'Marvel's Spider-Man 2' Explained: What Is the Black Suit (Peter Parker)?

While Peter Parker is one of the greatest heroes in Marvel’s New York in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, he isn’t exactly feeling like himself for major portions of the acclaimed game. While in possession of the mysterious symbiote, Peter becomes more powerful but at the cost of his usual patient and wholesome personality, no longer a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man while under the symbiote’s corrosive influence. With Peter more vicious and violent than ever, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 quickly becomes the battle for Peter’s soul as his friends scramble to save him from the symbiote before it can overtake for good.

Here is everything you need to know about the Black Suit appearing in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, how the previous games set up the symbiote’s introduction, and how it compares to Peter’s experiences of being bonded to the symbiote in the comics.

The Black Suit’s Impact Before Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

When Peter is introduced in Marvel’s Spider-Man, he splits his life between working as a research assistant for Otto Octavius and being a confident Spider-Man, having honed his skills as a hero for eight years. As Peter defends Marvel’s New York from a number of threats, including the villainous Mister Negative and Otto after he transforms into the fearsome Doctor Octopus, the symbiote is introduced as being bonded to a sedated Harry Osborn. With Harry suffering from the same terminal condition that claimed the life of his mother Emily, the symbiote stabilizes his condition as he is kept by his father Norman within a stasis tank in secret.

Peter briefly appears in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales before leaving Marvel’s New York to accompany Mary Jane Watson as she documents the civil war in Symkaria. The symbiote also makes a return in the game, still bonded to Harry inside the tank. In the final scene of the game, Harry begins to revive and Norman orders him to be released, setting up the symbiote for a collision course with Peter.

The Black Suit's Role in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

When the symbiote bonds with Peter in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, it isn’t the result of an experiment or accidental merger between the two. After a showdown with Kraven the Hunter, Peter is mortally wounded and Harry, sporting his own super suit created by the powerful symbiote, rushes to check on his friend. Seemingly by accident, Harry releases the symbiote which bonds with Peter, saving Peter’s life by stabilizing him and healing his life-threatening injuries. However, this puts Harry’s life in jeopardy as the symbiote was healing him from a fatal disease.

As the symbiote deepens its bond with Peter, it begins to drastically corrupt his personality. Peter grows more violent, impulsive, and erratic while under the symbiote’s influence, to the concern of Mary Jane and Miles Morales, who grow fearful for him and of him. Despite Peter’s original goal of restoring the suit to Harry, the more time he spends bonded with the symbiote, the more powerful he feels and he becomes reluctant to give up the suit despite the danger this poses to his best friend.

After Kraven kidnaps Miles, Peter launches a one-man assault on the Hunters’ hideout, brutally taking down many of Kraven’s associates before fighting Kraven himself. Murderously fueled by the symbiote, Peter nearly kills Kraven before Miles steps in and convinces him to remove the symbiote. Peter sets out to destroy the symbiote but he is intercepted by Harry, who re-bonds with the symbiote and transforms into the insidious Venom.

Peter Parker's Black Suit in the Comics

In the classic crossover event SECRET WARS (1984), Spider-Man is whisked away to the faraway planet of Battleworld by the omnipotent Beyonder, who pitted him and the Marvel Universe’s greatest heroes against its greatest villains. After Spider-Man’s regular blue and red costume is left in tatters by the constant fighting, he finds a strange black substance in an alien vessel that bonds with him and transforms into a new, black suit. Returning home with the black suit, Peter discovered that his new costume boosted his usual abilities and gave him a near-unlimited supply of black webbing.

Peter was unaware that the black suit was actually a sentient symbiote who was seeking to permanently bond with his body, asserting control over Peter’s body while he slept. In THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1962) #258, Spider-Man consulted the Fantastic Four about his costume who determined the truth through extensive testing. Mister Fantastic managed to separate the symbiote from Peter and attempted to contain it within the Baxter Building, but it managed to escape.

Re-bonding with Spider-Man in WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (1985) #1, the symbiote tried to assume total control over Peter’s body. Fortunately, Spider-Man took advantage of the symbiote’s natural weakness to sound waves by weakening it with a nearby church bell, separating himself from it for good. In its original depiction, the symbiote didn’t display corrupting qualities on Spider-Man’s personality, but subsequent stories and instances of the two bonding together popularized this feature to highlight the symbiote’s malevolent influence.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is available now only on PlayStation 5. Order the title on PlayStation Store, PlayStation Direct or your friendly neighborhood retailer!

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