Bill Rosemann and Tim Hernandez from Marvel Games talk about bringing Marvel TV to the hit mobile game!
Marvel Games works hard to ensure that our various partners create a depiction of the Marvel Universe in their work that reflects our publishing and cinematic universes. With the newest update for “Marvel Future Fight” using characters and storylines from the “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” TV show, we took the opportunity to sit down with Marvel Games’ Bill Rosemann and Tim Hernandez, who helped spearhead the effort to bring Daisy, Coulson, and company into the inter-dimensional battle of “Future Fight.”
Marvel.com: What’s the decision-making process like for incorporating content from another aspect of Marvel media, like the comics, movies, or TV, into a game? Do the developers come to you with ideas looking for feedback, do you go to them with recommendations, or is it more collaborative overall?
Tim Hernandez: The initial spark varies from game to game, and the type of content we’re adding, but it always leads to collaboration with our game partners. For films such as “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Ant-Man,” or comic events like Secret Wars, where we have lots of lead time and early access to material, we generally approach our partners and collaborate on ways to incorporate content such as new characters, storylines, and features that may be inspired from other Marvel media, and present them in fun ways that work best for each game. In [the case of “Future Fight”], our partners at Netmarble were huge fans of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and approached us with the idea of introducing them. We all loved the idea, especially with season three [of the show] premiering around the same time, and felt it was a perfect fit story wise with how S.H.I.E.L.D. already plays such a huge part in the game’s main story.
Marvel.com: “Marvel Future Fight” has been firing on all cylinders in this respect, as their updates often take inspiration from elsewhere in the Marvel media realm. What got the ball rolling on the forthcoming Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. update for the game?
Tim Hernandez: Once Netmarble pitched the idea, we worked closely with our TV team to see how the collaboration might work with Netmarble, our Marvel TV team, the production team, ABC, etc. Considering we hadn’t done a TV/Game tie-in of this magnitude it went amazingly well and everyone was extremely supportive of the idea. The writing team for the show actually worked with [writer] Peter David to come up with a terrific outline for how the two versions of S.H.I.E.L.D. would converge in the game. Then the combined team came up with a great list of characters and locations that felt true to the show, and would work well for the game in terms of abilities and skills that balance within the game—not to mention which new heroes fans would want to collect and play with!
Bill Rosemann: As Tim said it all started with love for the source material. We’re very lucky that all of our partners are just as big fans as we are of our TV shows, movies, and comic books. And thanks for noticing our recent string of new characters zooming into “Future Fight” from our other divisions! From “Avengers: Age of Ultron” to “Ant-Man” to Secret Wars, our friends at Netmarble have impressed us with their passion, effort, and excitement in delivering awesome new content to players.
Marvel.com: It’s a lot of fun for fans of the show to be able to see their favorite characters joining a game like “Future Fight,” but how do you ensure that these additions aren’t alienating for players who aren’t familiar with the source material there?
Tim Hernandez: The Agents are introduced as two new chapters to the main storyline, which allows us to add on to, but not replace, the original story that players have already experienced in the game. It also helps that we’ve already established the concept that there are alternate dimensions and Rifts throughout the reality in the game universe, so S.H.I.E.L.D can take multiple forms in the story. The new S.H.I.E.L.D. storyline is also an original plot that is roughly inspired by events in season two but not a direct tie-in. In other words players who haven’t watched the show can dive right in and not feel that they’re missing context. That said there is a familiar face that was introduced in “Future Fight” from day one—wink wink, Jemma Simmons—that acts as a perfect bridge to the new chapters of the story.
Bill Rosemann: As with all Marvel stories, one of our key goals with this event is to make it accessible to the entire world. So whether you’ve faithfully watched every single episode—and we know you have—or if you’ve never even heard of S.H.I.E.L.D.—and we hope you have—everyone working on this chapter made sure that the characters, locations, and the missions are easy to understand while at the same time rewarding to longtime fans.
Marvel.com: Which aspect of “Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” are you most excited to see being added to the game?
Tim Hernandez: Just from a character level, I’m really excited to get the S.H.I.E.L.D. crew into the game and the addition of two new chapters to the main storyline. The team came up with a really fun new mission for our heroes, and I think fans will appreciate how it ties into the existing story and how true it feels to the action and witty humor of the show. I just love seeing the characters from the show making wisecracks and kicking dimensional butt in the game.
Bill Rosemann: As with the TV series itself, I love seeing the mix of the powered characters—like Daisy, Deathlok and Sif—battling alongside the Agents. Coulson, May, and Morse definitely have special skills, but at the end of the day, they’re purely human—which in Marvel tradition may make them even more heroic.
Marvel.com: Are the folks at Marvel TV involved in this process as well?
Tim Hernandez: Marvel TV was extremely involved. We worked daily with the Marvel TV and show production teams to make sure all aspects of the story, characters, level designs, and art were on point and accurate to the show. Of course they also created the outline of the story and worked with Peter David on the writing side. Overall it was a really great collaboration—especially considering how insanely busy they were preparing for the season three premiere. I think we got them hooked on the game too! I mentioned earlier that this is the biggest collaborative game event and content addition we’ve done with a TV property, but we expect it to first of many.
Marvel.com: This update will hit this week, but are you already working with the Netmarble crew on planning out the next update?
Bill Rosemann: Wouldn’t it be cool if we crafted a Halloween-themed event for October? That’s a tricky response, but if it happens, it sure would be a treat!
Tim Hernandez: Not just the next update, but the next two to three! I can promise we have lots of fun surprises planned through the end of the year. Let’s just say fans will very happy.
For more on the latest update to “Marvel Future Fight,” read Bill Rosemann’s Your Man @ Marvel Games column!
