Insomniac Games revealed how they came up with The Lizard’s design for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – and how they used nature itself as a reference for the reptilian villain.
In a blog post on PlayStation’s website, Insomniac Senior Art Director Jacinda Chew said that the team looked at real lizards for inspiration on how to design the alter ego of Curt Connors in a way that maintained a sense of realism but also still called back to his comic origins.
“We looked at a lot of lizard skin for research,” Chew said. “The thing about lizards in real life–their skin’s actually really dry. Most people who looked at our Lizard kept initially saying ‘he’s not slimy enough.’ But I think it’s a nod to what people expect a lizard to look like–he’s got that lizard skin, but it’s actually much shinier than what you’d see on a real lizard.”
Chew continued, “We gave him spikes, too. For design references, I tried to look at real-life lizards that looked a bit more prehistoric, because some lizards can look kind of soft and cute. I was looking at spikier, more snake-like, more aggressive references. We also wanted eyes that look more like animal eyes. If you look at cats, their pupils grow at night. We made those kinds of eyes for him–when light hits his eyes, they look smaller, his eyes are actually reacting to light. We did a lot of research on how to make that happen in real-time on the PS5.”
Chew also spoke on Insomniac’s creation process, and how the team used the comics as the foundation for The Lizard’s design in Spider-Man 2 but also put their own spin on the iconic character. “The first thing we always do when we look at a Marvel character is reference the comics,” Chew said. “And then from there, we collaborate with Marvel to put our own spin on it. It can come from the gameplay, or because of the narrative.”
The gameplay and narrative both influenced a unique aspect of The Lizard’s design that differentiates his video game self from his comic counterpart. ““There’s a more classic Lizard, which has the lab coat, the pants,” Chew said. “He’s smaller and human-sized. He’s also able to communicate to Peter. But our version of Lizard–he’s leaner, meaner, bigger and greener, in all ways. He’s not wearing clothing, and he’s lost all humanity. So, we’re not able to communicate with him. That’s a really big difference…We know that people want to see Lizard in his lab coat, and then they want to see what happens and how he gets big. We have fun dropping breadcrumbs for the players.”
To clarify for any players or fans who may be worried, Lizard will still be seen in his classic, iconic lab coat during certain moments in Spider-Man 2. The Lizard’s newer, more menacing form will aim to provide a more deadly and terrifying take on the character that taps into his animalistic nature.
“Lizards actually move very low to the ground–it’s not very intimidating. In the comics, Lizard is more bipedal and upright, so more human,” Chew said. “We had to thread that needle – he’s bipedal but still has to maintain some of that lizard look, so he’s got that curved back. The idea behind his movement is that he moves at a speed that feels fast but heavy. The animation team deserves a lot of credit for conveying that strength and power and speed.”
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 will be released on PS5 on October 20, 2023.
Source: PlayStation
