A previously unseen ending sequence from the 2001 PlayStation game, Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, once deemed lost to the digital sands of time with only a solitary screenshot remaining as evidence, has resurfaced online. The discovery occurred earlier this week when an individual who downloaded the original ending more than two decades ago recalled its existence and subsequently shared it with the internet community.
To provide context, Activision released Spider-Man: Enter Electro in 2001 as a follow-up to the widely praised PS1/N64 Spider-Man title developed by Neversoft. While the sequel wasn’t as commercially successful as its predecessor, partially due to the emergence of the PS2 and the groundbreaking Grand Theft Auto 3, Enter Electro was initially scheduled for release on September 18, 2001. However, in the aftermath of the tragic September 11th attacks, Activision postponed the game’s launch due to its original ending, which featured the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. Modifications were implemented, and Enter Electro was eventually released on October 18th. The pre-9/11 version of the game became a source of fascination for fans, sparking rumors of a deleted ending involving Thor. For many years, this was considered a baseless rumor. Then, in 2023, a single frame showing Thor interacting with Spider-Man was unearthed on a vintage Activision website that allowed users to download the sequence. However, with no known copies in existence, it was classified as lost media, until September 22nd of the current year.
As reported by Gamesradar on Monday, the elusive Thor cutscene from Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, theorized to be the game’s initial finale, was uploaded to the internet by an Instagram user named BobbyFan85. The reason they possessed a copy of this highly sought-after sequence? They are, by their own admission, a digital archivist.
“I stumbled upon an article claiming that this Spider-Man: Enter Electro video was considered lost media earlier today,” BobbyFan85 posted. “I knew I had it stashed away on one of my older hard drives, and lo and behold, I found it! The file indicates I downloaded it on October 16, 2001. I’m glad I never delete anything!”
The cutscene, which has since been preserved on platforms like the Internet Archive and YouTube, confirms that after Spider-Man defeats Electro atop the Twin Towers, Thor makes a guest appearance, greets Spider-Man, and then neutralizes Electro’s powerful device. Here’s the sequence:
While the scene might appear unconventional, it’s intended as a nod to the original Spider-Man game, where Captain America receives all the credit for saving the day. This same joke is replicated in the final version of Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro, but this time Thor gets the recognition. It’s plausible that this cutscene was either intended to elaborate on the joke or was simply a humorous addition created by the developers for promotional purposes, which explains its prior availability on an old Activision website.
Regardless, this particular gaming mystery has been solved. Now, can anyone provide insight into why my copy of Spider-Man on the PS1 was advertised as supporting “Two Players” when it was, in reality, a single-player experience? This caused considerable frustration for my parents, my brother, and myself. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated!