While Spider-Man: Edge of Time doesn’t put the player into the roles of four different Spider-Men but instead keeps the tally to just two (Amazing and 2099), the game does feature a more colorful cast of characters for the web-slinging superhero to interact with. Among those characters are Mary Jane Watson, Peter Parker’s main love interest throughout the years, and Walker Sloan, the main antagonist of Edge of Time.

In order to ensure that those characters get the same amount of attention as Spider-Man, developer Beenox Studios have sought out some notable voice talent to imbue these characters with a little more personality. To see just how these two actors approached the role and to see some of their character in action, two new behind-the-scenes trailers have been released that also feature new footage of the game, and a brief look at a new villain.

In the first behind-the-scenes video Laura Vandervoort (Smallville and V) talks about her role as Mary Jane, the iconic love interest for Peter Parker in the traditional Spider-Man comics. Obviously Mary Jane has a lot to deal with in Edge of Time, what with Peter being dead and all, but Vandervoort was more than up to the challenge.

From the footage accompanying the interview with Vandervoort, gamers can see a sequence in the Edge of Time that features Spider-Man 2099 attempting to save Mary Jane from a plummeting elevator. How exactly that figures into the storyline of Edge of Time is unclear, but it’s great to see many classic side characters (not just villains) make appearances in this Beenox-developed series of games.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ9eIda_z94

The other behind-the-scenes featurette gets up close and personal with Val Kilmer, definitely a well-known talent for this sequel, who plays the “big bad,” Walker Sloan. Sloan’s motivations are rooted in the idea of changing the past — hence his desire to kill Amazing Spider-Man rather than the 2099 iteration.

Kilmer jumped at the idea of playing a villain, arguably a meatier role for an actor, and found a lot to enjoy about playing Sloan. As the main catalyst for the game’s events, along with many of the game’s classic and re-imagined villains like Anti-Venom, Sloan is the perfect role for Kilmer, and it looks like he nails that perfect blend of genius and psychopath.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXuMwWZxqow

While Spider-Man: Edge of Time will continue the Activision-published series’ focus on many different iterations of the web crawler, this sequel, by casting known actors as their voices, puts a greater spotlight on side characters like Mary Jane and Sloan.  It’s tough to top the iconic voice actors of Spidey throughout the years, but Kilmer and Vandervoort are certainly going to try.

What do you think of Laura Vandervoort as Mary Jane and Val Kilmer as Walker Sloan? What other classic characters would you like to see appear in future Spider-Man titles, perhaps with famous voice talent behind them?

Spider-Man: Edge of Time releases October 4, 2011 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii.