After the latest Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 update, fans stumbled on an unintentional sneak peek: a development menu revealing the “Beetle Villain Arc,” hinting at a forthcoming downloadable content featuring Beetle, or Janice Lincoln, as a new adversary.
This accidental discovery has led to speculation and hope among fans for what’s next in the Spider-Man saga, even as Insomniac Games, the developer, rushes to fix the inadvertent leak.
Janice Lincoln, known in the comic books as the daughter of the superpowered mobster Tombstone and a formidable villain in her own right, has her roots deep in Marvel lore, having battled icons like Captain America and Black Widow. Her inclusion as Beetle in a potential DLC for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, previously leaked back in January, suggests a narrative extension that explores her transformation and eventual confrontation with at least one Spider-Man in a new storyline. Janice nor Lincoln is in the sequel, but her dad appears as a reformed carnival worker at Coney Island following his defeat at the hands of Peter Parker in Marvel’s Spider-Man.
⚠️ We're aware the latest game update may have inadvertently allowed access to a development game menu. There's a hotfix on the way.
Please note that using this menu could corrupt your saves and trophy progress.
There is no risk associated with playing the game as intended.
— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) March 7, 2024
While Insomniac has yet to officially confirm the Beetle DLC, the development menu’s appearance, briefly accessible after the release of patch 1.002.000, is fueling discussions. The patch, intended to introduce New Game+, additional suits, and other features, has opened a Pandora’s box of potential future content, including other potential DLCs: “Extreme Carnage,” and Spider-Verse Anomaly.
This leak comes at a time when Insomniac Games continues to enjoy significant success with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 selling 10 million copies since launching. The studio, despite facing challenges such as recent layoffs as part of broader cutbacks at Sony Interactive Entertainment and igniting debates about the absurd costs of AAA game development, hasn’t slowed down in its content creation, with Marvel’s Wolverine and a standalone Venom spin-off both in development.
Fair warning, the accidental reveal of the DLC for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 poses a risk of corrupted save data and trophy progress for players, so access it at your own risk.
