Developers, actors, and players agree that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has one of the best pieces of NPC dialogue ever: "We're putting gasoline on these children?!"

News
By published

What a conversation to eavesdrop on

Marvel's Spider-Man 2
(Image credit: Sony)

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 has one of the best NPC interactions ever, and several devs, actors, and players agree.

As pointed out by Twitter user @TheeDreadGod, there are two NPCs wandering around New York City that players can eavesdrop on. The two characters in question appear to be nannies for different families and happen to start a conversation as Peter or Miles walks past. "I've been nannying on and off with a bunch of different families," one of the NPCs says to the other before revealing that they feel out of their depth with the job.

"I've never even really held a baby before this job," the inexperienced nanny admits, "can you just give me some pointers?" the same character asks - which is when it starts to get a little silly. After suggesting that Nanny 1 uses petroleum jelly when changing diapers, the inexperienced nanny interrupts Nanny 2 and asks: "I'm sorry, we're putting gasoline on these children?" to which Nanny 2 replies: "no, no, no, not gasoline, petroleum jelly." 

This slightly awkward debate continues with Nanny 1 suggesting terrible alternatives to petroleum jelly and Nanny 2 getting more and more exasperated as the conversation goes on - that is until J. Jonah Jameson interrupts the pair. The actor's performance does the scene much more justice than my words, but trust me, it's a hilarious exchange. 

It's not just me who's a fan of this NPC dialogue as the above tweet has got a lot of praise from a lot of different people. Fire Emblem and Genshin Impact actor Joe Zieja quote retweeted the video, adding: "Honestly, sometimes background stuff can be INSANELY fun when they give you this sort of loooong leash to play on. It's rare, but when it happens, man it's a riot." Baldur's Gate 3 actor Dave Jones also shared the clip along with: "Holy hell, this is *astounding*." 

Indie developer Mode7's CEO Paul Kilduff-Taylor also followed suit and said: "There needs to be a specific BAFTA category which encompasses...all of the things that have gone into this...and it needs to be awarded to only this and then immediately retired." Warner Bros. Games writer Mitch Dyer also loved the clip, saying: "Actors unleashed, is there anything better?" 

Finally, Thomas Was Alone and John Wick Hex dev, Mike Bithell, demanded answers, tweeting: "I need someone from the team to DM me if this stuff was all written or if you folks put improv performers in the booth with each other for these moments. Either is impressive. The latter doubly so from a pipeline and approvals perspective." We do already know that Marvel's Spider-Man 2's developer created the sounds of New York City by getting a bunch of people to talk and walk around in circles.

Find out the names and faces behind the performances with our Marvel's Spider-Man 2 voice actors and cast guide. 

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.