Every boss fight in Marvel's Spider-Man 2 ranked from worst to best
8. Mr. Negative
Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4 was often criticized for not being challenging enough. So if players wondered whether Insomniac would increase the difficulty level going into the sequel, they'd have to look no further than at Mr. Negative's boss fight.
To say it was tough would be an understatement.
After Miles is drugged and kidnapped by Kraven, he wakes to see himself trapped in a fighting arena alongside Martin Li. Since the world's greatest hunter was tired of "wasting his time" fighting multiple villains without deeming any of them worthy, he decided to make Spider-Man and Mr. Negative fight to the death to see who would make for a greater opponent. Unfortunately for Li, Miles is still seeking revenge for his father's death and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Just like that, the scene is set and ready for a really difficult fight.
Mr. Negative has a few returning attacks from when players first faced him in Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4. However, most of his moveset is new and quite difficult to counter. Some of Martin's strikes need to be parryed since they can't be dodged. Others are the exact opposite and players will need to dodge them as their only option. A few others, however, need to be jumped over since neither parrying nor dodging would prevent them from injuring Spider-Man. It's quite a lot to handle which can be frustrating at times. However, it also makes you feel like a true hero when Mr. Negative is finally defeated.
The fight is also divided into different phases and even features a brief chase scene just like the encounter with Mysterio in Martin's negative reality. It's exhilarating, even if it's a scenery that players have seen multiple times before in Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4.
However, where the fight truly shines is in how it handles the personal stakes involved for Miles Morales. Despite his hatred for Martin Li, he still decides to help him escape from Kraven's arena where one of them would've died. It was a great start to Spider-Man's redemption arc and a perfect way to end the confrontation.
Even if the fight falls short in terms of spectacle or originality (with a returning villain, a few reused attacks, and a fighting arena players had already seen in Marvel's Spider-Man for PS4), it still delivers a fun and challenging experience.