Updated textures aren’t unusual for a video game remaster, but Insomniac Games may have taken things a bit too far. In a blog post detailing the improvements (e.g., ray-traced reflections) in Spider-Man Remastered, community director James Stevenson revealed that Peter Parker has been given a completely different face.
“In order to bring the best performances to players with our next-generation Marvel’s Spider-Man games, we have recast the face of Peter Parker,” Stevenson said.
“We loved working with John Bubniak on the original game; however, to get a better match to Peter Parker/Spider-Man actor Yuri Lowenthal’s facial capture, we have cast Ben Jordan to be the face model for Peter Parker on the PS5 console. He looks incredible in-game, and Yuri’s moving performances take on a new life.”
This is going to be jarring for Spider-Man veterans who already have the original actor’s face burned into their memory. Many fans have already voiced their disapproval, alleging that Insomniac has created a poor man’s version of Tom Holland (the actor who plays the web slinger in Marvel’s live-action features).
You can check out a scene of the newer, younger-looking Parker below. We’ve also included a tweet of how the face compares with the original – it’s a huge difference.
Insomniac is changing the face of Peter Parker for the PS5 remaster of Spider-man. 2020 just keeps getting worse. pic.twitter.com/3adipWuGq9
— 𝕯𝖗. 𝓦𝖔𝖑𝖋𝖚𝖑𝖆 🎃 (@DoctorWolfula) September 30, 2020