Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 casts the Candyman as Venom

Spider-Man 2 will star Candyman actor Tony Todd as the role of Venom.

Todd is best known for portraying the horror movie villain in all four films in the Candyman series – the 1992 original, 1995’s Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh, 1999’s Candyman: Day of the Dead and the 2021 sequel (simply titled Candyman) currently in cinemas.

“Did you catch that final line at the end of the trailer?”, asked Insomniac head of franchise strategy Ryan Schneider in a PlayStation Blog post.

“We’re so happy to announce that Tony Todd (of Candyman fame) will be voicing the symbiote-fuelled Venom in Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.

“We’re also delighted to welcome back Yuri Lowenthal and Nadji Jeter, who will reprise their roles as Peter and Miles respectively. We’ve been fortunate to work with so many incredibly talented actors in our Spider-Man games, and Tony has been such a wonderful addition to the cast.”

Todd has some experience doing voicework for video games, dating back to his role as the narrator in Sony‘s Japan Studio PlayStation title The Legend of Dragoon.

He also played Vortigaunt in Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Half-Life: Alyx, as well as Admiral Tommy Briggs in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.

Insomniac announced Spider-Man 2 with a teaser trailer during the PlayStation Showcase presentation on Thursday. The sequel is due to release on PlayStation 5 in 2023.

Schneider also confirmed that many of the original Spider-Man game’s development team will be returning for the sequel, including creative director Bryan Intihar and game director Ryan Smith.

The huge success of the original 2018 Spider-Man game contributed to Sony Interactive Entertainment acquiring California-based Insomniac Games, the developer also known for Resistance and Ratchet and Clank.

As of December 31, 2020, spin-off game Miles Morales had sold around 4 million units across PS4 and PS5, according to Sony.

Asked what would come next after Miles Morales in an October 2020 Game Informer interview, creative director Brian Horton remained coy.

“The threads from the first game still exist, but we’re really focusing on Miles’ chapter and how he is going to become Spider-Man,” he told the magazine.