After years of discourse, arguing, and petitions for the old face to make a comeback, Spider-Man fans finally seem to be warming up to Peter Parker's new face model.
Yesterday, Insomniac Games hosted a panel at San Diego Comic-Con where it gave us a bunch of new details about the upcoming sequel, including detailing how long it's been since the last game, who some of the central villains are, and confirming that a limited edition PS5 is on the way. The highlight of the panel, however, was a new story trailer that gave us our best look yet at what the adventure is going to be all about.
This included giving us a look at the new designs for MJ, Miles, and Peter, with all three looking different since the last time we saw them. Although Miles and MJ have seen some more dramatic changes thanks to their new haircuts, Pete also looks different compared to the past two games, and it might even be enough to have ended the long-standing drama over Peter Parker's new face model.
For those who somehow don't remember (or have possibly blocked all the trauma out), Insomniac Games changed the face model for Peter Parker from John Bubniak to Ben Jordan after the release of the original game, citing that it was to "get a better match to Peter Parker/Spider-Man actor Yuri Lowenthal's facial capture". Despite this, Jordan's younger look had a lot of fans very upset with the change, claiming that it was just to make him look more like Tom Holland, leading many to protest the change and even mod Bubniak's face back into the game.
That vitriol towards Peter's new face has continued ever since it was first announced and it's been something that everyone's been waiting to see in marketing for Spider-Man 2. We finally got our wish last night with the story trailer and, surprisingly, it seems to have changed a lot of people's minds.
Ever since the trailer was first shown off, one of the things that everyone's been talking the most about is Peter's new design, which is similar to how he was in Miles Morales, but with a new haircut, a much bigger neck, and a bit of age added to his face. So far, it seems like most fans like the changes, with one popular Twitter post from user GermanStrands asking everyone if the new look is a "W or an L" and the majority of comments agree that it's a win.
That seems to be the general consensus outside of Twitter too, as the Spider-Man subreddit is full of posts claiming that the new look is a "glow-up" for all of the characters involved and that Peter especially no longer looks like he's younger than Miles is.