Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-5085906-20130627191357/@comment-1504072-20150725181317

It was Zero who made Big Boss into an icon of the Patriots, a symbol to control the people, and the cutscene imagery highlighted this. That was beyond Big Boss's control, and something he strongly disapproved of. Also, Zero's and Big Boss's extreme religious zeal regarding The Boss is what ultimately plunged the world into war. Neither points made Big Boss a straight up "good guy," so saying his depiction as a lesser of two evils was "utterly blown," is hardly accurate.

It's therefore quite a stretch to suggest Venom Snake is going to be a "body double" for Big Boss, simply because we haven't actually seen him enact the war crimes to which he's previously been attributed.

On a final note, I'd like to point out this conversation, between Otacon and Solid Snake from MGS4, in a blatant nod toward MGS3's depiction of Big Boss, which highlights the different perspectives on his character:

"And then earlier this year the Pentagon declassifies Big Boss's file for some reason. All of a sudden his story is the stuff of pop culture - books, magazines, the net. And now people are taking another look at CQC."
 * "The war criminal, reinvented as a hero."

- Otacon and Solid Snake

And lastly... "...a mercenary who was at the same time a hero and a maniac."

- Description of Outer Heaven's founder from Metal Gear MSX2 manual (1987)