"No Plans" to Change Marvel's Avengers Character Designs, Crystal Dynamics Says

Square Enix ended its E3 2019 press conference with the showstopper: the long-awaited reveal of Marvel's Avengers, a new superhero game from Crystal Dynamics. The designs, however, didn't exactly match what people had in mind.

Reactions online were fairly mixed to poor of the new Avengers. There was a disconnect from the Marvel movies' portrayal of characters like Iron Man and Thor, sure, but there was also an unsettling uncanny valley effect to them. It was eerily reminiscent of Tom Hanks in The Polar Express to me, though it's hard to try and establish a new look for characters when their cinematic persona is so established.

Despite that, Crystal Dynamics' lead creative director Shaun Escayg told IGN in an interview that while they're listening, they're sticking to their guns for now.

"We are always listening to, and welcome feedback from our community," Escayg told IGN. "There are currently no plans to change our character designs." Escayg also noted that the trailer was pre-alpha footage, so the level of detail and overall polish will "absolutely continue to improve" as the game gets closer to launch.

Our own impressions of Marvel's Avengers were a little more positive, namely in that it nails the scope and spectacle of the Marvel universe. However, after reporting back from both superhero experiences, our own Mike Williams felt that Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 was the superior Marvel experience at E3 2019.

We'll see if some more time in development will help us warm up to these new Avengers, as Marvel's Avengers is set for May 15, 2020.