Marvel's Spider-Man almost killed off a different fan-favorite character

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A writer on Marvel's Spider-Man pushed for another character to die

Spider-Man: Miles Morales
(Image credit: Insomniac Games)

A writer on Marvel's Spider-Man pushed for Harry Osborn to bite the dust near the climax of Insomniac's game.

Speaking to GamesRadar+, Marvel's Spider-Man and comics veteran writer Dan Slott explained that he had some recommendations for the writing team at Insomniac when developing the 2018 action game. 

Be warned, significant story spoilers for Marvel's Spider-Man are included below.

"At first they were very careful with certain characters, so I began pushing very much that to have weight and gravitas of a good Spider-Man story, you need to take the kid gloves off and rough up the character, perhaps even kill one of them," Slott explained. "At the time, I was pushing for Harry Osborn to be the one they killed. Then I play the game and discover Harry's fine, sort of… but oh my god, they killed Aunt May!"

"I looked at myself and thought, 'maybe this was the kernel they took from what I told them about taking off the kid gloves,'" Slott continued. As Marvel's Spider-Man players will no doubt know, Peter Parker is forced to sacrifice May Parker to save New York City from the Devil's Breath, a deadly gas unleashed by Doctor Octopus near the conclusion of Insomniac's game. 

"That moment with Aunt May… The writing team - Jon Paquette, Benjamin Arfmann, and Kelsey Beachum - created one of the most powerful moments I've ever experienced with a video game," says Slott. "I'm told pretty much everyone at Insomniac was pushing for her to be the one, but if I was still on the team I would have pushed back. But it was powerful."

Elsewhere in the same interview, Slott revealed to Newsarama that Aunt May very nearly didn't make it into the game at all. Thankfully though, Insomniac found a way, and May Parker went on to become, as Slott mentions, a character with one of the more powerful moments in Marvel's Spider-Man.

Head over to our complete Dan Slott interview on The Reckoning War for a deep dive into the culmination of the writer's storied career.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.