It was several months ago that Insomniac confirmed Eddie Brock wouldn't be Venom in Spider-Man 2. Despite that, many fans decided not to listen, sharing their belief that the game would surely include a last-minute twist introducing one of Peter Parker's most sinister foes.
Even after a trailer where all signs pointed to Harry Osborn donning the alien costume, the theories never really died away and a lot of people were disappointed when he was the sequel's sole Venom.
Harry has never held the mantel in the comics, but his transformation ultimately makes the story being told all the more personal for the sequel's co-lead.
Still, outside of Mary Jane Watson mentioning that "a new guy" had started at The Daily Bugle, there was no sign of Eddie (a character who was referenced in the previous Spider-Man games). So, why didn't he factor into this story?
Insomniac narrative director Ben Arfmann justified the decision during a recent interview with Gizmodo (via GameFragger.com).
"The idea of telling a Venom story was something that we knew we wanted to do super early on, and we had conversations about that even during the first Spider-Man," he explains. "For us, that meant: How do we get those personal hooks? How do we make Venom matter - not just to Spider-Man, but to Peter as well?"
"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."
Along the way, some sweeping changes were made to what we're used to seeing from Venom on the page, including the fact Harry briefly becomes Agent Venom, an identity which Flash Thompson took on when he briefly bonded with the Symbiote after being injured in Iraq.
"Our process is always: we read everything, we watch and consume everything that exists around these characters and in these stories," Arfmann says. "Then as [senior narrative director] Jon Paquette always says, we forget about everything."
"We try and ingest all of it and then do our own thing. You can see influences from other stories, as you say," he continues. "But when we were telling it, all we were thinking about was our Harry Osborn and Peter Parker, and trying to figure out how to put them on this incredible collision course that would challenge them both emotionally."
"We love Eddie’s Venom," he concludes, "and we definitely wanted to tell our own Venom story - one that was unique and interesting, and also build on this distinct lore we set up."
At the end of the day, the story works, even if it isn't comic-accurate. Some Venom fans are understandably displeased, but it's hard not to walk away from Spider-Man 2 feeling satisfied with the story told.
Spider-Man 2 is now on sale.