Video games are constantly going through post publish updates. Developers work long after a game has been released to patch bugs, optimize loading times, and remove unwanted features, but rarely do these updates change a major portion of a game. Completely blowing by the subtle adjustments of their competitors, Sony Interactive’s Insomniac Games, the developers behind the Spider-Man video game series, have found themselves in hot (maybe lukewarm) water after fully changing Peter Parker’s face. Fans might not be entirely onboard with the new baby-faced webslinger, but Sony stands by the facelift.
Why did Peter’s face change in the Spider-Man PS5 port?
The decision to change Peter’s face came with the games remaster for PlayStation 5. Originally developed for PlayStation 4, the game was salted for a PS5 rerelease just before Spider-Man: Miles Morales dropped in 2020. The jump in tech required no small amount of optimization to ensure that the game could stack up visually against its predecessor – something that competitor Rockstar could learn from for its upcoming Red Dead Redemption “remaster” after their horrific Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – Definitive Edition rollout.
The jump in graphical abilities revealed a gap in performance, specifically where Peter Parker voice actor Yuri Lowenthal’s emotes were concerned. Peter’s original facial model was based on John Bubniak (American Horror Story), a little-known actor who captured fan adoration with his sincere expressions. While he and Yuri Lowenthal’s facial structure match fairly well, the advancements in technology left discrepancies between Lowenthal’s expressions and the model’s ability to match. In a blog post, Sony addressed the changes and introduced the fresh-faced new model, Ben Jordan, saying that his addition allows for Lowenthal’s performance to, “take on new life.”
It’s hard to deny, even for a Bubniak-stan like myself, the micro-expressions in the remaster make a world of a difference. Lowenthal is a veteran of the voice acting community, and has more than 20 years in the industry, appearing in everything from Naruto and Ben Ten to Hellsing and The Bad Batch. The depth of his vocal expression is what makes the Spider-Man game so impacting – I don’t even want to talk about that scene with Aunt May – and the new model allows for some genuine facial expressions during those moments. While the big emotional beats play out roughly the same, it’s the little moments that really make this change seem worthwhile.
Why are fans mad about Peter Parker’s new face?
Despite the more nuanced expressions, Sony is still facing some backlash from fans. Many players felt that the original design was an amalgamation of the many live-action Spider-Man incarnations, and that Bubniak’s face looked more appropriate for a perpetually exhausted mid-twenty-something. When compared to the much younger Miles Morales, fans felt the problem was even worse. More than one Reddit thread was dedicated to ripping the design apart, most comments centered on how much younger Peter appears than Miles. Others accused Sony of trying to cash in on a model that looked more like Tom Holland.
Most fans, however, seemed more displeased to see the old face go, simply because they had grown accustomed to the original. It might be a little jarring to see a brand-new face swinging around New York for those who haven’t picked up the remastered version, but only time will tell whether Sony’s face swap truly improves the experience, once players get their hands on the game.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 swings onto console October 20, 2023.
