The numerous incarnations of Spider-Man create their own iconography and nostalgia for different generations of fans. Marvel’s Spider-Man achieved this with many players who appreciate the game for what it introduced as an original narrative, though many comparisons can also be made between Marvel’s Spider-Man and other takes on the character.
However, while Insomniac Games’ approach to action sequences and narrative moments are identifiably authentic, a technical glitch that was recently found in Marvel’s Spider-Man has inspired comparisons to each of Spider-Man’s live-action counterparts.
Reddit user Popular-Arrival-7742 shared footage of a bug they found in Marvel’s Spider-Man that resulted in them getting stuck in a overhead walkway that is not meant to be accessible. Popular-Arrival-7742 can be seen previously engaging in a car pursuit with Demons when the end of a cinematic animation launches Spider-Man back into the air, but it launches the player straight into a walkway above the street. Ironic timing then removes the walkway’s geometry collision and Popular-Arrival-7742 lands within it, where they are then unable to get out.
Comparisons to this incident have have already been quick to reference moments from Spider-Man 2 (2004), The Amazing Spider-Man (2012), and Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019). In Spider-Man 2, Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man is hurled by his feet toward a similar walkway overpass above the elevated train that he and Alfred Molina’s Doctor Octopus fight across, but he quickly straightens his body and narrowly dives through the walkway’s narrow slits to emerge out the other end.
The Amazing Spider-Man features a walkway where Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man briefly battles Rhys Ifan’s The Lizard. Though there is no environmental traversal in this sequence, fans find it memorable for Spider-Man humorously saying to Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy that he is about to throw her out of the walkway’s window to safety. Because Popular-Arrival-7742 is equipped with The Amazing Spider-Man‘s suit cosmetic, it also draws comparison to this scene further.
Spider-Man: Far From Home‘s final battle between Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Mysterio takes place in a walkway where, in order to reach Mysterio at the end, Spider-Man must tap into his fickle spider-sense ability and navigate a horde of drones.
In fact, Marvel’s Spider-Man itself emulates the bug with the Mister Negative traffic chase. While simultaneously dispatching nearby cars with armed Demons and fighting atop Martin Li’s armored truck, Spider-Man dives through a low-hanging metal construction that get destroyed by the truck as it passes through.
It has apparently become an iconic Spider-Man maneuver to dive through narrow passageways to avert collision, or perhaps overpass walkways are simply popular environments for Spider-Man in modern media. Regardless, this bug has made for funny comparison and reference to other Spider-Man iterations.
Marvel’s Spider-Man is available now on PS4 and PS5.