Spider-Man 2 team confirms…’Does Venom have lips?’
A new evil is 'slithering' into our lives, as we prepare to be gripped in the tendrils of Venom for Marvel's Spider-Man 2. The much-hyped sequel to Insomniac's Spider-Man from 2018 is nearly here, and alongside The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Starfield, it's already an early contender for Game of the Year.
For those who stuck around for the post-credit stingers of Spider-Man and 2020's Miles Morales, you'll know Venom being the big bad of Spider-Man 2 shouldn't be that surprising. Still, how the sinister symbiote weaves its way into the story is less clear.
What makes Spider-Man 2's Venom different?
Click to enlargeThe first gameplay trailers showed how Peter Parker will be infected by the symbiote at some point, while artwork shows Web-Head and Miles Morales battling the murderous alien - proving someone else gets the black goop on them at some point.
While Insomniac isn't ready to give away any major story beats just yet, the team have given us an in-depth dive into what makes this version of Venom different. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Senior Creative Director Bryan Intihar gushed about the legendary Tony Todd stepping into the shoes of Venom.
"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," says Intihar. There was also an exclusive new look at Venom ahead of the game's showcase at San Diego Comic-Con 2023.
Venom has always been the antithesis of Spider-Man, and this was something Spider-Man 2 wanted to hammer home while upping things from the first game. "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," explained Intihar.
Does Venom have lips?
Click to enlargeAs for Todd's promises of a 'darker' sequel, Senior Narrative Director Jon Paquette said Spider-Man 2 is about "what happens when that darkness takes over," saying it's not only Peter Parker affected by the Venom symbiote.
"It's the loved ones and the family around the host who has to see what's happening to the person that they love…There's a lot of juicy drama that we can get from that." The look of Venom has been famously divisive, with some claiming he looked slimy in the gameplay trailer.
Nothing has been left to chance, with Director Jacinda Chew reiterating, "One of the challenges we had throughout production was, how much does [Venom] talk? "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." Considering Venom is an iconic Spider-Man villain, there's a lot riding on Spider-Man 2 to make his appearance. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 dropped the ball with Topher Grace's Venom, but he's had something of a redemption under Tom Hardy's tenure.
