If you're having trouble being patient for Insomniac's upcoming Spider-Man game, perhaps a prequel novel will help pass the time between now and all of that web-slinging goodness on PlayStation 4?
If your answer to the above question was "yes," then you're in luck. According to a recent report from Polygon, Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover will soon arrive from Titan Books, a novel that helps set the stage for the web-crawler's new in-game world. A second book set in the same universe will follow, though we don't have a title for that one just yet.
In an announcement from Titan, it's explained that Hostile Takeover will lead directly into the events that take place in the video game. Similar to the game, the book will also feature "Spidey's most famous friends and foes." A list of characters is also provided, including the likes of Shocker, Echo, Mary Jane and Wilson Fisk.
Thanks to the gameplay videos for Spider-Man we've seen up to this point, we already had a feeling that Fisk, AKA Kingpin, was behind bars at the game's opening. It makes sense, then, that the novel being penned by David Liss will focus on Kingpin's plans to take over New York City, presumably in a hostile fashion.
It's insanely unlikely Insomniac would make the novel mandatory reading for folks looking to play the game, so don't feel like you need to rush out and read it as soon as it hits stands. Still, Titan promises bits and pieces from the novel will help set up the plot of the game, so folks who want to get a deeper understanding of this particular Spider-Man's world before playing the game will probably want to pick it up. Also, it's always fun to read a game tie-in novel and then get references or come across characters folks who didn't read the novel would completely miss.
You may have noticed that we've referred to "this particular Spider-Man" a couple of times now. That's because Insomniac was basically given free rein to tell their own story untethered to Spider-Man comics, movies, etc. They probably won't be making any major changes, obviously, but that means they can go in some exciting new direction with the game. Oh, and, no, we won't be rehashing yet another origin story.
The second Spider-Man novel coming from Titan isn't big on narrative. Instead, it's called Marvel's Spider-Man: The Art of the Game, and will basically be a big-ole art book with character designs, concept art, blueprints and the like.
If you're looking to read up on Spidey's adventures pre-game, you can snag Hostile Takeover on Aug. 21. As for the art book, that'll drop on Sept. 11. The actual game launches between the two on Sept. 7.
