Insomniac Games is sure to add a bevy of new costumes to Peter Parker and Miles Morales' wardrobes in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, and the suit Alex Ross designed for Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films has to be one of them. While developing the costume that Tobey Maguire would wear for the first Spider-Man film in 2002, Marvel artist Alex Ross came up with a design that departed from the wall-crawler's conventional aesthetic. Ross' design swapped out the blue of Spidey's outfit for black, added external web-shooters and a more pronounced black emblem on the chest, making for a suit that was both striking and unique.
While Spider-Man's crew opted for a more traditional look in the end, Ross' concept was still able to see the light of day courtesy of Treyarch's 2002 Spider-Man movie tie-in game, where it featured as an unlockable extra suit that could be used in the game's story mode. (Equipping the suit would also transform Green Goblin into the design Ross developed for the character, which didn't make it past the conceptual stage of the film's development either.) This, together with the fact Ross' design was developed into a physical costume that made it onto the set of Spider-Man may illustrate just how strongly his look was considered before shooting commenced, and it would be great to see it get its due in video game form yet again in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.
With Marvel's Spider-Man 2 featuring Venom, and with them the prospect of Peter Parker donning the symbiote himself, the obvious choice for another movie-inspired look would be the black costume seen in Spider-Man 3. However, while that suit would be great to see in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, the Alex Ross design would arguably make for a more unique addition. It differs drastically from most of the web-head's other looks and has only appeared in video game form once before, while the comics suit it went onto inspire - the one Doctor Octopus wore when he became the Superior Spider-Man - has featured in several.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Could Put Alex Ross' Design In The Spotlight
Although the costume used in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy is iconic, there's a lot of intriguing, "what-if?" potential with Ross' design that adds to its allure. It's difficult to imagine any other costume featuring in those films, but were the Ross suit to appear in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, it would give players the opportunity to explore how Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man would've looked with a different suit, and maybe even to reenact different scenes in-game.
Both Marvel's Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales featured costumes from the wall-crawler's movie past, and the level of detail seen with them specifically was especially impressive. It would be great to see Ross' suit get a similar treatment, particularly since it has gone on to inform different Spider-Man costumes in the years since it was developed.
By divesting from the classic red and blue color scheme, Ross created a costume that looked fresh and exciting, but also one that stayed true to Spider-Man's character. It's the perfect example of how to refresh an iconic look in a way that doesn't feel jarring or unfaithful to the original design, and would make for a perfect addition to Peter Parker's wardrobe in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.