'Marvel's Spider-Man 2' Lets Peter Parker Break Bad

In Marvel's Spider-Man 2, the Venom symbiote threatens not only Marvel's New York, but also the relationships Peter Parker has struggled so hard to build and maintain over the years. Speaking to Marvel.com, Peter Parker/Spider-Man actor Yuri Lowenthal broke down what it means for Peter to be bad and compared his character's bond with the symbiote to an addiction.

Asked what the sequel allowed him to do with his character that he hadn't yet done before, Lowenthal gushed, "Oh, be bad. I get to be bad… Because I'm not bad in the game normally or in real life, I was just thrilled to show up to work every day so I could be bad."

"To piggyback off that, a new Peter—this was very different for me," Miles Morales actor Nadji Jeter shared. "This was very, very different, just being in Miles' world and just how he looks up to Peter so much, and then that switch happens and he doesn't know how to control it."

"With MJ… it was fun to get to explore this conflict that she had in her relationship with [Peter] and the fear she felt for seeing someone as powerful as him be out of control and then kind of realizing what that means for their relationship or for—I don't want to say anything else! I was about to give too much away," added Laura Bailey, who plays Mary Jane Watson.

"In the first two games, we worked hard to make sure that they were a team, right? In this game, the team starts to splinter from within, and it really challenges them," story lead Jon Paquette teased. "In the first two games, they got challenged externally. They're challenged internally this time."

Additionally, Lowenthal discussed his approach to Peter's new behavior, as well as his relationship with the symbiote. "We talked a lot about addiction when it came to the symbiote and to Venom and the patterns and the behaviors of somebody who is addicted to something that is bigger than them, that is more powerful than they are," he explained. "That really dictated a lot of the behavior, I think, and the physicality as well, just followed in lockstep with that."

"Addiction is terrifying. Someone close to me was an addict. It was sometimes really, really weird keying into it and starting to recognize things—like, I had breakthrough moments when we were doing it, because I'm like, 'I never understood this when it was happening, when he was doing it, and now I see,'" he shared. "So it was a weird process in that respect, but I think it was the right comparison to make."

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 releases October 20th, 2023 only on PlayStation 5. Pre-Order the title now on PlayStation Store, PlayStation Direct or your friendly neighborhood retailer!

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