Quite a Way to Reveal the Avengers Protagonist
Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics made a special announcement at the Marvel Games panel at New York Comic-Con this year: They officially revealed Kamala Khan, aka the current Ms. Marve, and showed her action for the new Marvel’s Avengers game. The even more surprising news involved how she’ll be the game’s main protagonist, the one who bridges all the main Avengers — The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Black Widow, Thor, and Captain America — together. This confirmed rumors that circulated around social media months back and the hints at her existence from the first trailer where she provided the narration, but there’s nothing like seeing the character in action.
But was this the best way to announce her inclusion? It’s great and brave that they’re making her the key (though hardly only) centerpiece, but in a way, this ended up slightly undermining her.
From the reveal at E3 2019, it seemed like the only main characters would be the main Avengers, who would be playable in segments. The first gameplay video released during Gamescom (shown to the press and certain attendees behind closed doors at E3) suggested that progression would be divided into segments where players would (or could later on) cycle through the main superheroes in single-player mode. This itself would have been a brave decision, since linear games are a tough sell on the current market — though the attached “Avengers” name could have helped this overcome the format. Not that it matters now, since this news and the new description of the main scenario make it clear that Kamala Khan will be the main face here.
She’s a good choice for the protagonist considering that players can easily live vicariously through her. Like the massive fanbase, Jersey City girl Kamala is a big fan of the Marvel heroes, as she was in the comics. This game is, notably and understandably, altering her origin story a bit. Kamala will be present for the Avengers A-Day fight, the skirmish depicted in the above-linked gameplay video. She’ll obtain her multiple powers through an accident inadvertently caused by the bigger superheroes. The Avengers take full blame for the incident, and superheroes are outlawed as a result; but Kamala will discover how that act was part of a grand conspiracy to keep them out of action, and will need to reassemble them. Each Avengers superhero will be playable after she finds them.
The outlawing of superheroes shows why Kamala is depicted in street clothes. But like the other characters involved, her superhero outfit will be available as an option, though how long it might take to unlock it is unknown. You also know some of them will be downloadable content. This will noticeably be the first realistic depiction of Kamala, as she’s previously starred in comics and cartoons, and games with cel-shaded styles like Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. There’s a chance this is also the reason for the voice actor switch. Kamala was voiced by Kathreen Khavari in prior media, but Sandra Saad is taking the role here. She sounds good from what can be heard of her.
Making Kamala Khan the main character is a daring move, and it’s already evident that both companies involved (though especially Square Enix) weren’t entirely sure of it. The last two showcases were focused on the main five extremely familiar superheroes for marketing purposes, a working strategy. The E3 trailer has over 16 million views, which effortlessly made it one of the most viewed from that convention. It likely wouldn’t have garnered as much if the focus was on Kamala, though it still would have been popular thanks to the Avengers name.
It’s also brave because making the protagonist a Pakistani-American girl was bound to bring the bigots out the woodwork, whose appearances are always predictable. The comments under the announcement on the official Twitter account and on scattered YouTube videos are full of morons who’ve suddenly lost interest in the game, and some of them aren’t being subtle as to why. I won’t repeat the comments here, but it’s good that I’ve seen plenty of other comments supportive of this decision.
It couldn’t be more evident that Kamala was revealed in this way due to marketing purposes. But this also unintentionally undermined her importance to the story and overall Marvel universe. It’s an unfortunate way to treat a minority protagonist when video games have so few of them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s not as prominent on the game’s cover art thanks to the more recognizable superheroes — if she’s there at all. They can make up for this if she’s still prominent in the game, which very well might be the case given the level of importance she’s treated with in the new promotional materials from over the weekend — and the reveal trailer to a lesser extent.
Marvel’s Avengers will release on May 15th for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC via a currently-unknown service. This will be only one part of Marvel’s big push for Kamala Khan, as she’ll also receive a Ms. Marvel series on upcoming streaming service Disney+ in the near future. She’ll be an important centerpiece in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s future, and hopefully other underappreciated superheroes will join her.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
