A prequel to “Spider-Man 2” has quietly been released online. Have you seen it yet?
Marvel’s Spider-Man celebrated his 60th-anniversary last year. That’s right; Peter Parker first appeared in Marvel Comics back in 1962 with the release of “Amazing Fantasy #15: Introducing Spider-Man: “Spider-Man!” created by the legendary duo Stan Lee and Steve Ditko.
Since his first appearance sixty years ago, Spider-Man has become one of the most popular and lucrative characters in the whole Marvel Universe and its live-action counterpart, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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But long before Tom Holland stepped into the red-and-blue Spidey suit in Captain America: Civil War (2016), both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield had taken on the role of Peter Parker. Maguire appeared not long after the millennium in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man (2002) before going on to star in Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007).
Andrew Garfield would arrive five years later in the Spidey reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) from Marc Webb. The sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014), came out two years later but failed to create demand for a third outing. The character was taken to new heights with British actor Tom Holland’s take on Peter Parker.
Kevin Feige’s MCU, unlike Raimi and Webb’s movies, decided to opt not to show Peter Parker’s origin of Spider-Man and instead lean into the youthfulness of the teenager instead by already supplying him with his spider-like powers. After Civil War, Holland went on to star in Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), as well as his own trilogy, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019), and Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021). The latter also saw the return of Maguire and Garfield in the Multiversal caper.
But alongside the live-action feature film endeavors of both Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures, the Spider-Man universe has continued to flourish in other genres too. Notably, 2018 proved a big year for animation as Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) took over the world and brought Miles Morales firmly into the sights of audiences worldwide. A sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), will release later this year.
Then in the gaming arena, Insomniac Games and Sony Interactive Entertainment published “Marvel’s Spider-Man” (2018) — an open-world Spider-Man game taking place on the streets of New York. Two years later, “Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales” (2020) was released, and this year “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” will act as a sequel to both titles.
Ahead of its release, Marvel has quietly released a prequel online.
The comic book prequel was first released as part of Free Comic Book Day, but if you didn’t manage to snag a copy, then Marvel has dropped the special issue online in full.
The prequel follows a new villain in the video game’s universe, The Hood, and deals with the character’s relationship with magical forces that keep bringing them back to one another.
You can find the “Spider-Man 2” prequel here.
Marvel’s other Spider-Man 2, the live-action epic starring Maguire, Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), James Franco (Harry Osborn), and Alfred Molina (Doctor Octopus, AKA Doc Ock), became one of the most popular superhero movies of all time. It focused on Peter Parker’s relationships in the aftermath of the Green Goblin’s (Willem Dafoe) terror on New York City.
As for live-action, there has been no confirmed word on Spider-Man’s next appearance in either Feige’s MCU or Amy Pascal and Sony’s own interconnected universe, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Both Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and Spider-Man: No Way Home confirmed that both of these worlds are connected — thanks to Sony and Marvel’s contractual agreement for the Spider-Man universe of characters. Venom 3, starring Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock/Venom, is currently in the works.
Will you be reading the “Spider-Man 2” prequel? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!