NYCC 2019: Marvel Games assembles, adding Kamala Khan to upcoming Avengers game

Marvel Games came to New York Comic Con 2019, and they most certainly did come to play. This was most appropriate, as they showed off a wide array of new games that fans can expect over the next few months. With the recent success of the epic Playstation 4 Spider-Man game, it seems that anything could be possible. Worry not, true believers — SYFY WIRE was there to scoop up all of the gaming goodness.  

Marvel Games Creative Director Bill Roseman took the stage first, and made it clear right at the start that though different people make all of the different games, they are all united under Marvel. 

First up was a mysterious intro trailer for the new mobile brawler game, Marvel Future Fight…which can be seen below.

Representatives from Kabam game studios came on next, and talked about the insane success of the mobile game Marvel: Contest of Champions. They are ready to step things up with a new game, Marvel: Realm of Champions, which is based on a story for the original game that grew to be quite big. 

The new game is set in the same world as the first game, but Realm will also include multiplayer and RPG elements. It will take place on Battleworld, which has been hinted at throughout Contest for some time. “Champion Houses” will be the different realms that players can explore, such as houses based on Wakanda, Asgard, and more. Each house will have a “baron,” with interesting versions of classic characters stepping in. We saw versions of Madame Web, Skaar, Captain Peggy Carter, and Queen Shuri. 

Who can you play as in the new story? You start out as a “recruit” that can then be customized for whichever Champion House you choose — different spins in the classic characters form the basis for the looks of the recruits, with tons of customization options. 

All in all, the game sounds a little bit like a mobile game with a What If? twist, with some really heavy deep cuts in play. The overall motto for the mission of this game is a spin on an oft-repeated phrase: “Make mine Marvel,” and based on the amount of customization we saw, they’re certainly hitting that mark. 

Things then went from mobile gaming to virtual reality, and the creators of Iron Man VR (available for Playstation VR) took the stage. They showed a brand new story trailer for the experience, which featured Tony being in trouble for selling weapons (yet again), and he comes into contact with Ghost, who the creators said was the “perfect character to fight Iron Man.” Nick Fury is in the game, as is Pepper Potts and Tony’s AI, Friday. Memorable locations like the S.H.I.E.L.D. hellicarrier and Start Tower will feature as well. 

The official release date for the game was also revealed, which is February 28, 2020. Pre-order bonuses will be available (of course), and they will involve four different variations in Tony's "Impulse" Iron Man suit. This means that players will literally be able to work on their own suits in Tony's garage, feeling like they actually are Tony. 

Then, of course, it was time for the team behind the new game Marvel’s The Avengers to assemble. They discussed story first, and as we saw in the first trailer for the game, an “A-Day” celebration goes very, very wrong, and the helicarrier goes down. Cap (seemingly) goes down with it, and the Avengers are blamed. 

Cut to five years later, and Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) is running the show, with superheroes being outlawed. The creators said that AIM thinks that they can control things in a positive way, and thoughts on that within the world of the game are very divided. 

The performance actors naturally…assembled...next. Jeff Schine (Captain America), Travis Willingham (Thor), Laura Bailey (Black Widow), Nolan North (Tony Stark), and Troy Baker (Bruce Banner) were all on the scene. 

Baker said that the trouble with Banner’s superpower is that when he uses it, “he eats people.” For him, Banner/Hulk is “overwhelmed by this feeling of guilt and remorse” and that Banner is in a place where he thinks they might not actually be superheroes. 

North said that Tony is a guy who “wallows in his denial,” and that he’s someone who thinks the ends definitely justify the means. Bruce is the first one to tell Tony that he was wrong, and North says that Tony does not like to hear that. 

What happens to Black Widow after the events of A-Day? Bailey says that she feels responsible, even though she saved many people. Cap is gone, and “Widow feels like she failed, hard,” as Bailey said. Because of this, she goes rogue. 

How does Thor react to such a thing? He also doesn’t take it well. “I think he feels incredibly disappointed with the group,” Willingham said. “In the absence of Cap, he takes a look at the group and sees that no one is worthy to lead this group. He makes the choices to put the hammer down.” 

It looks like none of the characters are the same without Rogers in the picture. “Cap is kind of the North Star for the team,” Schine said, saying that the group becomes lost in many ways without him in the picture. 

They then showed a new trailer exclusive to the room, with the biggest revelation being that in the five years after A-Day, one character believes the Avengers were set up. That character is none other than Kamala Khan, who looks ready to be a major part of the game. 

Sandra Saad, the actor behind Kamala, came out as soon as the trailer ended. She talked about how she is often told that she is just like the character, aside from her having the ability to make her hands giant. 

“I’m a first generation American like Kamala Khan,” she said. “You grow up with a lot of that teenage angst, because you’re not really accepted anywhere. I’ll fully accepted here, though.” 

The fully embiggened game will be released on May 15, 2020...and Playstation users will get the beta version of it first. 

Click here for SYFY WIRE’s full coverage of New York Comic Con 2019, including up-to-the-minute news, exclusive interviews, and videos.