What the MCU Should Take From the Marvel's Avengers Game
While most would agree that Marvel’s Avengers is far from the quality of the MCU, the argument that the game does nothing right is a flawed one to make. From a gameplay perspective, all of its playable characters are diverse and fun to control, with meaningful upgrades available for each. The Marvel’s Avengers story also makes use of a few characters that have not yet made their debut in the MCU, and Crystal Dynamics does such a fine job with them that Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios should take notes.
With Marvel’s Avengers embracing the MCU with its purchasable costumes, seeing the movies pull from the game could be a nice gesture. While there are certainly some things to avoid, there are a few good things that the live service title does with its cast. From a story perspective, Marvel’s Avengers is worthy of some praise, and there is no greater way to show appreciation than by using some of its concepts in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The MCU is finally adding Ms. Marvel to its massive hero roster. Set to debut in her own Disney+ Series, Kamala Khan will then go on to appear in the Captain Marvel sequel The Marvels. Seeing her interact with Carol Danvers should be a lot of fun, as a big part of Kamala’s story is how she idolizes the hero. However, while Kamala’s love for superheroes is crucial to the character, Marvel’s Avengers goes beyond this concept in a few major ways.
Part of what made Kamala one of the best female characters in 2020 was her importance to the narrative, and it is something that should be kept in mind with the MCU version. Rather than taking a backseat to the more well-known and popular characters, Crystal Dynamics doubled down on Kamala’s arc. This worked well, as the young hero was able to reunite the scattered heroes and build strong relationships with them in the process. Seeing her closeness with Bruce Banner adapted in live action would be great, too, as it was a major highlight of the campaign.
Outside of making Kamala a big deal as soon as she is introduced, the MCU’s Ms. Marvel should consistently show her love for her family. Having her dad involved so much in the narrative was a great way to show that she was a young hero, and that bond should be carried over to the show and future movies. While he showed concern, he was never a nag, always being fair to Kamala and encouraging her heroism once he learned the truth. With this being a nice change from the usual format of superhero content, an encouraging family would be great to see in the MCU. Outside of that, the game does a nice job of showing the full extent of her powers, something that should also be captured on the big screen.
While Marvel’s Avengers players have grown tired of fighting against AIM, that does not mean that Crystal Dynamics did a bad job with the organization. In fact, they did a lot of things will, with Advanced Idea Mechanics brought to life brilliantly in the game. Thus far, the MCU’s only use of AIM was in Iron Man 3. More of an afterthought than a proper group, it would be great to see them become more than a throwaway line in the future. With Shang-Chi and the Legend of The Ten Rings fixing the Mandarin, the MCU could look to Marvel’s Avengers to rectify its other Iron Man 3-related slip-up.
For starters, Marvel’s Avengers’ version of AIM nails the designs of the beekeeper suits. While it is hard to make the bulky yellow outfits look believable and not cheesy, the game creates a good balance between comic book accuracy and realism. If AIM does take on a bigger MCU role one day, the suits should match these designs. Monica Rappaccini’s role would also be a good thing to replicate, as the MCU is still lacking when it comes to female villains. Beyond Hela, women have only had minor villain roles in the MCU. However, that could be changed with Monica, as she could be built up to take over AIM just like she does in the game.
The impressive character design extends to MODOK as well, as he is a character that is hard to take seriously because of his appearance. The MODOK Hulu series is a comedy largely because of this design, after all, as the concept of a massive floating head is inherently silly. Crystal Dynamics makes him a believable threat, however, leaning in on the grossness of his transformation to make his look less laughable. The voice change works as well, as it allows him to actually be intimidating — with his threats to Monica and Abomination being two of his best scenes. As such, if the MCU ever does want to use MODOK as a one-off villain, the game showcases that he can be taken seriously if done correctly.
Marvel’s Avengers does great things with some other characters, with Hawkeye being one of the prime examples of this. While the MCU’s Clint Barton is played well by Jeremy Renner, he lacks a lot of the traits that made the comic book version so endearing. Hawkeye needing to wear a hearing aid, for example, is an important touch that adds some representation for the deaf community. Aside from Hawkeye's deafness, Clint’s attachment to his dog Lucky is left out of the MCU, though the game shows how cute the pairing could be. As such, the MCU should put a bigger spotlight on the archer’s pet and heading issues.
Marvel’s Avengers’ version of the Hulk should also serve as a source of inspiration. While Mark Ruffalo is terrific as the MCU’s Bruce Banner, many have pointed out that the character has lost his edge since the first two Avengers films. Becoming comedic relief in Avengers: Endgame and rarely getting to show his full strength, moving away from Professor Hulk could be a wise idea. Looking at Banner’s fragile mental state and his firm stance against heroes after A-Day could result in an interesting MCU arc. With the game doing a better job of capturing his darkness than the recent films, a similar approach would be welcome.
On the topic of A-Day, introducing Kamala Khan and the other Inhumans to the MCU in a similar way could work. Following the success of The Avengers and the reversal of Thanos’s snap, the heroes being honored through a proper celebration would make sense. This serves as the perfect setup for a villain to attack, and while it does not need to be the exact same scenario as the in-game version, pursuing an A-Day arc could be intriguing. The MCU also needs to redeem the Inhumans after the failed TV Series, so looking at how well they were introduced in Marvel’s Avengers could be a place to start. With the game doing a lot of great things with its characters and narrative, the MCU has another source to pull from with its future storylines.
Marvel’s Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Post a Comment