People still can’t get over the Hulk and how the MCU did him dirty, but that’s not the worst case of a downgrade in Marvel history. Fans are pointing to an even bigger offender elsewhere.
A tweet comparing the Hulk’s first appearance in the MCU to his most recent in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has ignited quite the discussion amongst Marvel fans. Bruce Banner’s “downgrade” across the MCU films is a notorious recent example of a powerful character being nerfed. In his first appearance in The Incredible Hulk, he was a rage-fuelled monster, and his imposing size made him a real tank. However, that’s all been done away with in recent entries and fans have expressed their frustration with the decision to turn him into more of a joke character.
However, that’s not the only downgrade that many have taken issue with, as one fan looked outside of the MCU to Insomniac’s Spider-Man. For some reason, the game developers decided it would be a good idea to recast the face model for Peter Parker for the remaster of the 2018 hit game. This resulted in a vastly different-looking Peter, and fans didn’t take too well to the new face.
Insomniac’s remaster was only two years behind the initial release in 2018 and even though the it’s three years old now, fans still can’t quite get over Peter’s new look, with many branding the 2018 version as “perfect”.
“I know it’s a matter of subjective opinion, I just prefer the original insomniac Peter Parker face
He looks like an older Peter Parker. In his mid to late 20s. It was my favorite part of his design.”
Okiro @TheFirstOkiro
Despite the PS5 remaster being more up-to-date, some would rather stick with the PS4 version.
“Definitely! I’m glad i played the PS4 version. At least with miles game new peters in it for tiny bit”
Kidskull @Kidskull51
Sorry new Peter, you just look too perfect to be Spider-Man.
“Still can’t get over this change. Every bit of his face told a story about him, while the new face just looks like a pretty boy who walked out of a life of comfort. He’s too perfect to be a good Peter Parker.
The og had eyebags cuz he could never get enough sleep.”
@Riamus01
Insomniac Games’ only explanation for the change was that Ben Jordan was a better match for the facial capture done by Yuri Lowenthal, who is Peter’s voice actor in the game. Even so, many preferred the original face provided by John Bubniak due to him looking older and more experienced (he’s supposed to have been Spider-Man for eight years in this game). Despite it being a remaster, the new version also looks way less detailed when directly compared.
Just like the Hulk, fans are going to have to accept it and move on, as it doesn’t look like these “downgrades” will be reversed anytime soon. At least with Spider-Man, they didn’t make changes to his character, only his outward appearance, and at the end of the day it’s what’s on the inside that counts.