BOOK REVIEW | Marvel’s Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover by David Liss

No, that’s not a special backdrop. We just started decorating for Halloween 😉 Much like my Norse Mythology review,
I won’t touch on any spoilers in the book. But if i do, they will be easy to avoid and only visible if you click on the drop box.
If you can’t wait for the review of the game
and you want to read more about my current obsession with Marvel’s Spider-Man,
check out the recent Gaming Humpday Update! 

Marvel’s Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover, a novel by David Liss, is the official prequel to the PlayStation 4 game, Marvel’s Spider-Man. Isn’t that awesome?! I mean, yeah, you would totally expect this to be a comic but no, it’s a book that’s a prequel to a game! I was hoping for a comic, honestly. It would’ve been more in line with Spidey. Not to mention I would’ve surely been more inclined to pick up a comic that led into the game rather than a huge, intimidating book. But I went for it. A few of the peeps in the Future Monkeys discord recommended it and the story seemed intriguing enough. And at $7.99 MSRP you can’t really go wrong with trying. (Speaking of which, the link above is an affiliate link, so clicking on it and purchasing it would kick me back a small percentage. Thanks!)

First off, I just said I was hoping for a comic, right? Well I learned quick that’s the wrong mentality. A comic would’ve taken multiple issues to barely get across everything the book did. And while Spider-Man is through and through a comic book superhero, the fact that you’re reading a novel about him kinda throws you off but you get used to it. If you’ve never read a book about a topic or character that you associate with another medium, it can be hard to wrap your head around it. It took me a few chapters to not feel like I was reading a book intended for kids. Once I started getting through the story though, it became another page turner I couldn’t wait to finish.

This Spidey has been doing his web slinging thing for 8 years. Usually when we get fresh perspectives on superheroes in games or movies, they usually like to start from the beginning. Origin stories and whatnot, going through the paces, hammering in the facts that everyone can tell you in their sleep. But no, here, we get a veteran Spider-Man who has been cleaning up the streets for 8 long years. With that, we’re somewhat expected to know a few things. Like his relationship with his Aunt May, or MJ, or Harry Osborn. But the book does a great job in giving us a brief rundown on who someone is and what they are to Spidey/Parker.

The plot was gripping to say the least. At first, I was seeing it as a cartoon in my head. Ultimate Spider-Man on Disney XD, to be precise, since that’s the one the kids would usually watch and that I enjoy catching. But there’s a point in the story where things start getting pretty dark. The antagonist does antagonist things, and it quickly shifted to a more gritty, realistic Spider-Man story. I’ll get more into that point below in the spoiler section. But that’s when I started to really push through it and had the urge to see what happens in the end.

Something you get a good taste of in the story is not only Spider-Man’s exciting antics, but also the generally mundane and trivial life of Peter Parker. There’s always a struggle between his double edge sword that he sometimes reluctantly carries. That need and desire to have a normal life, and to not be plagued by the demanding role of keeping an entire city safe. But then he has Uncle Ben’s voice in his head, reminding him of the old and true saying: “with great power, comes great responsibility.” Man, that’s a worn out line, but yeesh, its truth is unparalleled. It’s a struggle you see Peter at odds with in this story and after 8 years of being Spider-Man, it’s definitely wearing on him.

A huge draw to this book is the fact that it’s the prequel to Marvel’s Spider-Man, which by the way, is reviewing rather impressively right now. And the fact that you can get into the book, finish it, then turn on the game and continue where you left off in the universe is a readers dream.

I started getting skeptical towards the end. Started to feel as if it was all going to come to a dramatic pause with the last page saying “Now continue the story in Marvel’s Spider-Man!” But no, rest assured, there is closure to Hostile Takeover.

There is a slight overlap where part of the final confrontation in the book is playable as the opening sequence for the game, and it flows perfectly through. Not only is it beyond satisfying to play as the exact character you’ve just envisioned in your head throughout a 400+ page novel, being able to feel as if you’re a part of the outcome makes me giddy as a fan. Not to mention being able to see and interact with other characters in the game that you’ve read about and developed relationships with in the book. For me, it gives an entirely new level of immersion to the universe, one that you wouldn’t get to experience if you only played the game or only read the book. And the swinging! My goodness, the swinging.

As a little side note, in case you weren’t aware. I’m a huge gamer, and always have been. Even had a podcast once but that’s not the point! Point is, I always loved games for the immersion they allow you to experience. The worlds you’re able to see and be a part of have no equal. Books are also a love and can also transport you to other worlds, sometimes with greater imagination and scopes. I can’t say I’ve ever felt as complete as I do with reading Hostile Takeover and playing the first few hours of Marvel’s Spider-Man. You get an encompassing experience that every Spidey fan would love to get lost in.

And that’s where I am now. As you can probably tell, I’m a fan of Hostile Takeover. Even without it being a prequel to a game that I was already greatly excited for, it held up on its own and doesn’t need to be followed up by anything. If you’re reading this and you already played Marvel’s Spider-Man, or are currently playing it, don’t let that stop you. There’s nothing wrong with being able to read prior events of the grander story when you can’t get on your PS4, or learning more about what happened before everything went south in NYC after you already saved it in the game.

With THAT said, I would say you’re doing yourself a disservice if you’re a gamer and you read this and you don’t play the game afterwards. The sense of continuing the universe you’re already invested in is satisfying to say the least. Characters mean more, events have greater impacts, all around it just makes the entire package that much more enriched. Do it. It’s 400+ pages but it goes quick. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have story missions to ignore while I swing around New York City collecting backpacks.