There were a lot of reveals in Spider-Man 2's PlayStation Showcase trailer. Most notably, we saw Peter Parker don the symbiote suit, which brings with it new powers, but also new challenges. Presumably new responsibilities are in there somewhere too. Peter has all new attacks with this suit, but also seems to be affected emotionally, which would make sense given its parasitic nature. It has been confirmed that Venom will be in the game, voiced by Tony Todd, but it could yet be that Venom is Peter, rather than taking over Eddie Brock. We also saw Lizard, gameplay in the water, new web abilities, the confirmation of the likes of Black Cat returning, and our first look at Kraven the Hunter. But the most important reveal was for Wraith.
When Kraven's tablet scans over the city and shows persons of interest, Wraith is listed in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. Ever since I wrapped Spider-Man's DLC, I have had three major wishes for Spider-Man 2: let me play as Miles, give us Wraith, and bring back Silver Sable. I guess two out of three ain't bad.
It's reasonable that a lot of people won't know who Wraith is, or why she matters. Throughout the first game, Peter frequently checks in with his cop friend Yuri Wanatabe, who has two main roles in the story. Firstly, she's important for the plot - the structure of the game relies on police scanners and working with law enforcement, and it's through Yuri that this connects to Peter specifically. Secondly, she underlines the game's neoliberalism - at one point, despite witnessing murder and terrorism, Peter claims low level street corner drug deals are his least favourite crime. Peter's a hero, but he's a hero who backs the blue.
There's not necessarily anything wrong with this. Modern day consumers can project their own ideals and end up drawing a hard line where a character like Spider-Man, a bastion of kindness and selfless goodness who volunteers at a homeless shelter despite having no money himself, is taken to task. We should call out copaganda, but the type of citizen Peter is (good hearted and naive) would naturally think of the police as the good guys, even after witnessing corruption first-hand.
We see a more nuanced look at this in Miles' game. As a Black-Latino teenager whose father is a cop and whose uncle is a criminal, and who has grown up as a Black kid in NYC, his view of the police is less naive - his first interaction with law enforcement as Spider-Man sees him held at gunpoint with his hands up in surrender, a very pointed statement on the different lives Peter and Miles have led. Society's view of the police has developed in the years since Insomniac introduced us to its interpretation of Peter, and this newfound view, plus Peter's growth, could well be addressed in the sequel - that's where Wraith comes in.
If you haven't played the DLC, or have since forgotten it, you might be expecting Yuri to return in the sequel as the friendly face of the New York City cops. However, in the DLC Yuri is investigating the Maggia crime family, and takes the law into her own hand. She kills mob members and leaves the force, shedding her liberal do-gooder exterior to become a violent vigilante: Wraith.
It was clear the DLC was setting up further storylines for Yuri, but I was still worried this might not see her turn into Wraith at all. I feared the DLC would be a way to write her out, the plot no longer requiring Spidey's police connections, and on we go without the messiness. Good is good and bad is bad. Wraith is an anti-hero, in ways far more complex than Black Cat being a thief with a good heart. She is a violent, reckless killer. A Robin Hood who takes from the rich to protect the poor, and whose fee is paid only in blood.
Knowing she is in the game and actively called Wraith sets Peter on a collision course with her. There's still a chance for the most disappointing outcome that he talks her down because killing is wrong, but more likely she will challenge Peter's views on justice, goodness, and what it means to serve. Peter himself is unlikely to waver, but even the game presenting Wraith's reaction to the police's corruption as righteous offers a much needed counterbalance to the game's outlook.
As for Wraith herself, her presence is just inescapably cool. She chokes her enemies with tentacles usually depicted as bandages or strips of fabric, and uses fear gas to project nightmares into their heads. Yes, it is one hundred percent stolen from Scarecrow, that's just how comics work. Black Cat is similarly airlifted from DC. Wraith's position as someone who knows how Spider-Man thinks and shares, in the most basic of ways, his goals and world view, yet accomplishes them with extreme methods he would never consider, make her compelling. Add in the symbiote causing Peter to be less like himself than ever, and Wraith's role in the story kicks up another notch.
Both in terms of her place in the narrative thematically, and as far as the action sequences and gameplay potential she offers, the confirmation of Wraith was one of Spider-Man's biggest surprises, and could be its greatest asset. There could be an issue with too many villains, as plagued the first game, but if Wraith is depicted as a nuanced anti-hero rather than a force of evil to be stopped, she could end up as Spider-Man 2's most crucial player.