Marvel's Avengers already had a "full-roster" before Spider-Man was thrown into the mix

(Image credit: Square Enix)

Marvel's Avengers spun a controversial web when it announced that Spider-Man would be joining the game as post-launch DLC exclusive to PlayStation. Now we know that he was a late addition to an already established roster. 

"We had a full roster already in progress of all the heroes we were going to release, plans for years in advance, and certainly all the ones we've currently got underway," Marvel's Avengers head of combat Vince Napoli tells me. "And then we added Spider-Man as well." 

I ask if the PlayStation exclusivity meant a lighter workload for devs, or required less work time because of its single platform status. "There's no savings there," Napoli says before going into detail regarding the decision-making process. "I remember the first time it was discussed, it was like 'Hey, what if we just did Spider-Man also?' And I was like, 'Is that a joke? Are you guys kidding? Is that for fun? Are we actually serious?'" They were, and the team had to "think outside the box" in order to slot Spider-Man into the pre-existing schedule.

Despite this late addition, Spider-Man will be a fully-fleshed out character when he joins Marvel's Avengers on PlayStation in early 2021. "Anytime that we're talking about players getting a new hero there's no shortchanging," Napoli says. "There's no 'Let's just throw this one on the slab, get this one out quick or we'll redo a budget version of it.'"  

While we didn't discuss the decision to make Spider-Man a PS4 exclusive, Crystal Dynamics head Scott Amos did during a media roundtable, as reported by Newsweek. "Because of Sony's unique relationship with Marvel and PlayStation, specifically, that gives us an affordance with Spider-Man that we wouldn't have otherwise," Amos says. This is a confusing statement, as Marvel owns the rights to a video game version of Spider-Man, not Sony, according to Screen Rant.

Amos did elaborate a bit further: "So, the beauty of Spider-Man and what Spider-Man represents as a character in this world is, again, it comes back to the relationship with PlayStation and Marvel. We happen to be ones who can execute and deliver when it comes down to choices of where and what Spider-Man can be, that's a relationship question that you know PlayStation absolutely has the rights to that as you guys know with Sony's [movie rights] ownership there and Marvel with Sony saying, 'hey, this is something we can do, this is something we can do on this platform' and as creators, we have this opportunity that we can make something unique and fun and awesome."

If another new addition to the roster is getting announced anytime soon, it'll be during the next Marvel's Avengers War Table, so stay tuned.

Here's all Marvel's Avengers beta details.

Alyssa Mercante

Alyssa Mercante is an editor and features writer at GamesRadar based out of Brooklyn, NY. Prior to entering the industry, she got her Masters's degree in Modern and Contemporary Literature at Newcastle University with a dissertation focusing on contemporary indie games. She spends most of her time playing competitive shooters and in-depth RPGs and was recently on a PAX Panel about the best bars in video games. In her spare time Alyssa rescues cats, practices her Italian, and plays soccer.

Latest in Action
Fortnite's Lara croft skin in front of a building
Fortnite has had Tomb Raider's Lara Croft locked away in battle pass exclusivity jail for almost 4 years, but she's reportedly getting a new skin very soon
The Last of Us 2
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann sounds like he's contemplating the end of his career: "When is it time to stop?"
Screenshot of Neil in Death Stranding 2
Hideo Kojima says he chose Death Stranding 2's Solid Snake lookalike because he needed an actor who "would surpass" Mads Mikkelsen
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2
Latest in News
True Detective
Matthew McConaughey still thinks his own season of True Detective is the best one: "It was one of the great events in TV"
Diego Luna in Andor season 2
Andor season 2 showrunner Tony Gilroy calls Cassian “Star Wars Jesus” ahead of the show’s return on Disney Plus
Fortnite's Lara croft skin in front of a building
Fortnite has had Tomb Raider's Lara Croft locked away in battle pass exclusivity jail for almost 4 years, but she's reportedly getting a new skin very soon
Mind Rot card art (showing a human screaming in agony) with two meme Spongebob Squarepants Secret Lair cards laid over top
MTG's meme-filled Spongebob Secret Lair is enough to kill the average player from the 1990s
Julian McMahon as Doctor Doom in 2005's Fantastic Four
The Doctor Doom actor from 2005's Fantastic Four thinks Robert Downey Jr.'s take on the role in the next Avengers movies will be "pretty extraordinary": "I love watching his work"
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes trailer
My Hero Academia prequel series lands streaming date and brand new trailer, and it looks just as action packed as the original show