Fans have been piecing together Spider-Man 2 footage to try and form a chronological narrative, and one of the leading theories is that Peter Parker will ditch the symbiote suit during the story and, feeling its loss, create the Iron Spider. However, a new Hot Toy seems to confirm it doesn't come about because he loses the symbiote, as he wears both the symbiote and the Iron Spider legs at the same time.
The legs seen in the Hot Toy are the same silver coloured metallic ones from the footage and screenshots Insomniac has shared. Only, they have black gooey tendrils wrapping around them, extending from Peter's costume. It's possible that he gets the arms after the symbiote, gets the symbiote again, and combines his powers for the finale. It's possible Hot Toys used old concept art. And it's possible that Peter will simply be a power house.
What we do know is that the metal arms don't look like a replacement for when he inevitably loses the Venom symbiote. How they actually come about isn't clear, but given that he spent most of his work life in the first game helping Otto Octavius with prosthetics, leading to the iconic Doctor Octopus arms, it's possible that he continued their work to upgrade his arsenal.
Already, the symbiote Iron Spider is a hit with fans, as the Hot Toy photographs were shared to the Spider-Man PS4 subreddit to resounding approval. "Whoever's idea it was to allow us to combine the symbiote and the iron arms needs a raise NOW," Brodineee said.
"I really hope it puts to rest that the iron arms are a 'replacement' for the symbiote," meme_abstinent said. "The point of the symbiote is that really nothing can replace its convenience and raw power."
"Is this MF using the arms with the black suit on????" grimberry9 asked. "That is just overkill lmao."
Not only does the Hot Toy confirm that the Iron Spider and symbiote can be merged, but it seemingly confirms that you can toggle the symbiote on the fly. The statue has a head where the symbiote is retreating, revealing the normal red Spider-Man mask underneath.
It could be Hot Toy taking liberty for effect, so take it with a grain of salt, but it appears as though we won't have to stay in the black suit if we don't want to. This would let us use all kinds of different costumes and still have the symbiote on top, so it adds up. Either way, Peter Parker is going to be incredibly powerful in Spider-Man 2, so it'll be interesting to see how Insomniac balances his gameplay with his symbiote-less self and Miles Morales.