Marvel's Spider-Man ending and post-credits explained

Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered
(Image credit: Sony)

Marvel's Spider-Man ending is the same whether you're playing the PS4, PC, or Remastered PS5 version, and leaves a lot unanswered - or at least yet to be answered - about the characters and their futures. However, there is a lot to be gleamed from what we do get to see in the ending and post-credits sequence, and hints at what's coming in the sequel, Spider-Man 2.

With that in mind, we've got everything you need to know about the ending of Marvel's Spider-Man here, with a recap of events for both the finale and the post-credits sequence, as well as what we can infer and interpret from the various characters and events we're shown. Obviously there are major spoilers for Marvel's Spider-Man to follow, so if you've wandered onto this page and haven't seen the ending yet, turn away now!

What happens at the end of Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered?

By the end of Marvel's Spider-Man the clearly telegraphed transformation of Doctor Octavius into Doc Ock has reached its conclusion. With Mr Negative and the Sinister Six behind bars the climax sees Peter Parker construct a new suit, specifically to battle Doctor Octopus, both to try and bring him in, as well as retrieve the single sample of Devil's Breath cure - the deadly Oscorp disease Ock released to discredit Mayor Norman Osborn. 

After a massive battle with Doc Ock on the roof and sides of Oscorp, Spider-Man finally defeats his former friend by tearing out his neurological interface. With Octavius weakened by the wasting disease destroying his motor control he can't even get up without his tentacles and Peter abandons him as he cries out for help. We see Doc Ock one last time before the credits roll, going to prison and definitely looking like a man who'll be back at some point in the future. 

With only one sample of the cure left remaining, Peter then has to deal with the difficult choice of who to heal: Aunt May, or the city. After May reveals she knows Peter's secret and assures him it's OK, he chooses to save the city and Aunt May dies from the Devil's Breath infection.

Later Peter and MJ get back together, with Pete going on to continue his webswinging crimefighting adventures. Wouldn't be much post-game content otherwise, would there?

Marvel's Spider-Man post-credits sequences

Marvels Spider-Man doctor octopus

(Image credit: Insomniac Games)

However, that’s not it: the really juicy stuff happens after the main credits finish and we get to see Peter Parker and Miles Morales again as Peter moves into a new apartment. We’d previously seen Miles get bitten by Spider 42, a mutated spider that escaped from Oscorp and now Miles confronts Peter about the new abilities he's developed, unaware that Peter is Spider-Man - at least until Pete admits it right back.

The very final sting comes after all the credits have rolled, and we see Norman Osborne in his secret lab where it’s revealed that Harry Osborne isn’t away in Europe, but actually in a coma being treated for some mysterious disease (presumably the same one that killed his mother). The tank Harry's inside has some sort of black goo that appears to be... alive. Hmm.

Ending explained and theories

Spider-Man

(Image credit: Insomniac Games)

There's a few threads to address left over from the end of Spider-Man, which we'll cover below:

  • Doctor Octopus: Doc Ock ends up imprisoned in the raft and separated from his mechanical arms, with no sign that his neurological condition is going to do anything but get worse. Despite threatening to reveal Spidey's secret identity in the final fight, he doesn't seem to have done that - though he's clearly harbouring a need for revenge. The most likely reason is that Doc wants to kill Peter himself, and revealing his identity publicly would only make it that much harder when there's a line of angry supervillains and crime lords trying to finish off the wallcrawler. Doc doesn't appear again in the DLC, and only briefly in a flashback in Miles Morales - so his fate is likely going to be determined in Spider-Man 2, or maybe even in games afterwards.
  • Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man, Miles Morales, has his future addressed briefly in the DLC - where we see Peter beginning the process of training him - but gets a full-fledged follow-up in the standalone Miles Morales game for PS5. We won't spoil that; go play it to see what happens to Miles later.
  • Norman Osborn: Despite being the namesake of arguably Spidey's greatest villain, the Green Goblin, mayor Norman Osborn doesn't seem to be nearing that point yet, though exploring his house and Oscorp tech reveals some distinctly goblinish devices that are clearly going to come back at some point. Osborn's story so far ends in disgrace - he resigns as mayor following the Devil's Breath scandal, his company's stock plummets, and ends up brooding in his secret lab. He's clearly trying to find some way to cure his son, and in the ending of Miles Morales, we see he may be closer to that - though not without side-effects...
  • Harry Osborn/Venom: Harry Osborn - supposedly "in Europe" - turns out to have a terminal illness and has been experimented on by his father in secret for a while now, looking to cure his son. In the comics Harry often shows up as the supervillain "Hobgoblin", but the moving black goo in the tank with him is far more reminiscent of the symbiote that associated with the monster Venom. We know from the trailer that Spider-Man 2 will include Venom, and early trailers certainly make it look like it'll be Harry 

Want to try out the web-slinging action yourself? Just look here to get the best price on Spider-Man PS4 and step into Spidey’s shoes.

Leon Hurley
Managing editor for guides

I'm GamesRadar's Managing Editor for guides, which means I run GamesRadar's guides and tips content. I also write reviews, previews and features, largely about horror, action adventure, FPS and open world games. I previously worked on Kotaku, and the Official PlayStation Magazine and website. 

With contributions from