Marvel's Spider-Man 2 voice actor Tony Todd passes away at age 69

The veteran actor starred in Candyman and Night of the Living Dead, among other films, before giving his voice to Venom

Movie and comic book fans alike were saddened to learn on Friday evening that actor Tony Todd passed away at the age of 69. Todd had an extensive filmography that spanned more than 240 movies and television shows, but the gaming world will recognize him for a much more recent role: Venom from Marvel's Spider-Man 2.

The news of Todd's passing was confirmed earlier Friday evening by Deadline. A cause of death was not given. Todd was recognized for his hundreds of roles across Hollywood, including as the title character in 1992's Candyman and as Ben in the 1990 remake of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead. One of his final roles took him into the world of video games where he gave his voice to the villainous symbiote Venom. Insomniac Games offered its condolences and its gratitude for Todd's talents across its social media channels, including X (formerly Twitter).

Todd relished his time as Venom and was a big reason why Marvel's Spider-Man 2 received a 10 from Shacknews. Prior to the game's release, he explained the joy he found in playing the role during a 2023 San Diego Comic-Con panel.

"Even though he's a symbiote, I needed to make [Venom] human first," Todd said during the panel. "They had to be relatable and he had to have an objective and follow that through. I come from the theater. I have a Masters in Theater, so I take every job, whether it's voiceover, TV, film, as a well-made script and we just went with the flow. For me, Venom was fun to do and I wanted to make sure that there was a joyous quality in his destruction. He's only here on Earth for a little bit and then he's going to move on somewhere else, so I wanted to make sure that he left that impact of joy, and tenacity, and deliciousness."

Tony Todd's other video game credits include Back 4 Blood, Half-Life: Alyx, Star Trek Online, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, among others.