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How to beat Mister Negative in Spider-Man 2

Help Miles bring down Martin Li.

spider-man 2 Mister Negative is towering over a downed Miles Morales.
Image credit: Eurogamer/Insomniac Games.

Beating Mister Negative in Spider-Man 2 is a fight that you knew was coming but yet you still feel slightly unprepared for when it arrives, especially in the state that Miles is in as soon as he sees Martin Li again.

In Marvel's Spider-Man 2 it's made clear that Mister Negative has really put Miles through a lot of pain and that our young Spider-Man feels a lot of anger towards him, which ultimately makes you want to win this fight more for him. Which is why we've given you some extra tips and strategy ideas for beating him!

Without further ado, we're here to show you how to beat Mister Negative in Spider-Man 2.

On this page:

Tips for fighting Mister Negative in Spider-Man 2

You're quite literally thrown into the arena to fight Mister Negative, but we have few tips that can help you feel less overwhelmed by this fight:

  • Web, Web, Web - Martin Li's attacks can be very fast and you can easily get overwhelmed, but you can tangle him up by using your Web-Shooters. He will remain tangled in a web for a short amount of time, but it's usually just long enough for you to Web-Strike him or back away to heal.
  • Use Your Gadgets - Mister Negative's attacks are fast and can easily catch you off guard if you try to stop for a moment, so this is where using a few gadgets can buy you some time. We especially recommend using them when you need to have a moment to heal.
  • Use Reverse Flux - All of Miles' abilities damage Li, but it seems that Reverse Flux damages him that bit more than the others and the after effect of it gives you a small window to attack Li.
  • Keep Moving - If you stand still for too long, there's a good chance that Li will dash over and close in on you to deliver several brutal hits in a row. If you keep moving around the arena you give yourself a better chance at being able to dodge incoming attacks.
  • Alter Difficulty - If you're finding that this fight is too tricky, or is stressing you out, then there's no harm in entering the 'Gameplay' part of the settings menu to adjust the difficulty level.
spider-man 2 miles using reverse flux on martin li
Image credit: Eurogamer/Insomniac Games.

How to beat Mister Negative in Spider-Man 2

The fight with Mister Negative takes place in three individual parts. We've broken down our guide on how to beat Mister Negative in Spider-Man 2 into these three phases, taking you through each one step by step.

If there's a specific phase you're stuck on, feel free to use the links below to skip ahead to the right section:

Phase One

The first phase of your fight with Mister Negative will help you to get used to some of his basic attacks and how he moves around the space while trying to get to you.

We've listed all of the first set of attacks below and how to avoid them:

  • Low Sweep - Li will lower his sword towards the ground and pull it back beside his knee. This is the indicator that he's about to unleash a sweeping ground attack that sends a wave out in front of him. To avoid this, press X to jump above it.
  • Dash Attack - For this attack, Li will pull his sword up beside him and briefly pauses to charge up before dashing forward to attack you. When Li is prepping for this attack your Spidey-Sense will appear and to avoid the attack you can dodge or parry when your senses turn red.
  • Lightning Strike - Li will lift his sword above his head, bring it down and slam it into the floor to send out a very accurate lightning strike in your direction. These cannot be parried, so dodge out of the way to avoid it.
  • Projectile Attack - For this attack, Li will hold his empty hand up and start to fire projectiles at you. You can dodge these but this attack in particular leaves Li vulnerable for a few seconds for you to attack him instead.
spider-man 2 miles using chain lightning on martin li
Image credit: Eurogamer/Insomniac Games

To beat Mister Negative in phase one of this fight, you need to stay alive long enough to repeatedly attack him and get his health bar down to zero.

Li will use the attacks we've listed above to attack you, so once you dodge or parry them you can turn the tables and get a few hits on him. We found that using Miles' Venom Jump and Chain Lightning abilities really hurt Li. Also, if you use your Web-Shooters to tangle Li up you can get in a Web-Strike before he breaks free.

Once you get his health bar down to zero, it's time for phase two.

Phase Two

Li has a few new attacks to watch out for in this phase. We've listed them and how to avoid/counter them below:

  • Negative Energy Dome - Li will cover himself in a dome and this will block Miles' powers for a brief period of time. Dodge any incoming attacks until you can use your Thunder Burst ability. This will break through the dome and shatter it, leaving Li vulnerable for a follow up attack.
  • Tornado Sweep - For this attack, Li will send out a set of Tornados in several directions around him. There are small gaps between each one that you can dodge into when the Tornados are heading towards you to avoid getting hit by them.
spider-man 2 miles facing mister negative's negative dome energy
Image credit: Eurogamer/Insomniac Games.

Alongside these two new attacks Li will reuse the same ones from the first phase, only that they're a lot faster this time around.

As you did before, counter and dodge these attacks until the best moment appears for you to attack Li. Rinse and repeat this until you chip away at his health bar until it reaches zero.

Phase Three

Surprisingly, this phase is quite straightforward. In this phase, Li will throw everything at you from every attack he has used so far - which means you know exactly how to counter or avoid everything he's throwing your way.

For this phase, all you have to do is survive long enough to bring his health bar down to zero again. However, once you do this, the fight is far from over...

spider-man 2 miles facing off with mister negative
Image credit: Eurogamer/Insomniac Games.

Catch the Demon

Unfortunately you are now in a world where Mister Negative holds a lot of power, and the first thing you need to do is catch the demon in front of you.

Try to avoid falling into the water beneath you as you zip from platform to platform, but don't worry if you do as you can recover yourself quickly. You can also swing from building to building, but remember to keep moving or you'll lose your momentum.

The demon will throw the ground sweep attack and lightning attack at you as you chase them, but all you have to do to avoid them is dodge with circle when your Spidey-Sense appears.

spider-man 2 miles facing negative dimension demon
Image credit: Eurogamer/Insomniac Games.

Confront Your Inner Demons

Once you catch the demon, it's now time to confront your own ones. This section is all about fighting and continuing to fight despite everything being aimed at you (or said to you).

We recommend fighting them in the same way you've fought the groups of Hunters that you've encountered so far. Remember that Venom Jump and Reverse Flux abilities can help you damage several enemies at once.

spider-man 2 miles facing negative spider-man
Image credit: Eurogamer/Insomniac Games.

There are several waves of inner demons to fight off, but once you've beaten them all you will have won the fight against Mister Negative!

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