Spider-Man PS4 Images Highlight Reinvented Shocker

Screen Rant

By Tom Chapman

Published Apr 18, 2018

New images from Insomniac's Spider-Man show a redesigned version of the villain Shocker for his role in the upcoming video game.

Fans of Insomniac's Spider-Man are in for a treat as some brand new images highlight the big villains of the upcoming PlayStation 4 exclusive and a whole new look for Shocker.

Since its announcement back in 2016, the hype surrounding an open-world Spider-Man game has had everyone swinging from the rooftops in anticipation. While Spider-Man is still months away from its September 7 release, details about what to expect are coming thick and fast. As well as a cryptic tease of Mary Jane Watson's role, an original prequel novel, and the impressive Collector's Edition of the game, there is now a better look at who Peter Parker will be facing in his biggest game yet.

With a hands-on look at the game, The Telegraph has some exclusive images from the game, with an interesting focus on villains like Kingpin, Mr. Negative, and Shocker. All may be "classic" Spider-Man foes, but with Insomniac pushing the game into new territory, it promises to give each character a modern interpretation away from their comic book roots. In particular, Shocker has had something of a redesign.

Discussing the new look for Herman Schultz's villainous alter ego, Insomniac Art Director Jacinda Chew explaining such a drastic change so soon after Bokeem Woodbine and Logan Marshall-Green's appearances in Spider-Man: Homecoming:

"In the comic books he wears a red unitard onesie with a deep v-neck which even if we’d tried to translate one-to-one in the game wouldn’t have worked. We tried to make it more functional, which is why we armoured him up. We kept the yellow and the red and that quilted fabric, but we wanted to modernise it.”

The comparisons have already been pulled between Insomniac's game and Rocksteady's Arkham series, but note how the new version of Shocker looks a lot like the reinvented version of Firefly that appeared in Arkham Knight. Either way, it is refreshing to see that Spider-Man isn't just relying on tired stereotypes and character designs. Elsewhere, Aunt May works for Mr. Negative at Martin Li's FEAST Shelters and Norman Osborn is running a campaign for his re-election as Mayor of New York City.

With Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin, only serving as the de facto villain at the start of the game, Mr. Negative is due to take over as the next big bad. It remains to be seen how much of a part Shocker will play or if he will just be downgraded to a henchman role like Homecoming; however, with some 51 years of Shocker history, Insomniac had plenty to work with when creating its Shocker. Schultz is regarded as one of the more laughable Spidey villains out there, but let's wait and see if Shocker can "shock" his critics when Insomniac's Spider-Man comes to the PlayStation 4 on September 7.