Gavin Goulden is the art director behind Spider-Man PS4 and the upcoming Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Before Goulden earned his art director title, however, he spent 15 years as a character artist, and he’s recently decided to use his free time to flex those skills a bit — and flex he certainly does.
Goulden went ahead and — as he puts it — “doodled” popular Marvel villain Doctor Doom, and as one can expect from someone who’s been doing character art professionally for over 15 years, the piece is simply eye-catching. It doesn’t take many creative liberties, but that’s probably why Goulden considers it just a doodle.
According to the tweet Gavin Goulden used to show off the illustration, he created the art using ZBrush, a digital sculpting software used by artistic professionals in projects throughout the entertainment industry, which includes, of course, Marvel’s Spider-Man on PS4. Goulden’s skill with the tool resulted in a hyper-realistic look at Doctor Doom in all of his armored glory.
Now, of course, the question is: can Goulden’s drawing of Doctor Doom be considered a hint that the villain may appear in Spider-Man: Miles Morales or even the unannounced Spider-Man PS5 sequel? Honestly, it’s not likely. The art genuinely seems like Goulden’s personal undertaking, something inspired by his work on the Spider-Man games.
Also, the ending of Marvel’s Spider-Man PS4 makes it fairly obvious that the next couple of villains that the sequel will focus on will be Venom and Green Goblin. On top of this, Spider-Man: Miles Morales is a type of origin story for the character, one that details Miles’ first major adventure as Spider-Man within this video game universe. Doctor Doom is way too big of a threat to be directly involved in something like that.
On the other hand, choosing to doodle and show off an infamous Marvel villain when Spider-Man: Miles Morales arrives in only a few months does seem purposefully provocative. And Doctor Doom’s in-game appearances don’t have to be major ones. He could be someone that appears in either games’ end-credits scene. Goulden could have even taken his inspiration for the Doctor Doom drawing from something as simple as an easter egg Insomniac decided to plant in the games.
All of this is just speculative thought, though. It’s more likely that — again — Goulden just decided to draw Doctor Doom for the heck of it. Though seeing Doctor Doom in any capacity within the Marvel’s Spider-Man universe would be a welcome one.
Spider-Man PS4 released for the PlayStation 4 in 2018.
