MARVEL'S AVENGERS: The Head Of Crystal Dynamics Reveals How Stan Lee Influenced The Game's Development
While Crystal Dynamics are set to put a new spin on the superhero team created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, new comments from Scot Amos reveal another way Lee influenced the development of Marvel's Avengers.
Although the late, great Stan "The Man" Lee isn't directly involved in crafting Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics' Marvel's Avengers, the very fact that the title is using the superhero team and numerous characters that Lee helped create shows the huge impact he had on its development.
Nevertheless, during a recent interview with TechRadar, Scot Amos, Head of Crystal Dynamics, revealed that members of the development team went to Lee to ask him about writing an authentic Marvel story.
"Stan was a complicated guy," Amos said, discussing their time with the famed creator. "He just loved his characters. We actually asked him, what does he want to do and what is his characterization. We had questions through fans and members of even Marvel, saying, 'Well, what can we ask him? What is his relationship [with us]? What do we have to do?'"
And while it seems the Marvel Comics legend didn't offer them any specific writing advice, it appears his philosophy influenced how they approached the game's story and the various heroes in it.
"The beauty of Stan was that he made these characters because he wants to love them and enjoy them. He had this perception that any comic could be somebody's first - and that stuck with me. It's true. This could be the first time you've heard of Captain America or Hawkeye or Thor, and how do I make sure you don't feel left out or like 'I don't know who these characters are' or 'I didn't read the comics' or 'I didn't see the movies'. I don't want that ever. That's something that we've been very keen to say. . . we want you to fall in love with these heroes for the first time, or want you to fall in love with them all over again."
In essence, along with helping create the massive collection of characters Crystal Dynamics has at their disposal, Lee advised the developers to always be aware that not everyone who will play Marvel's Avengers are longtime fans of the comics.
Marvel's Avengers is currently scheduled to launch on May 15, 2020 for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC and Google Stadia.