Insomniac Angers Fans with Spider-Man Remastered Changes

In a bewildering move, Insomniac Games has revealed a new Peter Parker model for the upcoming remastered version of Marvel’s Spider Man for the Playstation 5 launch. The original portrayal from John Bubniak has switched to Ben Jordan, as Insomniac’s Community Director James Stevenson outlined in a blog post on Wednesday. The reasoning? “To get a better match to Peter Parker/Spider-Man actor Yuri Lowenthal’s facial capture.”

This has come as an absolute shock in social media threads after it was widely-reported on Wednesday. One commenter noted: “The impression of an experienced spiderman disappeared,” which is relevant as this game’s version of Spider Man is far past the origin-story phase. Matt McMuscles tweeted: “If they were so concerned about a face performance not “matching” Yuri, then why didn’t you just “match” him in the first place? Facial capture has been around for a while now.” Yuri Lowenthal actually chimed in with some humor: “Guys. It’s my face’s fault. The stupid stupid bones in my face. Blame my bones.”

Also of note is that this new model of Peter looks alarmingly like the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s representative of the web-slinger, Tom Holland. It’s not exactly a one-to-one ratio, but it’s more than worth a double-take. To the game’s benefit, I’m sure Ben Jordan’s model will look stunning in 4K or with the “Performance Mode” targeting 60fps. It’s just a jarring change that fans of the original version of the title weren’t expecting.

Ultimately, this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for anyone. It was done with good intentions and should be considered an optimization as opposed to a detractor. With all of the other improvements coming to the game and its meager price tag, the 2018 Game of the Year for many should be a return to form, especially bundled with Miles Morales. Launch titles are vital, and you can expect it to sell like crazy once November 12th hits.