Spencer Smythe, his son Alistair Smythe, and the robotic spider-slayers have long been a neat yet obscure part of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery.The Amazing Spider-Man’s loose tie-in game adaptationdid a wonderful job with its modern spin on Smythe and spider-slayers, too, but they haven’t been present in an impactful way otherwise since debatably the 90s’ animated series. Spider-slayers are a relatively untapped market, even in games, and with technology and drones being so prevalent in theMarvel’s Spider-Manfranchise it’s surprising Insomniac hasn’t attempted to tackle them.
On the one hand,Marvel’s Spider-Man’s never had an empty plate with more villains than it knows what to do with in any singular installment. This would inherently make it uneasy to somehow debut a horde of murderous automatons, especially while the Spider-Men have had to deal with a Sinister Six and a symbiote invasion. On the other hand, the more likely reason may be thatMarvel’s Spider-Man’s protagonists and side characters are written to be so studious and brilliant that any antagonist with a genius-level intellect will inevitably be challenged if not outmatched by them anyhow.
Marvel’s Spider-Man’s Original Universe is Teeming with Comically Intelligent Minds
It’s a fundamental problem Marvel has had for a while, butMarvel’s Spider-Mantruly punctuates how characters tend to be incredibly smart across the board despite their age, background, or whether they have powers. Without abilities that allow them to stick to walls or lift cars into the air, Peter Parker and Miles Morales are still able to manufacture web shooters and other highly advanced gadgetry, let alone anelaborate mask lens HUD and augmented-reality training simulationsthat they can physically interact with.
It’s a bit more believable that characters such as Norman Osborn or Otto Octavius could devise and formulate what they have due to their age and experience, though even they were doing so during their days at university, meaning they were already unbelievably scientifically gifted back then. One issue this creates in the narrative is that characters are either not inclined toward academic or scientific pursuits at all or fully devoted to their genius craft, which leaves no room for anyone being mildly bright.
Miles Morales’ Phin Mason was only 18 when she selflessly sacrificed herself for Harlemand had astonishingly developed an organic nanotechnology that could generate armor and weapons, for example. Therefore, there is clearly no age requirement or educational prerequisite for Marvel characters—indiscriminate of whether they’re heroes or villains—to become some of the smartest individuals on the planet.
Spider-Slayers Would Be No Match for the Minds of Marvel’s Spider-Man’s Heroes
The chances of a Smythe and their spider-slayers appearing ina futureMarvel’s Spider-Mangame, let alone the “final chapter,” are slim. That said, while it’d be tough to cram spider-slayers into an entry that’s lined with teased antagonists already, it would also be insurmountably challenging to debut a villain who is sharp enough to outwit Peter and Miles and the nature of spider-slayers being robots would make them incredibly susceptible to hacking—a skill Miles possessed during his first playable sequence inMarvel’s Spider-Manlong before he was bitten by a genetically altered spider.
Besides, Ganke Lee has come a long way from Speed Nonagon and he alone could feasibly hack and override spider-slayers as quickly and nonchalantly as he does hunter drones inMarvel’s Spider-Man 2.
It’d be impossible to have robots exclusively in an enemy faction and reason with players as to why Ganke couldn’t hijack them all remotely and blindfolded, even if the idea behind spider-slayers could be thrilling and unique amid the franchise’s chiefly humanoid enemy types thus far. Regardless,Marvel’s Spider-Man 3seems poised to letDoctor Octopus’ duplicitous psycheloose again with Norman a likely candidate for the Green Goblin mantle, and it’ll be exciting to see how they’re juggled in the story.
