Marvel’s Spider-Man and Miles Morales both knocked the ball out of the park with their casts of villains, which, of course, has always been one of Spider-Man’s biggest strengths, so naturally, expectations are going to be high for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 to deliver strongly in that area as well. Thankfully, with the infamous Venom set to star as one of the game’s central antagonists, things are certainly looking promising right now.
Speaking recently with Entertainment Weekly, the developers of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 spoke about the legendary character, his portrayal in the game, and why Tony Todd was chosen to play the role. Specifically where the latter is concerned, creative director Bryan Intihar explained that the actor was able to “embrace” the most key elements you’d expect to see in a Venom performance.
“Everything we talked about [with] Venom — that sense of strength, that sense of fear, that sense of overwhelming, so different from Peter — Tony embraces that completely in the performance,” he said, before explaining that one of the reasons Venom was chosen as the main villain for the game was because Insomniac wanted a completely different antagonist from Doctor Octopus, the first game’s main villain.
“We wanted to try something very different, and I don’t think you can get much more different from Doc Ock than you do Venom,” he said. “It’s about power, it’s about strength, it’s about being slighted, it’s about Peter being involved much more in the creation of Venom. I think that’s what attracted us.”
“For us, Venom is the host plus the symbiote,” he added. “You don’t get Venom without both of them being bonded together. What Tony represents is that bond. I think, if anything, casting Tony made us feel more confident in the visual design of the character.”
Senior art director Jacinda Chew also spoke about Venom’s characterization in the game, and how Insomniac balanced him being a terrifying foe against him also being a relatable character. “One of the challenges we had throughout production was, how much does [Venom] talk?” she said. “I remember we did some concepts early on [of] does Venom have lips? Does he laugh? Does he smile? Does he frown? It’s a fine line between making this creature scary and intimidating, but then also, I guess, relatable.”
Meanwhile, senior narrative director Jon Paquette touched on the darker elements of the story, and “what happens when that darkness takes over.”
“It’s the loved ones and the family around the host who has to see what’s happening to the person that they love,” he said, referring to Peter Parker now having the symbiote suit. “There’s a lot of juicy drama that we can get from that.”
A new gameplay screenshot showing Venom in the game has also been released. Check it out below. More details on the game will arrive later today, courtesy of its panel at San Diego Comic-Con.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 launches on October 20 for PS5.
