Everyone is a fan of the web-slinging, crime-fighting superhero with his funny lines. He started off in the Comic books and now has been in the movies, a few games, and has come to novels as well! Marvel’s Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover is a book that is set in its own Universe and has a story untold before in any of the adaptations of Spider-Man. This book, written by David Liss, is the official prequel to the award-winning PlayStation exclusive: Marvel’s Spider-Man. The book ends where the game starts exactly!

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover (Review)

Peter Parker is not a teenage crime-fighter in this book. He is a seasoned superhero who is eight years into crime-fighting and has fought most of his villains whom he has sent to the Raft, including Scorpion and the Vulture. Peter Parker juggles through his work-life balance; believe me, it’s tough enough to balance it with just one job, and throwing in Peter’s “night life” makes it too difficult for him! As he keeps his relationship afloat, an impersonator strikes and makes life difficult for Spider-Man too!

While a lot is going on already, Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin of Crime, sets out to take his revenge on Spider-Man and has a sinister plot already which is “too big to fail.” Throw in a beauty who thinks Spider-Man has wronged her and Norman Osborne, the mayor, who has his own plans; Spider-Man has got his hands full! While contemplating if Spider-Man is what Peter wants, his best friend Harry Osborne leaves him for a trip to “Europe,” and MJ breaks up with him to have some space.

Peter loses his job in a private lab too to concentrate on being Spider-Man, and the Police are searching for Spider-Man thanks to the deeds of his impersonator! Without any more hope left in his life, how he bounces back is the rest of the story, rampant with easter eggs for the game! The story is a classic Spider-Man one where he fights, investigates, gives out funny quips, struggles to make ends meet, and ultimately triumphs at the end of the day.

The characters are primarily recurring characters from the game except for a few, and the easter eggs for the game are aplenty! This book is especially for the fans who thought they had seen very few of one of the greatest villains of Spidey – Wilson Fisk. Wilson Fisk is the star of the book, and rightly so! The book shows why he needs to be feared and why he is one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies, even with much lesser superpowers.

The book has some “Aha!” moments in the way he plays Spider-Man throughout the story. Eventually, Spider-Man gets the better of him, but you still feel threatened enough by the Kingpin! The second villain or the impersonator of Spider-Man is also excellent, and you get to read his backstory to understand his internal struggle. The book is not specific to Spider-Man and shows you perspectives of other significant characters, which is its beauty.

For example, MJ’s breaking up with Peter is realistic, and the struggle between them is something every couple faces. The break-up is portrayed really well that you feel sorry for Peter, but you don’t think that MJ has made a mistake. MJ’s angle in the story is portrayed well. Martin Li, Aunt May, and Harry Osborne play cameos and are not crucial to the plot. However, we get to know why what happens to them happens to them in the game later on.

Verdict: Even though the book is a prequel to the game, they can exist without the other making this book an excellent standalone read. Read this book if you are a fan of Spider-Man the character rather than Spider-man the game, and you won’t be disappointed. The book does a great job in telling a good story, making us understand the characters better, and ends up setting up a great start to the game Marvel’s Spider-Man. You can get the book here! 📖

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