Everyone can’t just seem to stop talking about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Exclusively available on the PlayStation 5, it’s the best superhero game in years if not ever and the fastest-selling PS5 exclusive. One of its main highlight is a distinctively rich storyline that finally introduces Venom, voiced by none other than Tony Todd. However, what intrigued many fans was not the introduction of Venom itself, but rather the identity of its host. Instead of the anticipated Eddie Brock, who many traditionally associate with Venom from the comics, Insomniac Games decided to introduce Harry Osborn as the new host. This unprecedented choice has raised numerous questions, and finally, Insomniac Games offers some clarity.
In an enlightening conversation with Gizmodo, Insomniac’s narrative director, Ben Arfmann, shares the thought process behind making Harry Osborn the Venom host. The studio’s objective was clear: to up the emotional stakes between the two childhood friends, Peter Parker and Harry Osborn. According to Arfmann, “Having Harry [Osborn] be the person who becomes Venom just naturally laid a track where there’d be so much drama here between these two friends.” Their shared history, once fraught with tension as friends out of costume and adversaries in disguise, only serves to make this storyline more captivating.
While Eddie Brock’s Venom narrative is well-known and cherished, it was paramount for Insomniac to create this unique storyline, different from the existing arcs. Instead of merely adapting Eddie Brock’s Venom story for Harry Osborn, they incorporated aspects of Flash Thompson’s era with the symbiote as Agent Venom. Arfmann emphasizes the desire to be original: “Our process is always: we read everything, we watch and consume everything… Then as [senior narrative director] Jon Paquette always says, we forget about everything.” The intention was to digest the plethora of existing narratives and carve out a distinct storyline centered around their version of Harry Osborn and Peter Parker.
The result is a narrative that is both familiar and innovative. The choices made are not just for the sake of novelty, but rather to weave an emotional story. Indeed, Harry’s transformation into Venom ties well with his relationship with Peter. Their shared vision of “healing the world” forms a thematic core for the story. Even in their climactic battle, Peter tells Harry, “I won’t heal the world with you. Not like this”. Venom’s interpretation of this shared mission is rather sinister, aiming to cover the planets in symbiotes instead, acting as its de-facto ruler.
Another fascinating aspect is Venom’s portrayal. The game presents the symbiote as sentient and scheming, carefully choosing when to interact with its host. It exploits moments of vulnerability, stoking the host’s worst fears to make the host reliant on the “power” it grants. The boundary between Harry and Venom becomes so blurred that discerning who’s in control becomes challenging, amplifying the horror aspect of the narrative. Perhaps this is intentional, hinting possibly at a more powerful, overarching villain Knull.
It’s this horror that makes Insomniac’s portrayal of Carnage, another symbiote far more terrifying in its bloodlust, one to look forward to. Given how successfully Tony Todd voiced Venom’s manipulative tendencies, it’ll be interesting to see how much more unhinged and chaotic Carnage will be.
Adaptations often have to walk the challenging tightrope of staying true to the source material and telling a compelling tale. Often, most would prefer to go with something familiar if derivative. But, Insomniac’s decision to buck the trend has paid off. It pays homage to the characters’ rich histories while committing to a different kind of story. The general consensus among fans is appreciative of the fresh take. Even though some purists might argue about the change, who really cares? All Venom needs to do is to hate Spider-Man, anyway.
As Insomniac expands its budding video game universe – Marvel’s Wolverine is set in the same universe as the Spider-Man games and rumor has it that Daredevil exists in this universe as well – it’s safe to say that it has earned the benefit of the doubt.
Fingers crossed, its unique takes on future storylines will be just effective.
