Catching pigeons was one of the many collectible side missions in Marvel’s Spider-Man. However, it should not return for Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

While there are plenty of things Marvel's Spider-Man 2 should bring back from the first game, the pigeon collectible side mission isn't one of them. Pigeons are a staple of New York City, and are going to show up in any piece of media set there, including in the various open-world Marvel games featuring Spider-Man. However, the pigeon missions in the first Marvel's Spider-Man game was unnecessary and should be cut from the sequel, with more exciting side missions needed.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has a lot to live up to, given the strong reception of its predecessor. Marvel's Spider-Man is considered by many to be one of the greatest games of its console generation, a landmark in the Spider-Man canon, and just a really fun game to play. Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales has demonstrated that Insomniac is more than capable of building on that foundation, but it didn't go to the lengths a proper sequel could. Marvel's Spider-Man 2 can and should address actual problems with the first game, like finding something else for Mary Jane to do, and removing/replacing the pigeon collectibles is another such change.

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The pigeon collectibles of Marvel's Spider-Man were not only a collectible too far in a game riddled with them, but they also weren't much fun. Trying to catch the birds is an exercise in frustration, as chasing after a much smaller target that's much faster than the player is much harder to hit due to its tiny hitbox. It would be better if they removed in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, although what Insomniac would replace those missions with should be up for debate.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 would benefit from having a more diverse set of side missions than the first two games, so it would make more sense to replace the pigeons than to just cut them entirely without any other content. The return of Ultimate Spider-Man's Human Torch races has been mooted, but one other worthy replacement would be to have Peter Parker go back to his roots and deliver pizza. Peter is, after all, out of a job by the end of the original game, and while it's possible he could go back to freelancing for the Daily Bugle, capitalizing on all the "pizza time" memes and the love for Sam Raimi's films could make for a fun set of side missions in Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

Having him be a pizza delivery driver while searching for new lab work would make for not only a good reference to the beloved PS2 Spider-Man 2 title, but it could also be a good vehicle for referencing other Marvel characters. A lot of Marvel characters live in New York City, and one has to assume that they'd get hungry for pizza every now and then. It would make for a good evolution of Marvel's Spider-Man's worldbuilding photography and backpack Easter eggs to have Peter visit them again and deliver pizza for some Marvel icons. It would also be a good way to set up other spinoffs Insomniac could make after Marvel's Wolverine by having Spidey interact with heroes like Daredevil, or maybe the Human Torch.

The pigeon collectible side mission from Marvel's Spider-Man was unnecessary in a game that was so riddled with collectible, Easter eggs and secrets to begin with. One could go through the game completely without doing one and not miss anything, and more meaningful side content could replace it in the sequel. Pigeons are a part of NYC, they will always show up in a game set there, but that doesn't mean that Marvel's Spider-Man 2's presumably changing map has to draw attention to them.

Next: Marvel's Spider-Man 2: What Happened The Last Time Venom Fought Kraven

John D. Tibbetts III is a gaming features writer for Screen Rant, at least when he isn't feeding his addiction to Final Fantasy XIV. John started writing back when he was 15, fueled by his love for TV, video games, and anime. It didn’t take long for John to realize that this was far from a hobby, it was something he wanted to do the rest of his life. After obtaining a Bachelor’s in Creative Writing from Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida, John began publishing articles on Whatculture, Medium, and now here at Screen Rant. He is also working on a novel that he continues to promise himself that he’ll get back to once he has the time and energy, both of which he has in increasingly short supply. He currently lives in Georgia with his dog Sigfried, the comforting void that is his FFXIV account, and a google docs tab containing a manuscript that he pretends isn’t there.