In a pandemic-laced year in which film and game delays have become common, one of the most obvious holes has been left by the rescheduled release of Black Widow, the next piece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe puzzle. And while it doesn’t appear that the MCU will be returning to theaters any time soon, the Marvel gaming universe is trying to pick up the pieces and bring the feel of the beloved cinematic universe to your gaming devices. A piece by Entertainment Weekly released today not only shows off some new screenshots of both Spider-Man: Miles Morales and Marvel’s Avengers but also delves into the writing and creative processes for both games, revealing a huge Marvel Game Universe of independent stories.
‘Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ isn’t a formal sequel game but the creators promise “it has a lot of heart.” https://t.co/H8JsDELBs1 pic.twitter.com/axwwSVLvLe
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) August 13, 2020
“We always believed in the power of video games,” said Bill Rosemann, Vice President and creative director at Marvel Games. Both Rosemann and John Paquette, lead writer of Marvel’s Spider-man on PS4, talk about how the delays and pandemic have been an opportunity for their teams to figure out how to bring the feel of the MCU to a new medium while also retaining a uniqueness amongst the different games. Rosemann also confirms that the PlayStation exclusive Spider-Man series and Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers game franchises are not interconnected at this point, but more like their own individual cinematic universes. The Spider-Man coming exclusively to the PlayStation version of Marvel’s Avengers is not Insomniac’s Spidey, and will not follow his story.
Doing so allows the teams to try new things and give beloved characters a spotlight they haven’t had before, as well as providing more freedom for each developer. There are no plans to directly link any games aside from those that are designed to be direct sequels or connections, like Miles Morales. “Each game is in the Marvel universe, but they’re in their own reality, if yoMarvel’s Spideru will,” Rosemann says. “Currently, our plan is to keep each game set in its own Marvel universe.”
Such is the case of Kamala “Ms. Marvel” Khan, who plays a central role in Marvel’s Avengers. The Entertainment Weekly piece talks about previously released details regarding Kamala, reiterating that she’s brought into the mix after a Taskmaster-led attack on a new Avengers floating headquarters not only causes a Terrigen Mist explosion that “kills” Captain America (right… we’ll see…) but also causes Khan and other inhumans to gain powers, akin to her comic origins.
The interview also confirms details about Spider-Man: Miles Morales’ story, saying “Miles’ Harlem home is on the verge of being torn apart by a war between an energy corporation and a criminal organization armed to the teeth with advanced tech.” Insomniac promises a “complete game” with a “full arc” for Miles.
Look for Spider-Man: Miles Morales on PlayStation 5 when the new console launches holiday 2020 and Marvel’s Avengers releasing on PS4, Xbox, and PC on September 4 and later on PS5.
