A planned Avengers video game's been delayed
Respawn First (via One Angry Gamer) reported that a planned video game from Crystal Dynamics - that same company that bought and later ruined the Tomb Raider franchise - put their upcoming Avengers game on hold because of negative fan reception they actually expected:
So if the game's been put on hold until further redevelopment, it'll remain to be seen what remains, and what's altered. Whether they'll make Black Widow more attractively drawn, and drop Khan from the cast of characters. And wonder why the game's producers wanted to take a path that could risk alienating audiences. That's no way to run a business.
Crystal Dynamics is currently dealing with criticism from passionate Marvel fans. There are multiple elements of the new Avengers game that fans don’t agree with. How Iron Man should look and sound, how Thor is boring, how Black Widow looks weird, are just some of the problems many fans have with Marvel’s Avengers game.Why weird but not grotesquely masculine? And how come they don't mention a certain cast member created very recently for political purposes - the Muslim Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan - who got top billing when the game was first announced? If there's any character at the moment where it's exceedingly difficult to separate the politics she was built upon from the character herself, it would surely be Khan. Anybody aware of how Sana Amanat, G. Willow Wilson and Saladin Ahmed crafted this ludicrous replacement for Carol Danvers would find it difficult to overlook what the character's come to stand for, more so than any other character of the sort developed at Stan Lee's expense. Mainly because it's always possible the video game designers put in at least some of that.
There is no pleasing everyone, especially when it comes to hardcore fans of these characters and that is something Crystal Dynamics says it expected. However, that doesn’t mean the studio will ignore genuine criticism and suggestions for improving the game. This is evident by their reaction to Black Widow’s character model. According to Avengers writer Shaun Escayg, the developers expected the game to face backlash from fans, of course, this is 80 years of Marvel history they are playing around with, a history that fans are extremely passionate and opinionated about.
So if the game's been put on hold until further redevelopment, it'll remain to be seen what remains, and what's altered. Whether they'll make Black Widow more attractively drawn, and drop Khan from the cast of characters. And wonder why the game's producers wanted to take a path that could risk alienating audiences. That's no way to run a business.
Labels: Avengers, islam and jihad, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, politics, technology
I think you are giving Saladin Ahmed way to too much credit. He had nothing to do with creating the teenage New Jersey Pakistani-American fangirl Ms Marvel, and since he has taken over the book it has become just a typical superhero book; nothing to outrage anybody, nothing to really delight anybody, just a standard Marvel book, without any of Wilson's humor and intelligence (and with a total lack of understanding of even basic high school genetics!) Enjoyable but avoiding anything controversial like the plague.
He has actually done a really good job separating the 'politics' she was built on from the character herself, if you think that is a good thing rather than a boring thing.
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4:25 PM