Things Only Adults Notice In The Avengers Video Game

Marvel's Avengers tells an exciting story in which Kamala Khan becomes Ms. Marvel and reassembles the titular heroes to take on A.I.M. and the maniacal George Tarleton/M.O.D.O.K. The game's campaign is full of small details that enrich the narrative, but there are a few parts that may go unnoticed by some of its younger audience. Sure, this is a game that features superheroes, science fiction technology, and wacky powers. However, that doesn't mean that it won't occasionally deal with some heavier themes.

Just like in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the stakes are much higher in Marvel's Avengers than they may at first appear. Whether it's specific plot points or the experiences shared by certain characters, there's quite a bit to unpack in this game's action-packed story campaign. In fact, there are quite a few things in Marvel's Avengers that may only be picked up on by adults.

Beware of major spoilers ahead for Marvel's Avengers.

Kamala Khan rises up to be a hero over the course of the game's story campaign. However, while she is off saving the day, her father, or "Abu," is terrified the entire time she's gone. On one occasion, J.A.R.V.I.S. gives him a call, but Kamala is unable to find the right words to say. The worry and fear in his voice is obvious as he bargains with her to try to get her to come home. 

When Kamala finally returns home after the defeat of M.O.D.O.K., he embraces her and tells her how scared he's been for her safety. He also implies that he knows she's one of the Avengers now, which means he's known all along what kind of danger Kamala has been in. Any parents playing this game will probably put themselves in Abu's shoes immediately. It's hard to imagine knowing that your loved one is risking their lives against a superpowered army, but that's exactly that Abu had to go through during Marvel's Avengers.

The A-Day disaster has fully broken some of Earth's Mightiest Heroes. Bruce Banner has always been something of a loner, preferring to isolate himself to prevent a transformation into the Incredible Hulk. However, Marvel's Avengers dials that sense of loneliness up a notch. When Kamala finds the Hulk, he has apparently been hiding out in the ruins of the Avengers' old base for months, maybe even years. Tony Stark has withdrawn in a similar way. Though Iron Man has always been the biggest showman of the group, he is now living in a trailer outside the remains of his childhood home. He's no longer grooming his hair or caring for his appearance. Both heroes have become shells of their former selves. 

This pattern of self-isolation doesn't just affect the heroes of the story. Even the bad guys seem to have had their lives turned upside down by A-Day. As George Tarleton mutates further, he retreats from the public eye, making announcements for his company with the aid of holograms resembling his former self. Every character in this game seems to be running from themselves or their past in one way or another.

A.I.M. has more than just a robotic army at its disposal. Tarleton and Monica Rappaccini have also programmed a wide array of different types of drones for both combat and surveillance. In fact, the first time the player sees these drones being actively deployed is when Kamala is trying to make it from her home to her secret hideout across the city. These drones are also seen patrolling Heroes Park and must be avoided at all costs.

While this is a bit of cool science fiction set dressing for the game, it also touches on the very real fear of drone warfare. The idea of drones being used extensively in battle, let alone to watch over and invade domestic areas, is terrifying. Drones are always a touchy subject in the real world, and this game shows us a reality where a single corporation has essentially been allowed to create a privatized military force to keep tabs on the city. The only thing that keeps this from feeling a little bit too real is the fact that many of these drones have wacky offensive capabilities, like electrical shocks and energy draining attacks.

Throughout the events of the game, A.I.M. is constantly doing things that seem to be above and beyond what is allowed of a corporation. Through A.I.M., Monica Rappaccini and M.O.D.O.K. are able to deploy military grade weaponry and their own robotic army in their attempts to round up the country's Inhumans. At one point, the Avengers even do battle with A.I.M. right out in public. It's enough to beg the question of how exactly A.I.M. is able to get away with all of this. While mind control or some other method seems like it would fit right in with the comic book world, the actual answer seems to be something all too realistic.

In Marvel's Avengers, A.I.M. is aided in its illegal activities by crooked politicians, including the unnamed senator that is seen discussing the Inhuman cure with Rappaccini and Tarleton. While this senator is the only one seen in the game, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine that A.I.M. has plenty of elected officials in its pocket. It's because of these greedy people in positions of power that A.I.M. is able to do whatever it wants, almost until it's too late.

As players come to find out, Kamala can stretch her limbs to cartoonish lengths, using her arms to swing from building to building and stretching her legs so she can make big, rubbery leaps. She can also "embiggen" herself, growing to a giant size to throw down with a massive Kree Sentry during the game's explosive ending. It's a pretty fun power set, but there's a bit of an issue with it.

To put it bluntly, it's the kind of ability that would only work in video games, comics, or animation. Imagine how silly Kamala's big fists would look in real life.

Even G. Willow Wilson, Kamala Khan's co-creator, agrees with this point. When Disney+'s upcoming Ms. Marvel TV series was first announced, Wilson told Polygon that the comic's creative team had never considered how the character would look outside of a comic book page. Wilson said, "I think there're some characters who are very much set up for the big screen, they're very naturally sort of cinematic. But with Ms. Marvel ... [we] were really leaning ... into the comic book-ness of this character."

When Bruce and Kamala Khan meet up with Hank Pym, the former Ant-Man seems to have found a new way of continuing his heroic career without his powers. He's now in charge of the Ant Hill, a refuge and homebase for Inhumans who are being hunted by A.I.M. From the Ant Hill, Hank has been helping to organize the Inhuman resistance, taking the fight back to A.I.M. whenever there is an opportunity.

However, there are a few moments within the game that make it seem as though maybe Hank is not entirely comfortable in his leadership position. At one point, he refuses to spare any of his people to help Kamala rescue prisoners from an Inhuman prison. While he does explain that A.I.M. has recently beefed up its security, it also seems as though he's willing to let the prisoners simply vanish when A.I.M. moves them. He seemingly even attempts to discredit Dante, a former prisoner, when Kamala brings up the idea of a rescue mission. There's being cautious and then there's gaslighting people who have been through too much already; Hank Pym rides the line between doing both.

In the comics and most adaptations, Pepper Potts has been portrayed as Tony Stark's significant other. It seems that portrayal extends to this game and the couple are (or were) publicly an item. When Kamala is trying to guess Tony's computer password, the hint is that the answer is the name of Tony's first love. Kamala takes this to mean that Pepper Potts is the password, which turns out to be false. Later on, when going through the Avengers' old belongings, Kamala finds a guitar that was gifted to Tony by Pepper. However, Pepper is never seen during the events of the story campaign, which seems to imply that she and Tony parted ways before or after the A-Day disaster.

Likewise, Bruce Banner once had a relationship with Monica Rappaccini. However, the two clearly broke up following the events of A-Day, particularly when the Avengers became Public Enemy #1. The failures of the Avengers seem to extend beyond A-Day; two of the group's most prominent members can't seem to make love last.

After A-Day, Captain America is presumed dead by the world. In truth, he is held in suspended animation on one of A.I.M.'s satellites, where he is experimented on for five years. Monica ends up using Cap's blood in the regenerative serum she injects into George Tarleton on a regular basis, eventually leading to his mutation into M.O.D.O.K.

What must that be like from Captain America's perspective? Monica's audio logs concerning the Ambrosia satellite state that Cap is still dangerous in the vacuum of space. This would seem to imply that Captain America was conscious for at least a portion of his time on the satellite. Is Cap being awakened whenever Monica needs to take more of his blood? If that's the case, then his few waking moments must seem like a constant nightmare from his point of view. When you consider the fact that this is a man who's already spent 70-ish years frozen in a block of ice, it's even more inhumane. Steve Rogers is a man who has already had enough time stolen from him.