Actor Scott Porter, who played Harry Osborn in Marvel’s Spider-Man, has said he won’t be reprising the role in Insomniac Games’ upcoming PlayStation 5 sequel.
Porter – who recently portrayed Heimdall in God of War: Ragnarok – was heard in audio logs but only rarely glimpsed as Osborn in the first Spider-Man. However, post-credits sequences found in that game and its Mile Morales follow-up appeared to be setting the character up as Venom in Insomniac’s “darker” Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
Given that Insomniac has already teased Venom as a major antagonist in next year’s sequel, it seemed a distinct possibility Porter would also be making a return, but the actor has confirmed otherwise in a now-deleted tweet.
“While I voiced Harry in the first Spider-man,” the actor wrote, “I unfortunately will not be in the sequel”. He added the reason for his absence was down to Insomniac’s decision to “go photo real [in Spider-Man 2] and the difference between me and Harry’s ages was too much to overcome I believe”.
“I was bummed but I get it,” Porter concluded. “Gonna be an incredible game.”
This isn’t the first time Insomniac has recast a key role in Marvel’s Spider-Man for aesthetic reasons, of course. The studio memorably gave Peter Parker a more youthful makeover when the game transitioned from PS4 to PS5, replacing original face model John Bubniak with a more Tom-Holland-esque Ben Jordan to “better match” actor Yuri Lowenthal’s facial capture.
While little is currently known about Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, expect to see plenty more as Insomniac starts paving the way for its PS5 release in 2023.