Summary
- Insomniac Games denies changing Mary Jane's face in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, clarifying that she has the same face model and voice actress as in the previous games.
- Laura Bailey will be reprising her role as the voice of Mary Jane in the upcoming game, expanding the list of casting choices revealed so far.
- Insomniac confirms that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will feature a classic location from the series and reveals that Tony Todd was inspired by his role in Candyman when casting him as Venom.
A senior official at Insomniac Games has denied claims that the developer changed Mary Jane's face in Marvel's Spider-Man 2. The clarification arrived shortly after Sony announced a limited-edition Marvel's Spider-Man 2 PS5 bundle at the 2023 San Diego Comic-Con.
The latest edition of the famous comic book and entertainment convention also featured the reveal of a new story trailer for Insomniac's third-ever Spider-Man title. Apart from outlining the game's plot, the two-minute Marvel's Spider-Man 2 trailer reignited the Peter Parker redesign debate among the fandom. For context, Insomniac recast the protagonist's role for the PS5 remaster of Marvel's Spider-Man, with many fans being lukewarm about the younger-looking model.
The video also prompted some fan speculation that the developer changed Mary Jane "MJ" Watson's face in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, which the studio promptly denied. Insomniac Games Community Director James Stevenson dismissed that notion in response to three such fan claims on Twitter shortly after the story trailer went live, explaining that Mary Jane has the same face model and voice actress as in the previous two games. Any claims to the contrary should hence be chalked up to the developer's improved face-scanning tech and MJ's new haircut.
Stevenson's comments also offered direct confirmation that Laura Bailey will be reprising her role as the voice of Mary Jane in the upcoming game, thus expanding the list of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 casting choices that have been revealed so far. As for the character's appearance, it would seem that MJ will once again use the likeness of Stephanie Tyler Jones, a 29-year-old Kentucky-born actress and model.
Casting confusion aside, the 2023 San Diego Comic Con yielded plenty new details about Insomniac's upcoming game even beyond its brief plot outline; the developer used the convention as an opportunity to confirm that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will include a classic location from the series, in addition to revealing that the decision to cast Tony Todd as Venom was largely inspired by the actor's critically acclaimed role of Candyman in the eponymous series of supernatural horror-slasher films.
Prior to the ongoing comic book convention, Insomniac treated Marvel's Spider-Man 2 to a long-awaited gameplay reveal at the latest PlayStation Showcase. Among other things, the video shared at the May 24 event confirmed that the upcoming game will feature a character-switching mechanic similar to that of Grand Theft Auto 5, revealing that players will usually have the option of alternating between controlling Peter Parker and Miles Morales.
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 launches October 20 for PlayStation 5.