The fan-favorite Spider-Man foe, Venom, will be appearing in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, but the Venom symbiote's origin story may have been subtly set up in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Venom's appearance had been more overtly teased in both Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales' post-credit scenes, which showed the terminally ill Harry Osborn in a green liquid-filled tank with the symbiote's tendrils attaching themselves to him.
With the symbiote being used in such a way, many presumed that Insomniac's interpretation would be taking inspiration from the Ultimate Spider-Man comics run. In this 2000s-era reboot of the Spider-Man lore, the Venom symbiote was created by Richard Parker and Eddie Brock Sr. as a suit that could cure illnesses such as cancer, so Norman Osborn choosing to use it similarly in a bid to cure his son was a plot point that immediately drew comparison from fans. However, one clue in the series' previous game, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales, has sown the seeds for a more traditional origin for Venom instead.
Venom Could Still Come From Space In Marvel's Spider-Man 2
Traditionally, the Venom symbiote came from space. In its first appearance in 1984 as part of the massive Secret Wars crossover comics arc, Peter Parker acquires the symbiote on Battleworld when he discovers a machine thought to be a fabric replicator upon damaging his original costume in battle. The suit initially had perks such as enhanced healing and increased strength, so Peter used it for a while when back on Earth, and only much later did he discover the suit was alive and influencing his actions, making him more aggressive and reckless, which led to him removing it and inadvertently creating Venom when the symbiote found its new host in the disgraced journalist, Eddie Brock.
While the Secret Wars events are unlikely to appear in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Insomniac has confirmed Eddie won't be Venom's host, it is still possible that the symbiote could be of alien origin, even if it is being used similarly to Ultimate Spider-Man's as a method of treatment. Other iterations such as the 90s Spider-Man animated series and the 2018 Venom movie saw the symbiote return with astronauts after a space mission, and 2007's Spider-Man 3 movie showed it conveniently arriving in Central Park upon a small meteorite that crash-landed right around the time Peter and Mary Jane were in the area. If Marvel's Spider-Man 2 were to opt for a space-based origin for Venom, it's likely that Venom would have been obtained as part of an Oscorp space mission and brought back to New York for experimentation.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales Revealed Oscorp's Space Exploration Technology
A flashback sequence in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales' penultimate mission, "Like Real Scientists" showed Miles and his childhood friend Phin Mason visiting Oscorp Science Center. While the aim of the mission is to see Miles and Phin's award-winning project - which is on display as part of the special Spacebound exhibition - there are entire exhibitions on sea and space exploration to look at. The latter is key as access to the technology on display - which includes models of Oscorp's Space Station as well as various enhanced fuel types, vehicles, containment and transportation units, portable shelter and bases for planetary exploration, and more - could be how Norman Osborn ultimately acquires the Venom symbiote for his experiments.
The narration for the Apollo module exhibit on display states that since the 1969 moon landing, scientists have "dreamed of traveling beyond and someday settling our solar system". With this statement in mind, and Oscorp's wealth and resources on display, it's possible that Oscorp has privately funded space exploration missions in Insomniac's universe, with astronauts such as John Jameson, son of J. Jonah Jameson, being confirmed to be off-world in Marvel's Spider-Man with an in-game tweet from the astronaut expressing his joy at being able to hear his father's podcast, Just The Facts while he was on "the space station."
Whether this is a different space station or the one Oscorp had on display in Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is yet to be determined. Jameson was one of the astronauts who inadvertently brought back the Venom symbiote in the space shuttle crashes seen in the 90s animated show and the Venom movie, so it's possible that he could have done so again in Insomniac's Marvel's Spider-Man universe, albeit with a more successful mission and landing than those two examples, given how Oscorp has been able to contain, study and experiment with it in secret for years.
The Venom Symbiote Still Appears To Have Alien Qualities In Spider-Man 2
Marvel's Spider-Man 2's Venom symbiote has been shown a few times in promotional footage, once with a brief glimpse at the end of a fully-fledged Venom at the game's reveal trailer, during Summer Game Fest, and more prominently in the May 2023 PlayStation Showcase's gameplay footage. In the latter, the symbiote had bonded with Peter Parker, creating Insomniac's take on Spider-Man's black suit from the comics. For the most part, the suit followed the standard, iconic design fans are used to with a mainly black look with a large white spider logo on the chest and back, and large white eyes, however, Insomniac's version - as with all of its suit interpretations - has a lot more texturing on display.
The slimy textures of Peter's symbiote suit look quite extra-terrestrial in design, with some seeming reminiscent of H.R. Giger's Xenomorph designs from the Alien franchise at times. The suit's tendrils (which can be controlled by players to deliver devastatingly brutal finishers and combos in Marvel's Spider-Man 2's combat) also appear to be moving independently of Peter at times, as if they have a life of their own like the alien version of the suit.
The villains of the Marvel's Spider-Man games have primarily been the results of failed experiments or enhanced by technology, so it's understandable why many would assume that the series would be taking the slightly more grounded origin of an artificial medicinal suit for Venom's origin. However, if Marvel's Spider-Man 2 did choose to adapt the more classic, space-based origin for the fan-favorite character, Insomniac has certainly sewn enough seeds with its mentions of space exploration across its two prior titles that it would make the arrival of an alien being an organic addition to the series' narrative.