Spider-Man 2 has plenty of references within it, from Marvel films to memes that fans originated. As for cameos, it seems that two character actors from the popular TV show Firefly made their way into New York City, disguised as Bodega Cats.
Both Nathan Fillion and Alan Tudyk, actors known for Firefly, among other roles, have snuck their way into Spider-Man 2. It was first noticed when their names popped up in the post-game credits, labeled as Bodega Cats. As it turns out, there is a photo op location that revolves around said cats, and these two actors are the voices behind the felines.
When it comes to actors who have dabbled in gaming, Nathan Fillion is one of the more prominent ones. Most people know he voices Cayde-6 from the Destiny franchise, a fan-favorite character, but he’s more involved in gaming than just that. For example, he did some minor roles in the Halo franchise and even was part of a short film that put him in the role of Nathan Drake from the Uncharted series after fans remarked that he would fit the part perfectly.
As for his former cast mate on Firefly, Alan Tudyk is no slouch in the acting world either. He has voiced a character in every Disney animated film since 2012, as well as some popular roles like K-2SO in Rogue One and Sonny in I, Robot. Similarly to Fillion, he’s had some work in games, joining Fillion in Halo 3 and even voicing Green Arrow in Injustice 2. It’s fair to say that not only do these actors do similar work, but they also like to stick together, and it showed when they did the TV show Firefly and its movie sequel, Serenity.
The senior creative director for Spider-Man 2, Bryan Intihar, spoke about these two actors making a cameo in their latest game in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.
“One of our writers, Nick Folkman, wrote up a bunch of lines for Nathan and Alan to read,” Intihar said to EW. “They came in on a weekend and went into the VO booth, and they vamped for a while. They’re huge fans of the game. I think we brought them in because they wanted to be part of the next game. It’s really cool when you have actors of their stature who get excited about your stuff and want to be in it.”
Considering how Spider-Man as a game franchise could continue, it would be entertaining to see Fillion and Tudyk be given the reigns of more fleshed-out characters in the Insomniac Spider-Man world. At least, more so than just two guys in catsuits.