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Why the Baxter Building won’t be in Spider-Man for PS4

By Juan Diego Arriola Wundram

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A few days ago Bryan Intihar revealed that the Baxter Building won’t be in Marvel’s Spider-Man for PS4. That’s certainly an odd choice considering many other Marvel landmarks will appear in the game. Because of this, we’ll explain why we think this decision was made.

As we get closer to the release date for Marvel’s Spider-Man, many details are starting to emerge. For example, we know Dr. Octopus will be in the game and that that there won’t be any Symbiotes. And while all of this is really interesting, we now have a brand new detail: the Baxter Building won’t appear in the game.

On July 4, Bryan Intihar (the game’s Creative Director) tweeted that the iconic landmark will be absent once the game releases. When answering some fan questions regarding the Baxter Building, Bryan simply said:

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"Sorry but it’s not in the game"

This may be a letdown for a lot of people who were hoping to swing by the Fantastic Four home base. Instead, many other landmarks such as the Avenger’s Tower and the Sanctum Sanctorum will appear. So why exactly did this happen? Well, we have two ideas.

The whole Fox and Marvel rivalry

Before Disney put in a bid for Fox, there was some tension between Fox and Marvel. For those of you who may not know, Fox has the film rights to some of Marvel characters, such as the X-Men and (you’ve guessed it) the Fantastic Four. It’s because of this that we haven’t seen Iron Man cross paths with Wolverine, Deadpool or the Human Torch. And if that wasn’t bad enough, things got much more complicated.

For some time, Marvel canceled Fantastic Four comics in order to stop giving publicity for those characters. Not only this but Marvel’s first family wasn’t allowed to appear in posters, t-shirts and (you’ve guessed it again) video games.

Let’s not forget that Marvel’s Spider-Man has been in development for quite some time now. The game was revealed in 2016, but Insomniac started to work in it a few years before that. With this in mind, it’s safe to say the whole Fox and Marvel rivalry took place around the same time Insomniac was making the game. Perhaps they couldn’t use any Marvel properties that are not part of the MCU. If this is truly the case, it would explain why we do get to see other places related to the Avengers and Dr. Strange but not anything related to the Fantastic Four.

So if you are asking why they didn’t put the Baxter Building once things got better (the Fantastic Four are even returning to the comics now) we may have a guess. Making a video game takes a lot of time, and perhaps the whole map for Marvel’s Spider-Man was ready when Disney started the process to acquire Fox. Maybe it was too late to change this?

Photo Credit: Marvel/Sony

Square Enix

We forgive you if you forgot Square Enix is making an Avengers video game. The Avengers Project was announced all the way back in January 2016. But aside from the title, we know nothing (and I really mean nothing) about it. Square Enix promised we would learn more in 2018 but with the game skipping this year’s E3, it’s unclear when we’ll get the change to do so.

Whatever the case may be, we assume Square Enix is still developing the game. So with two developers working on Marvel-related characters, some problems may appear down the line. Many people wonder if the two titles are going to be interconnected (much like the MCU) or not. If it turns out they are independent of each other, maybe Insomniac doesn’t have the rights to every Marvel property. Perhaps there will be some type of Marvel-Fox deal where each developer has rights to some (but not all) characters and/or locations. This could explain why the Baxter Building won’t appear in Marvel’s Spider-Man. Maybe the Fantastic Four’s headquarters is a crucial part of The Avengers Project’s story, and Marvel wants to save it for that game.

Next: Marvel’s Spider-Man gets back to the basics with a retro fan-made trailer

While many could be disappointed with the Baxter Building not appearing, this may not be a huge deal. Many other iconic locations from the Marvel Universe will be in the game. With this in mind, it appears we are still in for a fantastic adventure that you can pre-order right here (before it comes out on September 7).

What iconic location would you like to see instead of the Baxter Building? Let us know in the comments below! And be sure to stick around with Whatever A Spider Can for more Spider-Man related news.

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