GameSpot’s Ricardo Torres reprised his role from WonderCon 2010 as panel moderator of Four Worlds, One Story: Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions the Video Game. The panel brought together writer Dan Slott, voice actors Dan Gilvezan and Josh Keaton, Beenox’s Thomas Wilson and Dee Brown, Marvel’s Director of Games Todd “TQ” Jefferson, and the man himself, Stan Lee.
This wasn't Activision's doing -- the fans surprised the panel!
After some photos with some spectacular cosplaying fans, the panel kicked off with the first showing of the opening cinematic, in which Stan Lee narrates the game’s setup. Mysterio tries to steal the Tablet of Order and Chaos, but Spider-Man – the Amazing one, voiced by Neil Patrick Harris – fights to stop him. In the ensuing brawl, the tablet is shattered, at which point Mysterio cackles maniacally and, clutching a chunk of the stone, disappears. Madame Web then shows up to explain what just happened, shows him that there are different dimensions (including one offering a glimpse of Spider-Ham, which causes a puzzled Peter Parker to ask, “Is that a cartoon pig?”) Madame Web explains that it’s going to be up to Spider-Man to set things right again.
Beenox founder Dee Brown
Thomas and Dee explained that the idea to go to four different dimensions came from a team member who simply thought it would be cool if the team didn’t have to choose just one. “I thought it was crazy initially,” said Dee, “but as a gamer, I thought it was cool as well. So I let the gamer side of me win.” Dan Slott created a plot that ties all the ideas together, and hinted to the room that “there’s going to be all kinds of continuity nods. All kinds of characters, villains, and even a surprise hero or two.” Let the speculation begin.
Vibrant, fresh, and saturated -- that's Ultimate in SMSD.
Thomas explained the differences between the four world’s art styles. Amazing gets a “vintage look, pen and ink treatment, flatter texture treatment , black outlines, and a muted color palette” – clearly recalling the comics’ 1960s origins. The goal for Noir: “Embrace the shadows,” which meant use of “rim lighting” – a highlighted edge around enemies. The result is what Thomas calls “a little Frank Miller style.” Since 2099 was “a reboot,” there was a lot of freedom to go sleek and futuristic with the world and the outfit; look for “a lot of animated billboards and next-gen light shaders.” And finally, the team saw Ultimate as a tribute to the current style – “cel-shaded, bright, vibrant, saturated, young, and fresh.”
TQ, Thomas, Dee, Stan, Dan Slott, and Josh
Stan Lee — arguably the busiest man at the convention — joined the panel a little late at this point, and from the moment he walked in, the room was his. Among his hilarious and effusive comments: “If you knew the work and talent that goes into these games, you know why I call these guys geniuses. I used to write one story, 22 pages. These people spend a couple of years doing a game and they have to figure out the special effects and the electronics and make everything dovetail and keep the players interest all the time. They’re working in three dimensions all the time. The mind boggles – I don’t know how they do it. It’s brilliant, and I’m a guy who doesn’t flatter anyone – I’m a guy who keeps all my compliments for myself.”
Josh Keaton (Ultimate) and Dan Gilvezan (2099)
The panel also included Josh Keaton and Dan Gilvezan, who portray Ultimate and 2099 respectively. Both were thrilled to be playing Spidey again. “Spider-Man has been my favorite comic book since I started reading them,” said Josh. “Spider-Man and Wolverine. I’m short and I like to see short guys kicking ass. I didn’t have to think twice. “ But while Josh Keaton only recently stopped portraying a cartoon version of Spider-Man, it’s been 30 years since Dan Gilvezan lent his voice to the character as part of Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. “That was Marvel’s first production, and that was the first time Marvel had actually done production by themselves.” (“Thanks to you it put us on the map,” quipped Stan.) “I’ve been studying the part for the last 30 years and I think I’ve really got a handle on it. And as you can see, it really kicks ass.”
Josh admitted he had no trouble slipping back into character. “My performance is pretty much the same in tone as when I did Sectactular,” he said. “When he’s Spidey, he’s cocky and he gets under his opponents’ skin. He’s the trash-talker of the Marvel Universe and I wanted to make sure I kept that in there.” But Gilvezan wasn’t portraying Peter Parker; he’s Miguel O’Hara in the far future. “Spider-Man 2099 is verrrry different from the Spider-Man of Amazing Friends,” he said. “He’s much tougher, it’s grittier – but the wisecracks are still there. That was one of the things I liked about the writing. 2099 retains a lot of his humor — but he’s much, much tougher.”
Ricardo asked each panel member which world was their favorites. All four were mentioned eventually, but Josh had a very game-related reason for preferring Noir: “I lost about a year of my life to Warcraft, I was the druid and I ganked people. I liked that and I want to do that again.” TQ from Marvel agreed on Noir but for a different reason: that Spider-Man rarely gets credit as a stealthy character, and Noir really gives that facet of his skills a proper showcase.
Todd "TQ" Jefferson, Director of Games for Marvel
Dan Slott – who currently writes the monthly Amazing Spider-Man comic — said “I gotta say Amazing. That’s my job.” Thomas Wilson likes 2099, but admitted he didn’t know about it before starting on the project. “I was looking at the suit and I was so excited to be able to update the suit and make him so bad-ass.” And Stan? Stan said he thinks they’re all “magnificent. Not only did I never think he would go in so many directions, I didn’t think he would be in a videogame. Of course, back then, we didn’t know what a videogame was!”
The panel featured lots of good information and the enthusiasm by all involved was clear, but it seems like there are still secrets to uncover. Although another panel revealed many alternate Spider-Man costumes, all the villains have not been announced yet, and they may not be before the game is released. The game comes out September 7, which isn’t far away at all…
Pingback: Stan Lee on Shattered Dimensions — One Of Swords