Fans of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 are confused as to why MJ looks different compared to the last Insomniac game, despite using the same face model.

Stephanie Tyler Jones reprises her role as Mary Jane (MJ) in the recently released Spider-Man 2, but some fans are skeptical that Insomniac did the model justice with her latest in-game appearance. In fact, some fans don’t believe that it’s Jones at all.

One user pointed out similarities between MJ and a writer working for Insomniac, leading some to believe that this writer was able to self-insert using MJ.

Insomniac Writer of Spider-Man 2.

All conclusions and arguments directed to notice patterns are reserved for Twitter users and under no circumstance I'm claiming this is a self-insert pic.twitter.com/xRku3Y1iMf

— LearningTheLaw (@Mangalawyer) October 26, 2023

Some sources also suspect another writer lent her appearance to Black Cat in the 2018 game, however it appears that Jayme Lynn Evans was the actual face model and reprised her role in the recent game.

Conversely, another user pointed out that the face likely still belongs to Jones after overlaying the faces. The change in appearance could be explained by years of aging between 2018’s Spider-Man and this year’s game, as well as screenshots of MJ at unflattering angles chosen by critics.

It doesn't need a community note because a simple Google search proves it's the same mocap actress from the first game with better tech and when you superimpose them you actually can see it perfectly but you got fooled by different hair and lighting https://t.co/zPfnr6Z382 pic.twitter.com/PjcpVZSsYp

— Actually_Tina_Mentor_Mode_FFXIV (@Actually_Tina) October 29, 2023

While Jones’s continued involvement seems likely, the suspicion surrounding MJ’s character design underscores more widespread discourse about women characters in video games.

A bit of cynicism towards Spider-Man 2 isn’t entirely unwarranted, with the dev team making mistakes like confusing Cuba and Puerto Rico, and glitches where the player character is replaced with a box.