Marvel's Spider-Man marks its eighth anniversary on September 7, 2026. Developed by Insomniac Games and released for PlayStation 4 in 2018, the game is still regarded as a significant starting point for modern single-player Marvel superhero games.
The game avoids retreading Spider-Man's origin story, instead portraying a Peter Parker who has been active for years, with an original narrative revolving around his heroic identity and personal life. The development team also invited comic book writers Dan Slott and Christos Gage to contribute, preserving the character's core traits within an original storyline.
In terms of gameplay, the developers made web-swinging through Manhattan the core experience, expanding upon it with combat, gadgets, abilities, side activities, and multiple suits. Character development covers Peter, Mary Jane, and several villains, ensuring that both the narrative and action systems serve the Spider-Man character.
Since then, Insomniac Games has released Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Marvel's Spider-Man 2, continuing the stories of Peter and Miles within the same world. Rather than concentrating multiple characters into a large-scale project like Marvel's Avengers, this series chooses to build complete adventures around the abilities and personalities of individual heroes.
Other development teams have also portrayed Marvel characters through different genres, including Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel's Midnight Suns, and the fighting game Marvel Battle Souls. While these titles differ in gameplay direction, they all center on specific heroes or teams rather than directly retelling movie plots.
Insomniac Games' next Marvel title, Marvel's Wolverine, continues this approach. It is a standalone single-player action-adventure game for PlayStation 5 that will present an original take on Wolverine, scheduled for release on September 15, 2026.