Well, here is the thing. Insomniac‘s Spider-Man 2 is around for several platforms and has already been released for some time now. And yet, the gamers keep looking for every extra pixel of the game. While navigating Peter’s contacts, another player by the name of NikTekOfficial discovered something he called a little wild.
Yeah, I mean, quite literally, Peter has MJ’s old face model from the first game, still stored as a contact on his phone. That means old-time MJ that we all loved before they went and changed her face for the PS5 remaster and Spider-Man 2. Right there, easy to spot on his phone. Well, the internet just went berserk over this minute detail.
Could this be a hilarious oversight or a deliberate Easter Egg? The way this has taken to a heated debate over the whole face-change row? Now, it’s pouring fuel to fire.
For those who remember: Insomniac decided to change Peter Parker’s and MJ’s face from original PS4 Photoshop Renderings to the PS5 remaster in late production. To suit voice actor performances or something else?? Well, it didn’t quite go down well with the majority of players. People really connected with the original MJ; she had a look that was unique, and the new one, well…let’s just say, very mixed reactions. And by very mixed, I mean that a good chunk of the population hated it.
Now this? Peter’s got his girlfriend’s old aura just there in full view for anyone who to wants relive the nostalgia or squirm. Depending on how you look at it, either very nostalgic or very uncomfortable.
The replies to that tweet were exactly what one would expect; Chao is well served. One says, “Even in-game Peter prefers the OG Mary Jane instead of the sweet baby Inc one,” a pretty savage burn. “Shows that the wokies saw her face and made sure to change it late in production,” is another response, and that is…a take for sure.
But then, not everyone is buying the conspiracy theories. A few responses went with, “It’s literally the same person in both games” and “It’s the same model. She looks different due to medical reasons,” which is a pretty hilarious headcanon. Like, is she going through plastic surgery in the Spider-Man universe? Did Doc Ock come and meddle with her face in one of his schemes? Well, we might never know.
The classic then: “Can Insomniac go 1 game JUST 1 Without doing a unnecessary face change that nobody wants?” which actually really sums up the frustrations of a bunch of the long-term fans, really, this entire issue, not just MJ. They altered Peter’s face, also, and are still not over it.
It is interesting how such a minuscule detail blew into fame while airing views on character design choices in sequels and remasters. Like, when you change the looks of a character players have spent dozens of hours with, it creates this weird disconnect. It’s not just a visual thing; it influences how people relate to those characters they grew to love.
Of course, Insomniac is not the only developer facing this kind of backlash. Do you remember when they changed Aloy’s face in Horizon Forbidden West? Or when Lara Croft got the overhaul? Gamers get attached to these digital faces, man. Weird but true.
Stuff raises questions about how much developers could and should change established characters when a new game comes out… Like if it ain’t broken, why fix it? But then again, technology subjects improvement, motion capture gets better, and sometimes, the original models just don’t hold up well. Keeping a balance between staying true to its original vision and taking advantage of new tech is tough.
What’s hilarious here is this might not be intentional. They could have just used the old asset for the contact photo and then simply forgot to update it. Game development is just messy like that, anyway- there are small things that slip through the cracks. Yet in this case, a whole lot of heads are been turned about it.
Some people went on with hilarious answers. “He’s wondering how he ended up with this new, beat red head” made me laugh. “I still can’t understand why he don’t break up with her after the minutes long humiliation of him at the scream fight” – somebody’s really into this fictitious relationship drama.
Well, at the very bottom, we are talking about an in-game character’s face. But it’s also not quite that? It’s about consistency and respect for the original design that P1ayers had fallen in love with. It’s about not fixing what wasn’t broken. And it’s about Peter Parker apparently being sentimental enough to keep old pics of his girlfriend in his phone alongside his new girlfriend.
A perfect situation for gaming community drama- watching the nicest little details explode into massive conversations. That’s what makes following game releases so much fun even months after launch. You just never know where players take discoveries next.
Whether intentional referencing of the old design or developer oversight is really the buzz that Spider-Man 2 is generating once again. And maybe in this era of live service games and constant updates, Insomniac may just find a way to acknowledge it. Or maybe allow Peter to continue cherishing that contact photo with loads of nostalgia while the players speculate away.
Whichever way you look at it, that’s one more act in the long concert of character redesigns in sequels. And that is just to say that players notice everything-Uh-everything. Hence, the developers have to be extra cautious about the little details because the internet will find them and start churning out opinions on them. So many opinions.
