Marvel says Spider-Man 2 on PS5 is "darker" and teases Hulk appearance in Wolverine

A few new details have been shared regarding Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Marvel's Wolverine from Insomniac Games. The biggest of which seems to tease the appearance of The Incredible Hulk in Wolverine, with Marvel creative vice president Bill Rosemann telling fans to "look at the cash register and bar" in the announcement trailer.

Doing this, we can read "19.74" across the cash register's monitor. This looks to be a direct reference to the debut appearance of Wolverine in The Incredible Hulk #181 comic. On top of this, If you look at the registration plate in the same shot to the right of Logan, we can see it reads "HLK 181". Again, another reference to the same comic. This could potentially be setting up the character's debut in the Insomniac's universe, with the Hulk in Crystal Dynamics' Marvel's Avengers game already confirmed to be set in a different one. 

Rosemann alluded to the Easter eggs on the This Week In Marvel podcast, where he shared some tidbits on what fans can expect from the new game. Looking further, on the bar we can see a sign on the left-hand side that reads "1048". This is a reference to Earth-1048, the universe that Marvel's Spider-Man is set in and now presumably where Marvel's Wolverine is too. 

"If you go back and look at the trailer, the scene where you are behind Logan and he is at the bar, it is chock full of Easter eggs. The internet detectives have indeed found some of them but they have not found all of the Easter eggs," said Rosemann.

Earlier in the podcast, the Marvel VP discussed Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and what changes have been made, noting the deeper red of Peter's Advanced Suit and the extended stripe down the arm of Miles' suit. There was also a brief conversation surrounding the unnamed voice in the trailer before Venom appears. It was confirmed that these are two different characters, with many fans (including myself) believing the mysterious voice to be Kraven the Hunter. 

"There are multiple foes. I can say that the story very much continues and picks up from Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Miles Morales. I don't want to reveal too much but it's the next big chapter," Rosemann teases. "There's a lot of threads, a lot of characters that were in the first two games that you'll see here." 

"I'd say if the first Spider-Man game was Star Wars, Spider-Man 2 is kind of our Empire. It gets a little darker," he adds. This is a really exciting development to hear and makes sense considering the involvement of Venom. I wouldn't expect too much "darkness" though, as after all this is the fun-loving Insomniac known for Ratchet & Clank. That said, we'll have to wait and see. 

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is scheduled for a 2023 release, while Marvel's Wolverine currently has no official date. Both games will be exclusive to the PlayStation 5.