Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is coming — should I play Miles Morales first?

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 for PS5 will actually be the third Spider-Man game in the series — so, should you play Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales first?

While there are undoubtedly many new PS5 owners eager to start collecting Marvel's Spider-Man 2 trophies, it's possible a few people have never read our glowing Marvel's Spider-Man review, and so have yet to play two of the best PS4 games around. Since the next game is a direct sequel, you'll definitely want to play Marvel's Spider-Man first, but should you play Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales before Marvel's Spider-Man 2? Depending on how you phrase it, it can be a tricky question.

Spider-Man 2 features Peter and Miles, but do you need to play both of their games?

Do you have to play Miles Morales before Marvel's Spider-Man 2?

At this point, there's still a lot we don't know about Marvel's Spider-Man 2 — though one safe bet is that we'll get to play as Miles Morales at some point in the upcoming PS5 game. For those who have never played the game and have yet to earn all those Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales trophies, you might not know that the events of Miles' 2020 PS5 and PS4 spin-off bridge the story gap between Spider-Man 1 and 2. So, when we phrase the question as 'should I play Spider-Man Miles Morales before Spider-Man 2?' — the answer is an easy 'yes.'

Miles Morales' spin-off game firmly establishes the character and identity of one of Marvel's Spider-Man 2's lead stars, and while plot details of the sequel are still very much pending, there's every chance the game will contain numerous crossover threads from Spider-Man Miles Morales that will pay off big time for players who check it out. Characters like The Prowler, Simon Krieger, Ganke, and Phin are all sure to get some sort of mention in Spider-Man 2, and having some clue as to who they are is sure to go a long way.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will need all that PS5 juice.

That said, if we phrase the question as 'do I have to play Spider-Man Miles Morales before Spider-Man 2?' — then our answer is 'probably not, no.' While Spider-Man Miles Morales is a really fun spin-off and a solid early candidate for the best PS5 games list, when we look at everything we know about the plot of Marvel's Spider-Man 2, it just seems like most of the events of Miles' game feel non-essential to the plot they're setting up for the sequel.

Looking at Spider-Man 2's rogues' gallery, we can see that all the main players have connections to Peter Parker rather than Miles Morales. Norman Osborne, who typically plays the Green Goblin, personally knows Peter in this universe as his son's best friend and develops a grudge against Spider-Man during the first game. Curt Connors, who has been established as already having become The Lizard in the game's universe, helped treat Peter in an off-screen incident.

Then we have the game's biggest player, Venom, who has infused itself with Harry Osborne, Peter's best friend. Much like Doctor Octavius in Marvel's Spider-Man, it seems once again the most affecting villain of the game's plot will have a direct emotional connection with Peter, and it's very likely the game's biggest beats are going to draw on this — especially since the last two games have been hyping it up in mid-credit teasers.

The only Marvel's Spider-Man 2 villain who doesn't have an established connection to Peter Parker, or even an established identity, is Kraven the Hunter. Judging by his teaser trailer speech, Kraven seems to be talking about hunting Venom more than either Spider-Man. That said, it is possible Kraven is hunting Miles — perhaps he heard about the new Spider-Man's cloaking power and wants to take that challenge. However, would someone need to have played Spider-Man Miles Morales to understand that possible connection? We don't think so.

No matter how you slice it, this looks very much like a Peter Parker-heavy story.

If you have the means, you should absolutely play Marvel's Spider-Man Miles Morales — the game is on PS Plus Extra and it's a breezy, fun experience for fans and newcomers alike. But if you're worried you won't enjoy Marvel's Spider-Man 2 because you haven't played it, we don't think it'll be a major issue. Let us know in the comments what your thoughts on our assessment are and whether you agree.

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Written by Lee Brady

Staff Writer Lee loves writing about the game design of classic PS Plus Premium games and upcoming PS5 games like Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Final Fantasy XVI. He's a big proponent of video games as an evolving artistic medium, though he's also a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog games, so the medium might want to keep looking for a better spokesperson.