter is more of a rigid law and order guy who often works directly alongside the police.
If anything, the game even seems to hint that Miles will face a secret identity crisis down the road. One of the game’s main subplots features Miles foiling the imprisoned Kingpin’s attempt to snatch cheap real estate. Kingpin even threatens Miles with the reminder that his loved ones could pay the price for his shares. It seems to us a fairly clear configuration.
The game even seems to hint that Miles will face a secret identity crisis down the road.
Venom, Lizard and Green Goblin in Spider-Man 2
The first Spider-Man game ended with an intriguing setup for a sequel, revealing that Harry, Norman Osborn’s terminal son, is in stasis in an OsCorp lab. Harry is attached to a black substance that we can only assume is Venom’s symbiote. Spider-Man: Miles Morales follows up on that joke with a similar scene, as Norman demands that his son be awakened even when Dr. Curt Connors insists he is too dangerous.
Again, this strongly suggests that Harry Osborn and Venom will have key roles to play in Spider-Man 2. In fact, it appears they will be one and the same. Insomniac may be drawing inspiration from several different sources for his portrayal of Venom. The idea of Harry, instead of Eddie Brock, becoming Venom’s main host was introduced in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. The games also appear to be inspired by the Marvel’s Ultimate Universe comics, where the Venom symbiote is not an alien entity but an artificial biotechnology project originally designed to cure cancer and other diseases.
We’ll be interested to see if Insomniac links Green Goblin and The Lizard in this Harry / Venom plot twist. Although the first game reveals that Peter has been active as Spider-Man for eight years, it appears that Norman Osborn has yet to become the Green Goblin. Similarly, while most incarnations of the franchise show Connors accidentally transforming into The Lizard in an ill-fated attempt to regrow his lost arm, there is also no evidence that Spidey collided with this villain.
To update: Readers have pointed out that The Lizard is referenced in the first game during the costume party mission, so it appears that he has faced Spidey in the past. The fact that Connors is working for Osborn now could be a sign that his past experiments have resulted in the rest of the scientific community excluding him.
It’s possible that both the Green Goblin and the Lizard will be major antagonists in the next Spider-Man game. Additionally, Venom’s symbiote may turn out to be the source of Norman’s Goblin powers and Connors’ Lizard transformation.
Spider-Man vs. Spider-Man
One of the most interesting questions left unanswered at the end of Spider-Man: Miles Morales involves the future dynamic between Peter and Miles. With the game finally proving that Miles is a worthy heir to Spider-Man’s mantle, what happens when both heroes have to share the same city? Will they still be the best buds or will something come up to drive a wedge between them?
We have already mentioned the idea that Peter and Miles are divided by ideological differences. What if the sequel is inspired by a story like Civil War, putting Peter and Miles on opposite sides of the debate over the Superhumans Registration Act? Miles’s secret identity issues could easily fuel that conflict, forcing him to become a fugitive from the law and Peter to hunt him down.
Certainly there are other ways the sequel could pit one Spider-Man against the other. Harry Osborn would be an obvious culprit. Perhaps Peter is torn between his loyalty to his old friend and the need to bring a Venom-possessed villain to justice. If the game is anything like most versions of the Spider-Man myths, Peter himself may fall prey to Venom’s influence at some point.
It’s also worth remembering that the extensive library of alternate costumes from the first game covers almost the entire history of the Spidey comic, except for two key areas: the black suit and the Superior Spider-Man era. It’s pretty obvious by now that the former was intentional, as Insomniac is building something big on Venom’s front. So why shouldn’t we assume the same goes for Superior Spider-Man? Given the first game’s strong focus on the Peter / Otto Octavius relationship, it’s not hard to imagine the sequel adapting the infamous story in which a dying Otto kidnaps Peter’s body. Especially since Superior Spider-Man writer Dan Slott was involved in shaping the game’s story.
Either thanks to Venom’s influence or a Superior Spider-Man-inspired setting, we could see the next game pitting Miles against a morally compromised Peter Parker. This Spider-bromance may not last forever.
It may be a while before we know what Sony and Insomniac have planned for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. In the meantime, be sure to check out IGN’s review of Spider-Man: Miles Morales and see how the PS4 versions compare. and PS5. Then, watch an iconic moment from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse recreated within the game.
Jesse is a personable writer for IGN. Let him lend a machete to his intellectual thicket following @jschedeen on Twitter.
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