Put down your web-shooters and pay attention, True Believers - because according to GamesRadar, new footage from Spider-Man: Brand New Day has revealed a surprise villain joining the already stacked cast. And that villain is... Ramrod. Yes, Ramrod. The guy with a steel spike on his head.
For the uninitiated, Ramrod is essentially one of those C-tier mobs you'd grind through on your way to the actual boss fight. He's a Marvel Comics villain with a cybernetically enhanced body and the personality of a brick wall - fitting, given that he mostly just rams into things. Think of him as the miniboss you never bothered to learn the lore of.
So why does this actually matter?
Here's where the meta-game gets interesting. Ramrod has historically been tied to some heavy-hitter villains in the comics - characters like the Slug and, more relevantly, the Kingpin. His appearance could be a breadcrumb, a side quest, or possibly a full-on story arc trigger. The MCU loves planting these little Easter eggs before the final dungeon reveal, so don't sleep on this seemingly random roster addition.
The film is already hauling around a massive villain roster like an overstuffed inventory screen, and throwing Ramrod into the mix suggests the writers might be going for a more street-level, crime-syndicate angle. Or they just really wanted someone who could take a beating and keep on moving - which, honestly, is a valid gameplay strategy.
Is this a feature or a bug?
The real question is whether Ramrod shows up as a throwaway goon or gets actual character development. The MCU has a decent track record of taking obscure comic characters and making them genuinely compelling - see: Korg, M.O.D.O.K. (debatable), and Phastos. But they've also had their share of final bosses that hit like wet noodles, so the risk-reward ratio here is very real.
Either way, Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues to look like it's stacking the difficulty setting to max. With a villain lineup that now apparently includes surprise unlockable characters, this might be the most chaotic entry in the franchise yet - and we're absolutely here for it. Achievement unlocked: hype secured.
