Dr. Curt Connors will be appearing in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and the May 2023 PlayStation Showcase gave players a look at his reptilian alter-ego: The Lizard. Although this was the first time seeing Insomniac Games' iteration of the character, he had already been teased several times throughout the acclaimed superhero series, making his return somewhat inevitable.

During Marvel's Spider-Man 2's 11-minute-long gameplay reveal, Peter and Miles try to track down Connors in his Lizard form, both to protect the city from him and to protect him from Kraven and his group of hunters who have ventured to New York in search of a worthy prey for their Great Hunt. The version of the Lizard who then appeared was a huge, animalistic beast that's a far cry from some of the more humanoid iterations seen in animated series and The Amazing Spider-Man movie.

Marvel's Spider-Man Referenced Peter Parker & Curt Connors' Past

Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales introduced Curt Connors in a post-credits sequence. In this scene, Connors is working with Norman Osborn on the secret symbiote experiment to cure Harry Osborn of a terminal illness, something that will ultimately unleash the fan-favorite Spider-Man foe Venom upon the city.

However, this wasn't the first time Connors or The Lizard have been referred to in Insomniac's games. If players collect Peter Parker's backpacks in Marvel's Spider-Man, they will come across a vial named "The Lizard's Blood." Upon selecting this object, Peter will talk about how he was able to make a temporary cure for Connors after the scientist used his knowledge of genetic mutations to regrow his own amputated arm using modified Lizard DNA, revealing that he knew the doctor previously.

One Redditor, viperbite25 shared a screenshot of the vial on the SpidermanPS4 subreddit. With it, they pointed out that The Lizard's appearance in the upcoming sequel would be a return in-universe, and theorized that Norman Osborn could be responsible for Connors' regression after being cured.

There is the possibility that Osborn could have had some involvement in the return of The Lizard, perhaps offering Connors his resources to work on an "improved" version of his experiment as payment for helping Harry. It's clear that this time, however, The Lizard has returned as an evolved beast as a result, shedding his skin like a snake and emerging as a far larger creature than ever before.

A Halloween Costume Showed The Lizard's Previous Form

During Marvel's Spider-Man's main campaign, Peter infiltrates a Halloween party at his former university, Empire State University. In this level, several students and professors can be seen wearing costumes based on the more traditional comic book iteration of Spider-Man's villains, and the person Peter is looking for, Dr. Delaney is dressed up as a more comic-accurate version of Connors' alter ego, who is smaller and wears a lab coat and ripped purple trousers.

It's possible that the first time Peter clashed with The Lizard was during his time at ESU, and that Connors was his former professor, much as he is in some other adaptations, such as Sam Raimi's Spider-Man film trilogy. If so, Delaney's costume would certainly be in poor taste, potentially mocking a disgraced former professor, and it could be losing this job that led Connors to work on Norman Osborn's more secret projects.

With Peter and Connors' prior relationship established, this could have been a catalyst in Peter choosing to work with Otto Octavius, his mentor from the first game who became the villainous Doctor Octopus. Otto and Peter were working on a new form of prosthetic limb for amputees during Marvel's Spider-Man, and it's highly unlikely that Peter's guilt over Connors' failed experiment wouldn't have been at the forefront of his mind when doing so.

Players will have to wait until Marvel's Spider-Man 2's October 20 release date to see exactly how Dr. Curt Connors and The Lizard tie into Marvel's Spider-Man 2's story. It's evident that he is a major part, however, as Insomniac has featured The Lizard prominently in his own character poster as part of the game's marketing campaign.

Source: viperbite25/Reddit