Spider-Man (Insomniac Games)

Spider-Man (Peter Parker) is a superhero character created by Insomniac Games originally for the 2018 video game Spider-Man. Based on the original character of the same name created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the character was created with contributions from various writers including Jon Parquette, Benjamin Arfmann, Kelsey Beachum, Christos Gage and Dan Slott and is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. He has two signature suits, one of which is called the advanced suit and the other is the velocity suit designed by Adi Granov.

Spider-Man (Peter Parker)
Spider-Man character
Insomniac's Spider-Man as he appears in Marvel's Spider-Man
First appearanceMarvel's Spider-Man (2018)
Last appearanceSpider-Man: The City that Never Sleeps (2018)
Created by
Based onSpider-Man
Adapted by
Voiced byYuri Lowenthal
In-universe information
Full namePeter Parker
NicknameSpidey
SpeciesHuman
Occupation
WeaponWeb shooters
Significant otherMary Jane Watson
Relatives
OriginNew York City
NationalityAmerican

Insomniac's Spider-Man is depicted as a more mature and experienced version of the character, who has battled various super-villains in his eight-year career as the city's protector while still struggling to balance his superhero alter-ego with his life as Peter Parker.

The character was later established in Marvel Comics continuity as an alternate version of Spider-Man within the multiverse of the shared universe in an alternate reality called "Earth-1048" otherwise known as the Marvel Gamerverse. He has received a book adaptation along with spinoff comic book series starring the new take of the superhero. Insomniac's take on the superhero has received a widely positive reception critically for their work on the older and more mature role in comparison to other adaptions of the character, with some even considering him the definitive version of the character. The character was marketed around early 2018 during the hype of the superhero video game release in the PlayStation 4 and his design has gone through various merchandise.

Development

Creation
Yuri Lowenthal (right) does the voice of the character
Adi Granov helped design one of the character’s new suits known as the velocity suit

Several characters from Marvel Comics were considered to have their own game developed by Insomniac Games but the team's final choice was to adapt Spider-Man in his own video game. This was due to him and his true identity Peter Parker being more relatable to the staff than other Marvel characters such as Thor and Iron Man, a sentiment that Insomniac CEO Ted Price shared.[1][2] Spider-Man then became the first licensed property by Insomniac in 22 years.[3]

Intihar collaborated with a team of writers under lead writer Jon Paquette to create an original take on Spider-Man that remained true to the original.[2] Paquette is cited to commonly subscribed to Spider-Man (The Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man) and also Thor comic books at the "boonies" at a younger age before his time attending film school.[4] Alongside Paquette, the story was written by Ben Arfman and Kelsey Beachum. Comic book and screenwriter Christos Gage co-wrote the script, and comic book writer Dan Slott provided additional story contributions.[5][6] Insomniac researched different iterations of the character to understand what made a compelling Spider-Man story, after which Paquette said "okay let's forget all that stuff", aiming to not draw too much from any single version. One lesson the team took from the research was that whenever Spider-Man wins, Peter Parker loses, and vice versa. Intihar said that from conception, the game was designed to be as much Parker's story as Spider-Man's.[2] The team deliberately avoided retelling Spider-Man's origin, reasoning that everyone knows Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider.[5]

Yuri Lowenthal provides the voice of Spider-Man / Peter Parker, but there was some initial reluctance to cast him as he had previously voiced a characteristically-different lead character in Sunset Overdrive and it was thought that he was not capable of providing a drastically different performance.[7] Paquette trusted his acting ability however, and convinced the studio to cast him.[8] Working with voice director Kris Zimmerman, Lowenthal tried to differentiate his voices for Parker in his civilian life where he is more gentle, and as Spider-Man, where he is more confident. As a result, he spent a large amount of time working on his performance to achieve a balance. Lowenthal worked with two stunt people throughout the game's development.[9][8]

Design
"When you see our Spider-Man suit it's instantly recognisable as Spider-Man. When you see the red and blue, the iconic eyes, the overall shape and form, there’s no mistaking that as Spider-Man. But… seeing that giant white spider on the red and blue suit, you know that’s different, that’s from a different universe. That's Insomniac's Spider-Man".

Bryan Intihar, [10]

Insomniac wanted to modernize the design of Spider-Man's costume while paying homage to the original design by Steve Ditko. The new advanced costume design retains the traditional red-and-blue color scheme, a large white spider symbol stretching across the torso, gauntlet-like gloves, and sneaker-style design based on athletic wear instead of knee-high boots.[11] Art director Jacinda Chew said the design goal was to create what a "23-year-old, would-be superhero" would wear in 2018 New York City. Chew compared the outfit to compression wear, and said each color represented different materials. Blue is the most flexible, red is thicker for added protection from minor injury, and white offers the most protection, as it covers his chest, hands, and feet.[11][12]

The velocity suit is another original suit and was designed by comic book artist Adi Granov.[13][14] The suit is depicted with a glowing red-and-grey design and features metallic paneling.[15][16]

Summary

Peter Parker was a bright, intelligent and sincere, yet shy, outcasted and withdrawn 15-year-old high school student,[5][17] who gained spider-like superhuman abilities after being bitten by a genetically-modified spider during a field trip. Employing a secret identity, Parker uses these abilities to protect the citizens of New York City as the superhero Spider-Man, in order to atone for his paternal uncle/foster father: Ben Parker's murder at the hands of a robber, something for which he was partially responsible and which constantly haunts him, after initially attempting to use his abilities for personal gain.[18] Eight years into his superhero career, the now 23-year-old Parker has become an experienced and masterful crime-fighter who comes into conflict with various supervillains.[19][20][21] He is employed as a research lab assistant under his friend and mentor Dr. Otto Octavius, but still struggles to balance his superhero alter-ego and personal life. He is aided in his fight by intrepid Daily Bugle reporter Mary Jane Watson, his former high school classmate and ex-girlfriend,[5] and NYPD Captain Yuri Watanabe. In his civilian life, Parker is supported by his Aunt May.[17][5][22] Spider-Man's adventure brings him into contact with other characters, including an Afro-Puerto-Rican-American teenager: Miles Morales [5] and his parents, NYPD Officer Jefferson Davis and Rio Morales, OsCorp CEO and New York mayor Norman Osborn[23] and Silver Sablinova, leader of the private military company Sable International.[5]

Appearances
Insomniac's Spider-Man as depicted in the comic book cover of Spider-Geddon #0 (September 2018). Art by Clayton Crain

The character was developed primarily for the 2018 Spider-Man video game and later appeared in its DLC pack, Spider-Man: The City that Never Sleeps, both for the PlayStation 4.[1][15] An official prequel book titled Spider-Man: Hostile Takeover was released on August 21, 2018, predating the video game.[24] It details Spider-Man's fight with the book's version of Blood Spider and depicts the rivalry between Parker and the Kingpin before the events of the game.[25][26]

The character then appears in the 2018 Spider-Geddon comic book storyline written by Christos Gage, a sequel to 2014's Spider-Verse, which brings together different variations of Spider-Man themed superheroes from the multiverse within Marvel Comics battling the Inheritors. It was first released on September 26, 2018. The comic book designated the character's universe as Earth-1048 otherwise known as the Marvel Gamerverse. The story of Spider-Geddon takes place after the events of the game, and also introduces the universe's version of Tarantula. Insomniac artists provided variant comic book covers for the series.[27][28] Gage felt that "it seemed like a perfect time" to bring the character into mainstream comic books.[29]

A six-issue comic book, titled Spider-Man: City at War, was released in March 2019. It follows the events of the game while introducing some new events. The series is published by Marvel, written by Dennis Hopeless, with art by Michelle Bandini, and variant cover arts by Clayton Crain, David Nakayama, Gerardo Sandoval and Adi Granov.[30][31][32] A second miniseries, Spider-Man: Velocity, was released in August 2019. Also written by Hopeless, with art by Emilio Laiso, the miniseries takes place after the events of the game, detailing Spider-Man's encounter with the supervillain Swarm, and Mary Jane's work with reporter Ben Urich.[33] A third miniseries, Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes, was released in 2020. Written by Hopeless with art by Luca Maresca, the miniseries adapts the events of the downloadable content The City That Never Sleeps while elaborating upon Spider-Man and Black Cat's relationship.[34]

While the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse does not feature an explicit appearance from this iteration of Spider-Man, the Advanced Suit from the game makes multiple background appearances throughout the film and is featured more prominently during the end credits sequence.[35]

Reception

Insomniac Games' portrayal of Peter Parker was mostly well received.[36][37] Jonahan Dornbush of IGN praised the game's focus on Parker and highlighted Yuri Lowenthal for his "emotional honesty" that made it one of Dornbush's favorite portrayals of the character.[18] Dom Nero of Esquire praised the character as one of the best versions of Spider-Man he has seen. He enjoyed the way that Insomniac depicted Spider-Man's morality while still allowing him to "web-kick some ass". He also praised the way that it handled the transition into adulthood.[38] Noel Ransome of Vice found him identifiable for his difficulty in achieving "greatness", praising Insomniac for taking the risk of depicting a more mature Peter as well as the misfortune of the original Spider-Man.[39]

Josh Harmon of Electronic Gaming Monthly found the character's storytelling to be one of the most interesting things about the game. He praised the writers for their understanding of Spider-Man and heroes in general, which he felt was handled better than how other comic adaptations handle their protagonists.[40] Matt Goldberg of Collider felt that Insomniac did well with understanding Spider-Man's "ethos" and challenging it in unique ways.[41]

The character was named the fan-favorite video game character at the Gamers' Choice Awards in 2018.[42] Comic Book Resources regarded the advanced costume as one of Spider-Man's best alternate costumes.[43]

Merchandising and marketing
Creative director Brian Intihar in San Diego Comic Con in front of a PlayStation 4 Pro home video game console on display with Advanced suit design
Yuri Lowenthal revealing an action figure of Insomniac’s Spider-Man in Comic Con 2018

Artwork dedicated by famed comic book artist, Alex Ross, depicting the character was featured by Game Informer even before the game release.[44] The character was also spotlighted in a blockbuster style commercial in an 2018 NFL Draft Thursday night premiere of American Football by NBC.[45]

Around the release of the game, PlayStation 4 Pro bundles included official skins of the character's logo entitled "Amazing Red".[46]

Various merchandise of the character was sold before the game's release.[47] Diamond Select Toys is scheduled to release a 10-inch (250 mm) statue of Spider-Man while Sideshow Collectibles announced two 1/6 scale statues both based on the game. One of Spider-Man in the stealth suit and another of his Spider-Punk costume, including a guitar and spider-drone.[48][49] A velocity suit-wearing Spider-Man by Hot Toys was also announced by Sideshow Collectibles.[50] Hasbro released a Marvel Legends action figure of Spider-Man from the video game as a GameStop exclusive.[51] He was depicted as a Funko Pop figure of the character, which was also exclusive to GameStop.[52] Clothes such as hoodies and t-shirts of the character and the advanced costume have been made.[52][53]

See also

References
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Further reading

Davies, Paul; Kirby, Jack A.; Ditko, Steve (2018). Marvel's Spider-Man: The Art of the Game. Titan Publishing Group. ISBN 9781785657962.

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