By Defne Sastim
With the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike, some fans may have been expecting a silent Hall H this year. And while Marvel and DC may not be using the iconic Hall H stage to tease upcoming movies, there was certainly a typical Hall H-level crowd for the Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 panel on Thursday.
Insomniac Games’s creative director Bryan Intihar, senior art director Jacinda Chew, narrative director Jon Paquette, game director Ryan Smith, and Marvel Games’s creative director Bill Rosemann were joined on the panel by the actors Yuri Lowenthal (Peter Parker), Nadji Jeter (Miles Morales), Laura Bailey (MJ Watson), and Tony Todd (Venom).
With them, they brought an explosive new story trailer:
One of the first shots of the trailer is of the Brooklyn Bridge, teasing one of the big changes in the new game. The map of New York will expand in Spider-Man 2 as Peter and Miles make their way across the East River into Brooklyn and Queens. The creators shared concept art of Aunt May’s house, which will be one of the iconic places to see in the expanded map. Another exciting addition to the game will be one of the ways you’ll be able to cross the East River- using the new traversal mechanic, the web wings.
As the world gets bigger for Peter and Miles, the cast is expanding as well. The story trailer showed Harry Osborn and the return of Mary Jane. On the villains roster we have Venom (of course) as well as Kraven, Mr. Negative, and Norman Osborn. From previous trailers we know Lizard is also going to be a villain in this game as well. Miles and Peter are certainly going to have their hands- and webs- full of foes.
With Peter tangling with Venom, Miles confronting his father’s killer, and Mary Jane going up against J Jonah Jameson, the characters will be going through seismic changes in the next game. As Jon Paquette said, “We all have a darkness”- looks like this may be alluding to each main character’s story arc this time around.
For Peter, it looks like that darkness will be in the form of Venom, the iconic alien symbiote. Tony Todd teased his Venom voice for the crowd on Thursday with a sinister “We… are… Venom!” and in that moment it was clear that this was going to be one of the most memorable adaptations of a long-time Spidey villain.
It’s not a Marvel party without an after credits surprise- Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 team debuted a gorgeous new Spider-Man & Venom themed limited edition console and Dualsense wireless controller to thunderous applause.
The console is mostly all black, with the venomous tendrils encroaching on a bright spot of red with the Spider-man logo. The controller is almost the same, this time, the logo is in the black and the tendrils are closing in on a small patch of remaining red. As Jacinda Chew teased, “Who’s really going to win?”. While we may not find out the answer before October 20th, the preorders for the amazing new bundle go live next Friday, July 28th. And, as an extra bonus, if you already own the PS5- fear not! The Spider-man/Venom edition will be available in a separate cover and Dualsense controller.
The final reveal of the day was Mondo’s vinyl production of the Spider-Man 2 original soundtrack by John Paesano. The vinyl will feature exclusive art by Kris Anka, and is available for preorder now.
Miss any of our earlier SDCC ’23 coverage? Find it all here!
