9 Things You May Have Missed in the Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Prequel Comic

On October 20, 2023, Peter Parker and Miles Morales will swing back into action in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, available only on the PlayStation 5. The Spider-Men will test their web-slinging abilities against lethal foes like Kraven the Hunter and Venom. However, that hotly anticipated game won’t be the first time these web warriors have worked together since Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. These spectacular heroes teamed up with Mary Jane Watson for a special comic book adventure in MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 (2023) #1.

Originally released for Free Comic Book Day 2023, this prequel story fills in the gap between Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 with a new adventure featuring Peter, Miles, and Mary Jane. Now, we’re taking a closer look at some of the things you may have missed in this special issue by Christos Gage, Ig Guara, Rachelle Rosenberg, and VC’s Joe Sabino.

9. TARANTULA

This comic begins with a battle between the Spider-Men and Tarantula, a villain who uses a four-armed, mechanical exoskeleton packed with blades and weapons. As Peter mentions during the battle, this is not the first time he’s fought this arachnid villain. Tarantula and Peter fought when the world of Marvel’s Spider-Man debuted in SPIDER-GEDDON (2018) #0, by Christos Gage and Clayton Crain.

When the Tarantula tried to steal funds and weapons for a group in his home country Delvadia, Peter confronted him and trapped him with a Web Bomb. But during their battle, the Superior Spider-Man, a heroic version of Otto Octavius from the comic book Marvel Universe, approached Peter to warn him about a multiversal threat. After Tarantula escaped, Peter teamed up with the Superior Spider-Man to take him down with Spider-Bots before joining the Superior Spider-Man’s multiversal army of web-slingers.

8. THE HOOD

The Hood and his followers are the main villains in this comic book prequel. Although the Hood presents himself as a magic-wielding master of dark forces, he is really just a normal man named Parker Robbins, who is searching for a mystical tablet that could potentially heal his dying mother. While the Hood’s powers in this story are based on stolen technology, his counterpart in the Marvel Universe really wields mystical power.

In comics, the Hood stole a demonic cloak and boots that allowed him to briefly turn invisible and walk on air. Although he initially used his mystical powers to steal money to support his ailing mother, the Hood went on to build one of the most formidable criminal empires in the Marvel Universe and battle the New Avengers with villains like Loki, Norman Osborn, and Dormammu.

7. THE TINKERER’S LEGACY

In Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, the Tinkerer, who was really Miles’ friend Phin Mason, and her allies in the Underground tried to bring down the Roxxon Corporation with weapons built around programmable matter technology. Although Phin is dead and the Underground is no more, the Hood and his crew are using modified versions of the Tinkerer’s technology to commit their crime spree in this comic.

After examining the invisibility cloaks the Hood’s gang wore, Miles realizes that the Hood probably found a leftover cache of programmable matter tech and modified it to suit his needs. When one of the captured henchmen says that the Hood can walk on air, Miles mentions that the Hood is probably using a modified version of the highly advanced boots that Phin and her team used to jump and climb throughout the city. 

6. THE LIFELINE TABLET

To save his ailing mother, the Hood tries to use the Lifeline Tablet, an ancient artifact that can allegedly heal the sick and raise the dead. While the Hood’s efforts to use the tablet in this story were unsuccessful, the Lifeline Tablet is a powerful mystical artifact in the comic book Marvel Universe. Also known as the Tablet of Life and Time, the Lifeline Tablet has been part of the web-slingers’ world since its debut in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #68, by Stan Lee, John Romita, and Jim Mooney.

The elderly mob boss Silvermane used the healing power of the tablet to regain his youth before accidentally de-aging himself into non-existence. After the mobster Hammerhead used the tablet to save his sister’s life, it briefly transformed him into a power being made of light. More recently, Wilson Fisk, the former Kingpin, reassembled the shattered Lifeline Tablet and used it to resurrect his late son Richard, the villain better known as the Rose.

5. SPIDER-MAN’S NEW GADGET

When the Spider-Men and Mary Jane are catching up after their fight with Tarantula, Miles shows Peter his modifications to the Spider-Lure. Peter originally designed these devices to emit a pinging sound that could distract nearby enemies, and MJ used these lures to sneak past bad guys during her stealth missions in Marvel’s Spider-Man.

While Peter’s lures could only distract, Miles’ upgrades give the lures offensive capabilities as well. Now, the lures can produce an ear-splitting frequency that dazes their targets and interferes with some technology. In this story, Miles and MJ successfully used a modified Spider-Lure to scramble the cloaking technology that the Hood was using to make himself invisible and leave his ears ringing.

4. THE FOREIGNER

While investigating the Hood’s efforts to buy the Lifeline Tablet, Miles kept finding references to someone known as “the Foreigner”. Although he does not appear in this comic, the Foreigner is an assassin who has had numerous encounters with Spider-Man in the comic book Marvel Universe. By making direct eye contact with someone, he can hypnotize them and send them into a trance for 10 seconds, which makes his targets think that he has super-speed.

As an accomplished mercenary and master of disguise, the Foreigner also runs the 1400 Club, a secret society for assassins where he once tried to recruit Spider-Man. Although his real name remains unknown, the Foreigner was married to Silver Sable, the mercenary Princess of Symkaria, and he briefly dated the Black Cat when he tried to get Peter to join the 1400 Club. After recently taking co-ownership over a flying casino called the Catalyst, the Foreigner even assembled his version of the Wild Pack, the mercenary group that is usually led by Silver Sable.   

3. SANDMAN

While talking with Miles in the comic, Peter recalls an unseen encounter with one of his oldest villains, the Sandman. Although that encounter has not been shown in detail, Marvel’s Spider-Man featured two references to the classic Spider-Man villain. While welcoming Miles to his first volunteer shift at the F.E.A.S.T., Aunt May recalls how she stopped Sandman from robbing the shelter by pointing out that there was nothing worth stealing there.

Elsewhere in the game, Peter finds an old backpack containing a vial filled with several grains of Sandman’s sand and jokes about whether opening it would release Sandman back into the world. While Sandman has menaced Peter since he was a teenager in the comic book Marvel Universe, the sand-controlling villain has also gone through more heroic eras that saw him join Silver Sable’s Wild Pack and even become a probationary member of the Avengers.

2. EMPIRE STATE UNIVERSITY

As a senior at Brooklyn Visions Academy, Miles is thinking about his future and what he wants to study in college. Wanting to combine his passion for making music with his love of the sciences, Miles wants to attend Empire State University for its Music Technology program, where he can pursue both interests simultaneously. In addition to being Peter’s alma mater, ESU was featured heavily in Marvel’s Spider-Man.

On one mission, Peter crashed a Halloween party on campus while trying to protect a professor from Mister Negative’s Inner Demons. On several subsequent missions, Peter searched for a few missing ESU students and freed other students who had fallen under Mister Negative’s influence. In this comic, Miles asks Peter to write him an alumni recommendation letter as he begins the college application process.

1. J. JONAH JAMESON’S NEW JOB

After serving as the publisher of The Daily Bugle newspaper for years, J. Jonah Jameson moved on to host a podcast called “Just the Facts” for his FACT Channel in Marvel’s Spider-Man. After using his podcast to voice his frequent criticism of Spider-Man and occasional support of Mayor Norman Osborn, Jameson makes a deal to return to The Daily Bugle in this comic.

On his podcast, Jameson gets into an argument with Mary Jane over their drastically different approaches to journalism. But before their interview can finish, the Spider-Men’s battle with Tarantula crashes into their studio, much like the Spider-Men’s battle with the Rhino did in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. After making the Bugle’s current owners an offer to buy the newspaper back, Jameson wants to show Mary Jane and her generation of reporters his sensationalist approach to practicing journalism.

Want to find out more? Explore MARVEL’S SPIDER-MAN 2 (2023) #1 and over 30,000 more comics on Marvel Unlimited today!

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 releases October 20th, 2023 only on PlayStation 5. Pre-Order the title now on PlayStation Store, PlayStation Direct or your friendly neighborhood retailer!

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