Yuri Lowenthal, the leading voice actor for Marvel’s Spider-Man and Spider-Man: Miles Morales, recently shed some further light on his character’s controversial redesign and the initial fan reactions to it. Insomniac made waves last year when it was revealed that it was retooling Peter Parker’s face to more closely resemble Lowenthal in both the PlayStation 5 remaster of the original game and its subsequent spin-off – with Lowenthal himself playfully admitting that “the stupid bones in his face” were the reason for the change.
Plenty of fans were less than thrilled when this updated face was first unveiled late last summer. Some felt that Peter’s more youthful appearance took away from the emotional gravitas at the heart of Marvel’s Spider-Man, while others accused Insomniac of piggybacking off of the successful Marvel Cinematic Universe by modeling their Spidey after Peter Parker actor Tom Holland. Things escalated to the point where trolls began sending both Insomniac and face model Ben Jordan nasty messages demanding that Peter’s face be changed back to its PS4 design, but thankfully most of the hate died down once players got to see the updated Peter in action in the PS5 Marvel’s Spider-Man remaster.
In a recent interview with ComicBookMovie, Marvel’s Spider-Man voice actor Yuri Lowenthal reflected on both the highly publicized redesign of Peter Parker and the resulting backlash. “I did know it was coming, and I did agree with all the reasons [Insomniac] were going ahead with it," he explained while admitting that he understood why some fans were upset with the change. "I know that people, once they fall in love with something, for you to change that thing is very hard... and understandably so! There are a lot of people who will always love that original thing best, but I think the reasons they did it were sound, and going forward, the game will benefit.”
Regardless of what fans might think of the character’s appearance, Yuri Lowenthal has received near-universal praise for his work in Marvel’s Spider-Man, capturing the humor, pathos, and socially awkward charm of Peter Parker and his masked alter ego in both installments of Insomniac's critically acclaimed superhero sandbox series. The superb voice acting of both him and the rest of the talented cast of Marvel’s Spider-Man helped to elevate the game to high sales figures since it first launched back in 2018, a streak that has since carried over to its recent spin-off title, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, late last year.
In light of his hard work in helping to bring one of Marvel’s most beloved heroes to life in Insomniac’s excellent Spider-Man titles, hearing Yuri Lowenthal reflect on his character is always interesting. The decision to revamp Peter Parker in both Marvel’s Spider-Man remaster and the game's follow-ups going forward was a divisive one for reasons Lowenthal himself acknowledges, but thankfully fans have grown to accept the new face of the iconic web-slinger in the months since it was first unveiled, especially considering it was made primarily to reflect his excellent vocal performance better on the PlayStation 5.
Source: ComicBookMovie