Is ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’ borrowing its Harry Osborn plot from an unpopular cartoon?

You know what? I’m gonna say it. I’m actually surprised that Ultimate Spider-Man (the cartoon, not the comic) is so hated. Alright, season one is bad, but it did get better, it did! It also gave us an interesting take on Harry Osborn, making him Venom for a while. And I am absolutely convinced that Insomniac are going to adapt some of his story arc for the upcoming Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Hear me out…

What happens to Harry in Ultimate Spider-Man?

The Harry of USM is a bit different to the one we know. He’s good-looking, for a start! And while Norman is a terrible father to him he’s much less terrible than the Norman of 616 is/was to 616 Harry. USM Harry also doesn’t have the mental health issues 616 Harry has, or the drug issues. However, when he comes into contact with the Venom symbiote, the series uses it as a very mild metaphor for addiction and shows it warping Harry’s personality to an extent.

That’s the same thing that appears to be happening to Peter in the Spider-Man 2 gameplay trailer!

Harry isn’t dying of an illness in Ultimate Spider-Man but having that element in the game adds something, I think. Harry very well might need Venom to keep him alive which leads to a question that was also tackled in the previous game: would you want to stay alive at all costs, even if you have to lose what makes you “you”?

In USM, Harry eventually realizes that the symbiote is ruining him and ditches it, but it doesn’t stay away for long. Eventually there comes a scene that I strongly suspect will be replicated in some form in Spider-Man 2, where Harry sacrifices himself to save New York from a symbiote-based disaster.

This is also the moment in USM where Harry finds out that Peter and Spider-Man are one and the same, something that hasn’t happened in the game universe yet!

Harry survives his near-death experience in USM (what did you expect, they’re not even allowed to say the word “die”) but will he be as lucky in the Spider-Man 2 game?

But what about Eddie Brock being Venom?

I get that people want Eddie rather than Harry to be Venom in this game! But, well… Insomniac have already come out and said Eddie isn’t Venom, and I don’t think it would make sense story wise anyway, because Eddie isn’t a character in the games yet and hasn’t even been mentioned beyond one reference. You want something that features Harry and Venom Eddie and Peter having a black suit that corrupts him? You want Spider-Man 3. Sorry!

But bear in mind that just because Eddie isn’t Venom yet, that doesn’t mean he might not be Venom in a future game! Who knows, perhaps Harry and Venom will even interact in that one. If he lives.

One thought on “Is ‘Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’ borrowing its Harry Osborn plot from an unpopular cartoon?”

  1. Hey! For me Harry always is good looking. The only exception is the old comics, but at least he seems less generic than the rest, hehe.
    Oh, well. Personally I had would liked Harry in the rol of Hobgoblin. I loved his character but that had would gave him a lot of extra deep.
    There’re several problems with the Ultimate show I think. I enjoyed the first season finale though ☺👍 But they used more other Marvel characters than Spider-Man characters and that was a big dissapointment for me.
    There’s a rumour that the final combat will be Kraven with the symbiote. Maybe a kinda las hunt-life story reference?

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