Video Game / Marvel's Avengers

Reassemble.

"Some say they were set up. Others called them murderers. Well, we all lost something that day... But that's not how this story ends!"

— Kamala Khan

Marvel's Avengers is an Action-Adventure game based off the Marvel Comics property of the same name made by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. It is an original story set in a distilled world, much in the way of Spider-Man (PS4). It released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Google Stadia and Microsoft Windows on September 4, 2020 and on PlayStation 5 and the fourth generation Xbox consoles on March 18, 2021.

A day of triumph for the Avengers instead becomes a tragedy when their new San Francisco headquarters is ground zero for a catastrophic disaster that results in mass casualties, including one of their own. Blamed for the events of "A-Day", the Avengers are outlawed and forced to disband.

In their place, a new organization known as Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM) emerges, and in the five years since have replaced now-outlawed superheroes with their new A.I. robots. A young girl named Kamala Khan sets out to prove the Avengers' innocence, help reassemble the team, and stop whatever threats head their way.

Characters

Playable Heroes(DLC denotes post-launch characters; PS denotes PlayStation exclusive)

• Captain America (Steve Rogers)
• Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)
• Hulk (Bruce Banner)
• Iron Man (Tony Stark)
• Thor (Thor Odinson)
• Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan)
• Hawkeye (Kate Bishop) ^DLC
• Hawkeye (Clint Barton) ^DLC
• Black Panther (T'Challa) ^DLC
• Spider-Man (Peter Parker) ^{DLC, PS}
• Mighty Thor (Jane Foster) ^DLC
• Winter Soldier (Bucky Barnes) ^DLC

On January 20, 2023, Crystal Dynamics announced that they were planning to halt all official support for the game on September 30 of that same year, releasing one final update, marketed as the Definitive Edition, on March 30th, adding all Marketplace content for free and reworking several other systems to move any remaining unlockables to either vendors or chests.

On 18th September 2023, Crystal Dynamics announced that the game is set to be delisted on all platforms on 30th September, with the game going on a dramatic 90% discount before that happens, and have pledged to keep the single player campaign available offline and will try to maintain the online components for as long as possible.

Not to be confused with LEGO Marvel's Avengers.

Previews: E3 2019 Reveal Trailer, A-Day Prologue Gameplay, NYCC 2019 Kamala Khan Trailer, Game Overview, War Table 1

---

Earth's Mightiest Tropes:

Pre-Release

• Both Sides Have a Point: In the Iron Man prequel comic Tony confronts Nick Fury about secretly gathering information on the Iron Man armor. Fury makes a valid argument that Tony not only has access to an advanced weapon that could cause untold devastation in the wrong hands but also substantial influence with a group of superhumans that could be used to legitimately take over the world if Tony ever wished to. Having safeguards in place is honestly just common sense. Tony is able to fire back that Fury's actions nearly led to blueprints for the Iron Man armor falling into the hands of criminals and terrorists and that it was S.H.I.E.L.D. being subverted that nearly led it to happening, not Tony's personal security measures.
• Cosmetic Award: Much of the gameplay advertising was based around this. You could buy extra skins from cellphone companies, chewing gum, and other snacks.

Gameplay

• Absurdly High Level Cap: Especially since each hero levels up individually, and Gear isn't transferable between characters. The current Level Cap in the game is 50, and the Power Cap^note Fully-upgraded 140 gear and a fully-upgraded Major Artifact is 150. By the time you complete the campaign, unless you've been doing a lot of grinding, your characters will all likely be under level 10, and somewhere in the area of Power Level 20, give or take.
• Attack Its Weak Point: Large robotic enemies, such as the war robot and the robot airship, can only be damaged by attacking their cooling vents and their eyes.
• Canon Immigrant: AIM's color-coded mooks first appeared in a game based on The Super Hero Squad Show, and some specific variants, such as the purple snipers and the green poison troopers, first appeared in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order.
• Cap: The level cap for each character is 50, while the original power cap is 150 (later 175).
• Continue Your Mission, Dammit!: On the one hand, most areas have many points of interest far off the beaten path from the main goal, and the player is encouraged to explore in Wide-Open Sandbox style for the loot and experience points to be found there. On the other hand, the voice of mission control, usually JARVIS, is frantically reminding you that there is a dire crisis underway involving the fate of the world, and the Avengers are the only hope. Can make you feel guilty when trying to find the switches to open a chest puzzle, while Inhumans or S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are allegedly fighting for their lives just up the street.
• Cyber Cyclops: Adaptoids have a single eye-like light in the middle of their faces.
• Downloadable Content: Provided after release at no extra charge, including additional playable characters, storylines, and environments. So far, two Hawkeyes (Clint Barton and Kate Bishop), Black Panther, Winter Soldier and Spider-Man have been confirmed, with the last one exclusively releasing on the Sony versions of the game.
• Every Car Is a Pinto: Vehicles struck during battles tend to go up in dramatic, fiery explosions and leave behind small piles of smoldering wreckage.
• Evil Laugh: The "Muahahahahaha!" achievement/trophy for fully upgrading a major artifact is this trope in mind.
• Limit Break: Every character has three "Heroic" abilities that they can use to even the odds against their foes. They fall under three categories: Assault, Support, and Ultimate:
  • Iron Man has his Unibeam, Arc Overload, and the Hulkbuster armor.
  • Black Widow has her Widow's Bite, Veil of Shadows, and Power Surge.
  • Hulk has Stranglehold, Boneshaker, and Thunderclap.
  • Ms. Marvel has High Five, Healing Spirit, and Embiggen.
  • Captain America has Steamroller, Rally Call, and Brooklyn Brawler.
  • Thor has Warrior's Fury, God Blast, and Bifrost.
  • Kate Bishop has Decoy, Warp Arrow and Quantum Overdrive.
  • Clint Barton has Nightstorm Arrows, Recovery Arrows and Hunter's Arrow.
  • Black Panther has King's Mercy, Kimoyo Beads and Bast's Chosen.
• Mana Meter: Each hero has a meter that powers many of their abilities. Managing these meters is key to mastering their abilities.
  • Iron Man's meter powers his suit's ranged weapons. It recharges slowly by itself, or more quickly by landing melee attacks. The "Arc Overload" Heroic ability temporarily grants Iron Man infinite meter, allowing him to use his weapons without limitations. The meter is also used as a time limit for the Hulkbuster armor, with more powerful attacks draining meter more quickly.
  • Black Widow's meter increases as she lands consecutive hits, increasing her attack power. If she takes damage, however, the meter will reset, so dodging and countering attacks is important.
  • Hulk's Rage meter allows him to increase his attack power and defenses, as well as regenerate some health when he lands hits while using it. It is refilled by landing hits and taking damage while his Rage skill is not in use.
  • Ms. Marvel's meter allows her to slightly enlarge herself to inflict more damage, as well as use her rubbery body to instinctively evade attacks while her power is in use.
  • Thor channels the Odinforce, striking enemies with lightning and granting himself armor.
  • Captain America's is perhaps the most mundane, as it simply allows him to block attacks with his shield. When the meter runs out, he can no longer hold his shield up.
  • Kate Bishop stores Quantum Energy, which she can use to perform teleportation moves for both traversal and offensive combat. Overcharging the meter by landing melee attacks without taking a hit will grant her an attack buff.
  • Clint Barton's meter allows him to automatically evade enemy attacks as well as access a number of trick arrows such as Boomerang Arrows and Grapple Arrows.
  • Black Panther's meter stores kinetic energy which is charged by parrying attacks. It can be used to increase his attacks, or release it in a powerful burst.
• Mecha-Mooks: AIM uses different types of robots against their enemies, from diminutive drones to humanoid Synthoids, superpowered Adaptoids, and massive Warbots.
• Metropolis Level: A number of mission areas take place in dense urban areas, such as Jersey City and Manhattan. These feature extensive three-dimensional navigation on and across buildings and rooftops, although civilians are usually absent due to the areas being evacuated beforehand.
• Mini-Mecha: Iron Man's Ultimate Heroic ability summons the Hulkbuster armor. He can either board it right away, or deploy it remotely to allow an ally to pilot it.
• New Game Plus: Called "Campaign Replay," it was added in Update 1.5.0 of the Xbox One and PS4 versions of the game and included in the Series S/X and PS5 versions from the off. Your campaign progress resets, but you keep all unlocks and collectibles.
• Power Levels: Every piece of gear has a power level that can be increased with upgrades, and the average power level of all equipped items yields a character's power level, which is used in determining a mission's difficulty: entering a mission with a higher power level than your character will make it harder, while entering a mission with a lower power level makes it easier.
• Press X to Not Die: QTEs cannot be failed — if the player doesn't press the button, the action stops entirely and the music and sound fades out.
• Shock and Awe: Stiletto robots fight with a pair of electrified batons and can create electrical shocks.
• Wrestler in All of Us:
  • Black Widow has access to an attack that's essentially a high-impact head-scissors takedown reminiscent of lucha libre.
  • Later updates for takedowns expanded on this for the other heroes:
    • Chokeslams for Iron Man.
    • Superman punches for both Kamala and Cap.
    • A rather hilarious pinning animation for Thor using Mjolnir.
    • A spear and a clothesline for Kate Bishop.
    • Powerbomb for Black Panther.

"Reassembled" Campaign

• Adaptational Relationship Overhaul: Downplayed. Kamala and her dad love each other in the comics, but she's generally closer to her mother and doesn't confide in Yusuf as much. In the game, it's the other way around.
• Adaptational Villainy: Most versions of Monica Rappaccini are usually an Anti-Villain, and she gets along quite well even with the heroes. In this game, she is outright psychopathic, having a massive bodycount, and shows no remorse for a lot of her actions.
• The Alcoholic: According to J.A.R.V.I.S., Thor requested that the Chimera be equipped with a vending machine that dispenses mead. However, that appears to be business as usual for Asgardians.
• Alternate Continuity: Per Word of God, this game is set in a universe unconnected to that of Insomniac Games's Spider-Man (PS4) and its sequel/spinoff. This game's Spider-Man is therefore an entirely separate version of the character despite his PlayStation exclusivity.
• And the Adventure Continues: Of course, being a live service game, the main campaign does not have a definitive end. Even with MODOK defeated, AIM is still intact and now led by Monica, the Scientist Supreme. The Avengers still have to keep fighting to end AIM's threat once and for all. Furthermore, the destroyed Kree Sentry sends a signal into space.
• Animal Motif: A.I.M. has a distinct bee-like motif to them, from their honeycomb-esque hexagon logo to their full-suited Keeper mooks (not unlike beekeepers) and their endgame Hive bases.
• Artistic License – Biology: Though it could be explained as the result of the Super Soldier Serum, Captain Rogers retains his muscular build despite being held captive for five years by Monica in space. After Tony freed him, he initially has trouble walking but it only takes him a few minutes to regain his strength and is capable of running again.
• Arc Words:
  • "Good isn't a thing you are, it's a thing you do."
  • "Every hero has to start somewhere."
• Ascended Fanboy: Fangirl in this case, Kamala Khan
• Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: The final boss is a gigantic Kree Sentry that was sleeping underneath San Francisco Bay.
• Big Good: The role is shared by the leaders of the different factions that oppose A.I.M.. Maria Hill (S.H.I.E.L.D), Hank Pym (The Resistance), and eventually Captain America (Avengers).
• Big Bad: George Tarleton, AKA M.O.D.O.K., as the leader of A.I.M. and apparent real mastermind of the events of A-Day. Or not. He's actually a pawn for Monica Rappaccini, until he presumably kills her, then he takes the role full fledged. However Monica takes it on full time in the post game.
• Big "SHUT UP!": During the fight against The Abomination, Hulk pummels him with what the game describes as "an energy sphere," all while screaming "SHUT UP!" with every hit.
• Bookends: Both times when Kamala passes out after growing, she wakes up with Bruce. The first time, Bruce is saving her from AIM, and she begins her journey. At the end of the game, she wakes after having saved Bruce from MODOK with the Avengers fully united.
• Breaking the Fellowship: The Avengers broke up on bad terms and there is still a lot of animosity between them. In addition, their reunion is forced upon them by combination of a runaway teenager and A.I.M. finding their location. After another argument, Thor and Natasha briefly leave the team while Tony and Bruce get into a fight. It isn't until the return of Captain Steve Rogers, the only person who can hold the team together, that the Avengers are finally reassembled.
• Break Out the Museum Piece: The mission to recruit Tony has him literally getting spare armor parts scattered around his mansion when Tarleton comes knocking. It isin't even a suit, just the gauntlets, boots and a helmet that does not even cover his face. He manages to create a more functional, if outdated suit of armor after he gets on the Chimera, and then gets his iconic armor on after he raids an AIM facility.
• Brick Joke: Early in the story, when discussing the hacker using the alias "Tiny Dancer", Tony quips that he would've gone with "Rocket Man". When Black Widow is revealed to be Tiny Dancer, she says that Tony probably would've gone with Rocket Man. Tony says that she wasn't even close and quotes "Candle in the Wind".
  • A heartwarming variation: In the prologue, Kamala meets Thor and they strike up a conversation. Thor tells Kamala that he will remember her. Years later when Thor rejoins the team, he sees Kamala and repeats what she said to him, "A hero has to start somewhere."
• Broken Pedestal:
  • Thanks to the events of A-Day, the Avengers were forcibly disbanded and were seen as directly responsible for the catastrophe. As a result, they are largely dismissed as failures by the public.
  • George Tarleton to the Avengers. Kamala believes he's a False Friend with an Evil Plan to set them up for the events of A-Day. He actually was their ally until he saw them fail and gradually became more extreme due to his Body Horror transformation combined with his failures.
• Chekhov's Gun: During Monica's review of Inhuman abilities, she mentions one that has the ability to create perfect clones of herself with the only tell being a slight discoloration of one of the eyes. When Tarleton/MODOK lethally injects her with her "regenerative formula", a close up on her eyes shows that one is off-color. Sure enough, that was a clone and Monica herself shows up alive and well later on.
• Clone Army: One of A.I.M.'s goals in the endgame is creating a clone army of villains such as Taskmaster and Abomination to take over the world.
• Command Roster: Subverted at first. Following Cap's supposed death, the Avengers disband with no clear leadership, as Natasha confirms this during a trial. Natasha and Tony realistically could lead the Avengers since both possess leadership qualities. This is later played straight when, during the Reassemble campaign, they're the ones who lead the team.
• Composite Character: A group-wide one. The entire plight of the Inhumans in the game, where they are just regular people who suddenly manifested superpowers and are feared and loathed by the general public as result with government and private forces looking to either imprison, exterminate, or "cure" them. Meanwhile there's a small group of ragtag Inhumans who fight to try and prove Inhumans and humans can peacefully coexist. Sounds a whole lot like what the Mutants (who are notably absent from the game) experienced in the comic books, which are merged into the NuHumans.
• Corrupt Politician: The senator who appears in the prologue interrogating Banner and again when Kamala is captured is clearly bribed by Monica and Tarleton to control the media to make sure they do not look too closely into what AIM is doing to people suspected to be Inhumans. However he tells Monica and Tartleton that he can only cover up so much of what they are doing.
• Creator Provincialism: The "A-Day" that kicks off the game's events is set in San Francisco, where Crystal Dynamics are based. This is opposed to New York City, the usual setting for Marvel works (justified in-narrative as the Terrigen crystal that plays a big part in "A-Day" was found in San Francisco Bay).
• Curse Cut Short:
  • In the battle on the Golden Gate Bridge, Hulk kicks a mercenary while holding a tank, whose last last words were, unsurprisingly, "Oh shi—"
  • When Phil Sheldon is about to be crushed by debris, he, much like that mercenary, mutters a despairing "Oh shi—"
• Darkest Hour: After JARVIS finishes decrypting Kamala's video not only proves that Captain America ordered Tarleton to seal him in the engine room of the Chimera on A-Day but also that he was the one who destroyed the reactor and caused the explosion that destroyed San Francisco, the Avengers fall apart in a matter of minutes. Bruce and Tony turn on each other to the point where Bruce transforms into the Hulk and knocks Iron Man out of the helicarrier before pursuing him while a disgusted Natasha and Thor pull a Screw This, I'm Outta Here, despite Kamala's attempts to keep them together. The SHIELD and Inhuman personnel all abandon ship too, leaving a despondent Kamala alone on the Chimera with only JARVIS for company as he's the one keeping the helicarrier in the air. It's not until she reviews the log of Bruce's interrogation of Monica that she picks up on the doctor's Exact Words and has a "Eureka!" Moment about the location of the secret lab that snaps her out of it. She then contacts the Avengers over the Chimera's radio and gives them a Rousing Speech about how people need them and how they personally helped her and made her feel like she finally belonged somewhere, that the team begins to pull itself back together.
• Despair Event Horizon: Banner admits to Kamala at the end of the game he never really believed the Avengers could be reunited or win back the people's trust, and he thanks her for giving him reason to hope again.
• Distant Prologue: The "A-Day" prologue is set five years before the rest of the game itself.
• Don't Tell Mama: In the epilogue, Kamala wholeheartedly agrees with Yusuf that her being an Avenger must be kept secret from her mother. That said, post-story interactions on missions suggests that she found out anyways.
• Downer Beginning: In the "A-Day" prologue, the Avengers end up screwing up big time. The Helicarrier is destroyed from its reactor overloading, Captain America is believed to be killed in action, a lot of innocent people die, and at least one person develops unwanted superpowers. The team is disbanded for five years as a result. It is also revealed that A.I.M took over/replaced S.H.I.E.L.D in the interim, forcing Nick Fury and his loyalists into hiding.
• Dramatic Irony: Kamala Khan believes AIM is responsible for A-Day and are criminal geniuses who arranged for it all. George Tarleton is actually a Well-Intentioned Extremist who was radicalized by the Avenger's failure on A-Day. It's actually his second in command who attacked the A-Day festival but even if she isn't responsible for what happened.
• Dynamic Entry: On more than one occasion, a gameplay section begins with Thor flying into the scene from high above, before dropping to the ground and smashing Mjölnir beneath him, flattening everything in the immediate vicinity that isn't nailed down.
• Early-Bird Cameo: The named Inhumans can be seen in the crowd during the prologue, with Kamala explicitly interacting with Dante to finish her comic collection.
• Exact Words: In Bruce's interrogation of Monica, she tells him that even if the Avengers were to "scour the Earth" they would not find the A.I.M. lab... which Kamala realizes means that it isn't on Earth: it's in a satellite she had seen on a screen back when she was in captivity.
• Fangirl: Kamala Khan towards the titular team. Some of her monologues emphasize that she was absolutely not disappointed upon meeting them.
  Kamala Khan: You know that old saying, "Never meet your heroes"? Well, I did. And it... was... awesome!
• Fanfic: Kamala's 12-year-old self gets to visit the Avengers event in San Francisco by entering a contest in which she submitted a story called "Avengers vs. the Sewer Lizards" — which, according to Captain America, Thor really enjoyed.
• Fantastic Racism:
  • A.I.M. considers Inhumans "diseased" and wants to "cure" them, though one Inhuman, Kamala Khan, believes that this might just be a lie to cover something else. It is, as while they do try to de-power as many of them as possible, they also have been harvesting their powers for an Adaptoid program.
  • The Watchdogs are a vigilante militia who have made it their personal mission to kill every Inhuman they find. Naturally, A.I.M. is all too happy to use them for their own ends.
• Final Solution: After finding out that Monica's regenerative formula was made using Captain America's blood, Tarleton goes off the deep end and sends out Warships to spread D.A.R.K. Terrigen across the world, intent on committing wholesale genocide upon Inhumans.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: As Iron Man infiltrates the Ambrosia in hopes to find any Inhumans held captive, he realizes that not only there is no Inhuman on board, there is little security as well, since the alarm and security bots did not response to his lound entry. Tony then realizes that the security is not mend to keep something IN not out. Not long later, he finds the sole prisoner on board the station, not an Inhuman, but Steve Rogers himself.
• Flawed Prototype: Tony's Starbooster armor was designed to help him blast off into space, but it had an unfortunate tendency of falling apart during launch. It takes some help from Hank Pym and his Pym Particles to help complete the armor, but even then, the trip into space is very rough.
• Fragile Flyer: The flying robot sentries are the weakest of the robotic enemies and typically die quickly from only a few attacks, and rely on their ranged attacks to avoid damage.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: The forum message that Kamala opens up after the A-Day prologue scene reveals the game takes place in 2018.
• Fun with Acronyms: The "cure" for Inhumans, a reverse-engineered version of Terrigen gas, is known as D.A.R.K. Terrigen. The meaning behind the acronym is not discussed.
• Golden Ending: Completing the main mission and every single side mission will result in Kamala officially becoming an Avenger.
• Giant Space Flea from Nowhere: A borderline example with the Kree Sentry, which suddenly appears as the final boss with very little explanation or foreshadowing aside from a few mentions throughout the game about something in the San Andreas Fault. Only fans who are aware of the Inhumans being the result of Kree experimentation in the comics would understand the implications. The main "borderline" part of it is that there are mentions early on of something interacting with the Terrigen and pulling the Chimera down into the San Francisco Bay, so it isn't completely out of nowhere.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Kree, whose Sentry was harvested for Terrigen in the first place. They are also set to invade Earth in the future with the Avengers and AIM hopelessly outgunned.
• Grounded Forever: At the end of the game, after Kamala returns home, her father gives her a big hug...and then tells her she's grounded until she turns 30... barring her "special field trips". She accepts it.
• Hero with Bad Publicity: All of the Avengers have this after the events of A-Day. Even after AIM shows their true colors, it is implied the public hasn't fully embraced the Avengers.
• Humongous Mecha: The Kree Sentry is a humanoid robot taller than the Golden Gate Bridge.
• Informed Equipment: None of the gear you equip on your characters has any effect on their appearance.
• In Name Only: Character example. Many players feel the Kree Sentry looks more like a Sentinel from the X-Men series instead of its namesake.
• It's All My Fault: Bruce Banner has internalized at least the part that led to a young girl becoming a polymorph, and Thor, more than the other Avengers, carries the weight of the apparent death of Captain America. Tony also blames himself for not doing more to stop the disaster or saving Cap, but unlike Bruce or Thor, has a tendency to lash out rather than internalize his failure.
• Lampshade Hanging:
  • Black Widow and Monica Rappaccini hang a few lampshades on some villain tropes during their interactions with one another:
    • First, Widow remaks to herself that a hidden stairwell she finds is a classic "evil supervillain lab" cliche.
    • When Widow demands to know what her plan is, Monica tells her that unlike Taskmaster, she isn't stupid enough to waste time spelling it out for her.
    • After Monica remarks that the people on whom she coducts horrible experiments are "Noble causes for the greater good," Natasha remarks that it sounds like she's playing "bad-guy bingo" and asks if she's twirling her mustache inside her mech suit.
• Lightning Can Do Anything: Thor starts elevator controls and even laptop computers by zapping them with lightning, which works, for some reason.
• A Minor Kidroduction: The prologue starts with you playing an eleven-year-old Kamala at the Avengers Day celebration. She resurfaces, now sixteen, and gets involved in the story proper trying to clear her heroes' names.
• Monumental Damage: The game's first act sees the Golden Gate Bridge get torn to pieces by Taskmaster's goons.
• Moral Myopia: A.I.M.'s constant talk of saving lives and insults against the Avengers for the deaths they cause during A-Day rings hollow when they had killed many innocent Inhumans, bringing warships at a highly populated city and are even planning a coup to unsurp the governments of the world.
• Mythology Gag: Has its own page.
• A Nazi by Any Other Name: AIM's actions, including kidnapping of Inhuman children, breaking up families, and experiments make them a Hated by All group after an initial period of being a Villain with Good Publicity. A Senator on their payroll basically says that he can't cover for them anymore even if they can provide the US government a robot army.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: With so many lawsuits and collateral damages over the last 5 years, Stark Industries eventually went bankrupt, the government seizing his company’s assets and giving them to A.I.M. Even S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot escape this scandal and most of their properties have been taken over by A.I.M. as well.
• Offhand Backhand: When AIM storms the Chimera, Iron Man casually shoots down one of their aircraft using a repulsor blast, without so much as glancing in its direction.
• Oh, Crap!: Kamala gets a spectacular one when, after finding and playing with Captain America's shield on the Chimera, she hears something coming closer. Only to see that it's the Hulk.
• Once More, with Clarity: The game is kicked off by Kamala Kahn finding a glitchy security camera clip from A-Day that seems to show George Tarleton locking Captain America in the Chimera's soon-to-explode engine room. Tony realizes that there's more to the video and has JARVIS decrypt it, which adds in audio of Cap TELLING Tarleton to evacuate, and then smashing the Terrigen-powered generator himself, which nearly tears the Avengers apart again.
  • And then it happens again when Steve finally returns, he explains that there was something in the San Francisco Bay reacting to the Terrigen, strongly enough that it threatened to cause a cataclysmic earthquake; his decision to smash the reactor saved millions of lives.
• Parental Surrogate: Though Kamala does have Yusef as her father, her time with the Avengers shows that they are essentially a second family for her, each acting as "parents" or "siblings" in their own ways. If Tony talks with Steve on the Chimera, the latter notes some advice he is learning from parenting books about how to deal with Kamala, to which Tony outright says he is "such a dad."
• The Password Is Always "Swordfish": Early in the game, Kamala manages to get access some of AIM's files by logging in through Tony Stark's account. The forgotten password reminder was "What was your first love?"; she tries "Pepper Potts" and the name of the prototype repulsor gauntlet to no avail, then glances at a poster that says "I am Iron Man" and tries that, which works. When Kamala actually mentions this to Tony, he gives an embarrassed chuckle and admits that he thought he'd changed that password ages ago.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: Loki and the "Woken" have no ties to the main plot against AIM, and he's merely out to do his own bidding.
• Power Copying: Monica's research on captive Inhumans has allowed her to extract their superpowers and transfer them into her new Adaptoid robots.
• Pre Ass Kicking One Liner:
  • Each character drops one-liners when activating their Heroic abilities.
    Hulk: HULK SMASH!
    Iron Man: [using Unibeam] Don't look directly into the beam, kids!
    Black Widow: [using Veil of Shadows] Now you see me...
    Captain America: [using Brooklyn Brawler] No, you move!
    Thor: [using God Blast] YOU DARE CHALLENGE A GOD?!
  • Thor starts off some of his gameplay segments with these, such as "You should know... I'm not in the best of moods!" or haughtily proclaiming "You are not worthy!" just before and just after smashing Mjölnir into the ground respectively.
  • Iron Man's Golden Gate Bridge battle sequence sees him ask of the soldiers he's fighting "Okay... which one of you B-Movie extras shot at me?" before laying waste to them.
• Pre-Mortem One-Liner: An early battle against Taskmaster sees Black Widow mention his photographic reflexes more than once. At the end of the fight, she drops this line before delivering the crushing blow:
  Black Widow: Next time? Take better notes. [blasts him into a wall with a single punch]
• Purple Is Powerful:
  • Some of the more powerful enemies carry a staff with a glowing purple crystal attached to one end or simply have purple auras, denoting their status as tougher opponents.
  • When Tarleton uses his Technomancer powers, he gives off a violet energy field. In the campaign's missions, Mecha-Mooks that MODOK assumes direct control over are surrounded by a purple energy field.
• Putting the Band Back Together: Most of the game's plot involves Kamala trying to reunite the fractured Avengers.
• Red Herring: Initially, the Avengers believe that Tarleton was the one who masterminded A-Day. However, it's later revealed that it was Monica who hired Taskmaster to steal the Terrigan Crystal. Unfortunately, nobody could have predicted that the Chimera would fly over the resting place of a Kree Sentry, which caused the Terrigan Crystal to go out of control.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: The Avengers' helicarrier is named the Chimera, after the monster from Greek mythology; the name of the monster is used to describe a bizzare creature, or something composed of many seemingly unrelated parts, which fits the Avengers having come together. In a bit of Lampshade Hanging, Kamala's father explains this bit to her in the prologue.
• The Friends Who Never Hang: Just like We Were Your Team seen below, the friendship of the Avengers apparently isn't strong enough for them to continue on after Cap's supposed death, and it never occured to any of them that they needed stronger bonds to function as a team if something ever happened to him.
• The Reveal: The source of Monica's super-serum is Captain America's blood, extracted from the still-alive, unconcious Cap himself.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Kamala blames AIM for A-Day and believes it was an Evil Plan by Evil Overlord George Tarleton to Take Over the World. George only made a Face–Heel Turn because he blamed the Avengers for their failure on A-Day. There was an Evil Plan to set off a sonic bomb by Monica Rappacini but the Avengers thwarted it easily. The A-Day explosion was a result of the unpredictable actions of the Kree Sentry. Notably, George does plan to take over the world but only to protect it.
• Rousing Speech: Kamala gives one to the Avengers when they briefly fragment again, and Black Widow lampshades it when she rejoins the team.
• Samus Is a Girl: Tiny Dancer, the resistance hacker who warned Kamala early in the game, is actually Black Widow.
• Sand In My Eyes: When Iron Man comes back from a 10-Minute Retirement due to a moving speech from Kamala, he claims that he is sniffling and tearing up because of dry eyes from the altitude.
• Sequel Hook: Even though MODOK is defeated, Monica ascends as the Scientist Supreme and takes control of AIM. Meanwhile, the destroyed Kree Sentry launches a pod into space, undoubtedly to summon its Kree masters.
• Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: When Kamala is initially captured by Tarleton and Monica, she initially listens to their appeal, but when they start talking about her power as something to 'cure' and Tarleton again lies about his role in the events of A-Day (claiming he was on the command deck when Kamala now knows he was in the reactor room with Cap), she punches open the car door and leaves.
• Shrink Ray: Equipment that deals "Particle" damage flood enemies with Pym Particles. With enough Particle damage, the victim will shrink, weakening them significantly.
• Shout-Out:
  • Whilst using the Hulkbuster, Iron Man has a one-liner referencing Ghostbusters - albeit with "Ghost" being swapped out for "Hulk"; similarly, another Hulkbuster-summoning one-liner has him shout: "Bustin' makes me feel good!"
    • Another one of Iron Man's battle lines is "All I do is win!"
  • A lot of Tony's alternate armors are based on designs that appeared in the comics, including a modernized version of the original Don Heck design.
  • One of Hulk's skins looks suspiciously like Papa Smurf, with white hair and beard and red pants.
  • Captain America has a takedown that ends with an awkward looking dropkick; the name of the takedown in the menus is "Falling With Style".
  • The Resistance contact who helps Kamala out (eventually revealed to be Black Widow herself) goes by the codename "Tiny Dancer". When Tony hears about "Dancer" he remarks that it wouldn't be his first choice for an Elton John-based codename, and a few more of Sir Elton's songs like "Rocket Man" and "Candle in the Wind" get name-dropped throughout the game.
  • If Thor enters Iron Man's quarters on the chimera, he will question Tony about stealing his rug. Tony will defend his actions by saying that it really tied the room together.
• So Much for Stealth: In one mission, Kamala disobeys orders and infiltrate an A.I.M. prison facility in order to rescue the Inhumans taken captive there. Since she has no experience in infiltration, she only reaches as far as the back door of the facility before being captured. It takes help from Black Widow, who was specifically trained for espionage, to achieve the intended result.
• Spotting the Thread: When Kamala goes over the footage of Monica's interrogation aboard the Chimera, she focuses on the phrase "scour the Earth, you'll never find the lab". Earlier, when Kamala was held captive by A.I.M. after her failed prison breakout, she had glimpsed a readout of a satellite with the name "Ambrosia". She quickly puts two and two together and realises A.I.M.'s secret lab is on an orbiting space station.
• Suspiciously Apropos Music: As Tony prepares to pilot his Starboost armor through a dangerous electrical storm, Kamala announces that she downloaded him some music, adding, "Don't worry, it's not mine." The music she downloaded? "Flight of Icarus" by Iron Maiden.
• Version-Exclusive Content: Spider-Man has been confirmed to be a playable character exclusively in the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game.
• The Unfought: The player never get the chance to fight against Loki in his Thor disguise. He merely retreat once his current scheme is undone, without revealing his true identity. This also qualifies him as The Ghost in a way, since we never see his true form. Thor only figures out his involvement at the very end, after seeing his green footsteps.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Black Widow won't hesitate to insult or mock her teammates, the mission she is introduced has her call them idiots when she informs them Kamala is captured, but she clearly still cares for them.
• Video Game Flight: Iron Man and Thor can both hover freely in the air and fly around at high speeds.
• Video-Game Lives: When playing with only AI companions, players are permitted to be revived by their allies twice. If they go down a third time, they will need to restart from the last checkpoint. Notably averted in any mission where you don't have AI companions.
• We Were Your Team: The Avengers never thought to establish a chain of command or organizational structure beyond deciding that Captain America was in overall command, so when Cap ended up MIA after A-Day, nobody knew who was in charge anymore, which played a role in the team falling apart. Black Widow lampshades this in an audio file in "The Avengers Disband" audio file set.
• Wham Episode: The mission "Testing 1... 2... 3..." has Iron Man breaking into the Ambrosia, where A.I.M. supposingly held their captive Inhumans. Much to Tony's surprise, the space station only holds one captive, a very much alive Captain America.
• Wham Line: After finding footage of Tarleton sealing Cap in the Chimera's engine room, Kamala (and the other Avengers) spend most of the game thinking that Tarleton betrayed Cap. But then JARVIS decrypts the file enough to add audio...
  Captain America: We have to shut down the reactor! It's pulling us towards the heat signature!
  Tarleton: I've tried, but there's no way to disengage the crystal!
  Captain America: ...Then get out. And seal the door.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Nick Fury has been in hiding ever since S.H.I.E.L.D was shut down and there are no news of his whereabouts or his he even alive.
  • Also, Abomination. He escaped during his fight with the Hulk and was reprimanded by Tarleton, and never seen again. In the last level, the Avengers acknowledge the Abomination is still working with AIM, but they never see him again.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Kamala receives various talkings to in this style. She returns the favor when the Avengers briefly break apart after realizing that Captain America was not murdered by George Tarleton, but rather sacrificed himself, she tells them why they need to come back together and join forces to stop A.I.M. once and for all.
  Kamala Khan: People... people believe in The Avengers. Not just because of your cool powers, but... but because no matter how bad things get, no matter how much you disagree, you always come together. Don't you get it? Your differences are your greatest superpower. I was just, some weird kid from Jersey who didn't fit in. But you saw me for who I really was. You accepted me. There's still a bad guy out there who wants to hurt the world. But we can stop him. Good, isn't a thing you are... It's a thing you do.

Expansion #1: Taking Aim

Released December 7th, 2020

• Adaptational Badass: Kate Bishop has a teleportation device and a sword added to her toolset.
• Age Lift: Kate is an adult here rather than a teen hero.
• Alien Invasion: This is what Hawkeye was investigating the possibility of. The Kree invade Earth in the near future and proceed to wipe the floor with humanity using their Giant Robot sentries.
• All Your Powers Combined: The Super-Adaptoid makes its first appearance here, possessing all the powers of the Avengers.
• Badass Boast: Tony notices a trail of destroyed AIM bots as the Avengers hurry to catch up with Kate, leading to this exchange
  Iron Man: Lots of busted robots in here. You did a lot of damage... you bring a wrecking crew or something?
  Kate: Yeah. Me.
• Badass in Distress: Rescuing Clint, an Avenger and peak-human fighter, is the goal of the expansion.
• Downloadable Content: The first expansion released for the game.
• Foreshadowing: The prototype Cosmic Cube can be seen in the A.I.M. lab infiltrated during “Young Avenger”.
• Godzilla Threshold:
  • Hank Pym thinks time travel is a horrible idea that could destroy the world. It's also the only solution to the tachyon rifts. They have to destroy the machine before it becomes an issue.
  • Nick Fury and Monica Rappacini are working together against a Kree invasion.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: The final cutscene has Tony note that they can finally answer the question of where Hawkeye is, mirroring the fan backlash over Hawkeye not being present in the base game.
• Not Brainwashed: Clint is working with AIM of his own free will. Because he's trying to stop the End of the World.
• Ominous Message from the Future: Clint delivers one upon returning to the present.
• Platonic Life-Partners: Kate and Clint.
• Remember the New Guy?: Kate Bishop is apparently a well-loved and respected friend to the Avengers already.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The sight of Clint working with AIM is so shocking that Kate orders a retreat rather than continue the assault.
• Sequel Hook: Upon reuniting with the Avengers, Clint drops the bombshell that the Kree Empire are going to invade Earth, and humanity is hopelessly outgunned - with Future Monica’s plan actually being an attempt at creating a weapon in the past to stop the Kree in the future. Before Clint can go into any detail about stopping this, he starts glitching out and collapses.
• She's All Grown Up: Non-sexual version (mostly) in that Tony Stark is shocked to find out that after five years, the teenager is now a young woman. Kate points out that she wasn't that young to begin with.
  "You know I was nineteen, right? You make it sound like Hawkeye training a baby."
• Still Wearing the Old Colors: Kate is somewhat notable in that she apparently was fighting against AIM the entire time the rest of the Avengers were disbanded. She's a bit annoyed that none of them seem to have even realized she was out there.
• Time Travel: Temporal rifts are appearing all over the world as the basis of the expansion.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Monica claims to be this and actually is this time. Because she's trying to stop the invasion of the Kree.

Expansion #2: Future Imperfect

Released March 18th, 2021

• Apocalypse How: The Wasteland, and the entire world by extension, appears to have suffered from a Class 4 due to a destructive war between humanity and the Kree.
• Bad Future: The focus of the expansion, specifically focusing on the Future Wastelands.
• Downloadable Content: The second expansion released for the game.
• Face–Heel Turn: The Hulk, an irritable but staunchly loyal Avenger in the present, appears in the future Wasteland as the insane and tyrannical Maestro.
• Heroes Love Dogs: Lucky the Pizza Dog, a canine companion introduced in Matt Fraction's Hawkeye comic run, is featured throughout the expansion. An early mission tasks the Avengers with rescuing Lucky from A.I.M. forces, and the dog later moves to the bridge of the Chimera where players can pet him.
• Sequel Hook: After retrieving the Cosmic Cube from A.I.M. in the present, the Avengers entrust it’s safety to Hank Pym and the Resistance. After having one of Pym’s androids seal it away in a vault, the vault is shown being reopened by the same android, fascinated by the artifact.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Clint’s future self, Old Man Hawkeye, makes it clear how much he regrets refusing to come out of retirement to help the Avengers fight the Kree and motivates present-Clint to make different choices.
• Time Stands Still: It’s revealed that Monica’s super weapon didn’t work as intended - rather than warding off the invading Kree, it instead created a containment field that froze everything within it in place, including Monica and Nick Fury.
• Time Travel: The bulk of “Future Imperfect” takes place in a Bad Future wherein the Avengers were unable to stop the Kree Invasion, the Avengers of the present travelling through time to garner any information they can about the invasion.
• Trailers Always Spoil: The presence of Old Man Hawkeye and Maestro were both revealed in the trailers for the expansion; both character introductions being treated like shocking twists within the game.
• True Final Boss: Scientist Supreme, Monica Rappaccini. Whilst Maestro serves as the final boss of the “Future Imperfect” mission chain, an additional villain sector entitled “Beating The Odds” was released, in which the Avengers mount an assault on an A.I.M. laboratory to retrieve the Cosmic Cube before Monica can attempt to use it to stop the Kree Invasion. Emphasising the True Final Boss nature of the mission, Clint and Kate are heavily featured in the mission, and it wraps up the plot threads introduced during “Future Imperfect”.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Kate's reaction when she learns that Clint was planning to retire and never told her.

Expansion #3: War for Wakanda

Released August 17th, 2021

• Ambiguous Situation: Monica Rappaccini is shown to still be in power at A.I.M. but it’s unclear if it’s a clone or if it’s the real Monica; Black Widow notes that it’s a question for another day.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: T’Challa apppoints Shuri as Queen-Regent of Wakanda, recognising that he cannot serve as both an active Avenger and King of Wakanda and provide the appropriate attention to both of his duties.
• Call-Back: Upon learning of Clint’s journey to the future, T’Challa enquires about the state of Wakanda; Clint admits that he doesn’t know the answer, but he did find Black Panther’s helmet.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: The Avengers arrived in Wakanda looking for T’Challa’s aid against A.I.M. only to find that they’ve been attacking Wakanda for several weeks prior to their arrival.
• Disney Villain Death: Ulysses Klaue falls into the vibranium mound as his FUSE machines attempt to mine the mineral; he is subsequently ripped apart and reconstructed on a molecular level as being made of pure sound energy, Klaw.
• Downloadable Content: The third expansion released for the game.
• Easter Egg: Zawavari can be heard having one-sided conversations with several of Marvel’s notable magic users - namely Loki, Wanda Maxmioff, and Doctor Strange.
• Familial Foe: Klaue is partially motivated by a family rivalry with T'Challa's forefathers. T'Challa's grandfather Azzuri the Wise killed Klaw's father during a failed plot to steal Vibranium, leading the junior Klaw to seek revenge on the current Black Panther.
• Dual Boss: The first half of the final boss battle sees the Avengers fighting Klaw and Crossbones together.
• Scenery Porn: The lush technological wonderland of Wakanda is brought to life in great detail. Cliffside areas, and Wakanda's palace hub space, provide breathtaking views of the golden capitol city Birnin Zana.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
  • Following A-Day, Wakanda closed it’s borders and resumed their isolation from the wider international community.
  • A.I.M. withdraw their support for Klaue when they realise he’s putting his vendetta against T’Challa above their scientific interests.
  • Crossbones pulls this when he realises that the battle with the Avengers is going in their favor, abandoning Klaw to fight them alone.
• Self-Serving Memory: Klaue’s version of his father’s death portrays him as being ruthlessly murdered by Azurri the Wise for even asking for any of Wakanda’s vibranium; T’Challa’s version depicts the senior Klaue as demanding Wakanda share the metal.
• True Final Boss: The Discordant Sound raid released as part of the November 2021 update, and wraps up the War for Wakanda story.
• What the Hell, Hero?: After A-Day, T’Challa closed Wakanda’s borders, something Tony was not happy with at all according to one Intelligence File.

---

"Well, what are we waiting for?!"

---