A new chapter is now available in Marvel Contest of Champions, a mobile game known for action-packed, arcade-style fighting challenges as iconic Marvel Contest of Heroes has remained a popular mobile staple for Marvel fans since its release in 2014.
The new update for Marvel Contest of Heroes will include new playable Champions like the Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, and his Minotaur apprentice Rintrah. Both will offer different skills based on their mastery of the Mystic Arts, with Wong focused more on ranged magical attacks, and Rintrah offering a mixture of physical and magical moves. Additionally, players will be able to claim Doctor Strange as a Champion from May 6, 2022 until June 8, 2022, allowing fans of the Doctor Strange comics and movies to play as the enigmatic and powerful Doctor Stephen Strange.
The adventures in Marvel Contest of Champions will also benefit from the addition of content from Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with a new event called "Strange Fates", taking players through Wong's journey to protect the Battlerealm. The new adventure will give fans of Marvel Contest of Champions a high-stakes narrative to explore while enjoying the benefits of the new playable Champions. Gabriel Frizzera, Franchise Art & Creative Director at Kabam, recently sat down with Screen Rant to describe the creative process of working with Marvel and what it takes to bring new content to Marvel Contest of Champions.
Creating new content for Marvel Contest of Champions alongside Marvel must be an amazing process. What is the most exciting part about working with Marvel to develop content for Marvel Contest of Champions?
Gabriel Frizzera: I guess it’s to be able to collaborate with partners that are as knowledgeable and ionate about Marvel as we are, and open to experimentation. We have pitched some crazy ideas and characters through the years, and they always have an open mind because they understand that the Marvel Universe is a living, breathing thing, and thrives on great stories and content, no matter what medium it comes from.
Redeg well-known Marvel characters for a mobile fighting game likely comes with specific challenges. What are the biggest roadblocks when adapting character designs for the game?
Gabriel Frizzera: Mostly its the translation from the movie screen to mobile. We want to stay loyal to the movie designs so the fans have the experience to play that specific character version, but movie costumes are much more detailed for obvious reasons, so we need to carefully adapt it without losing what makes them special in the first place.
Which Marvel characters are your favorite, and who have you been most excited to add to Marvel Contest of Champions?
Gabriel Frizzera: The Silver Surfer has always been my favorite, but I have soft spots for many characters that introduced me to Marvel, like the modern era X-Men and the Fantastic Four. But ask me on a different day and my answer might change. I am always excited about introducing unknown Champions to our players, and having a chance to update them for a new audience. I think our team excels at that, and we’re always looking for new characters from Marvel’s more obscure tiers.
So many Marvel characters have notable appearances that have changed both in the comics and throughout the films. When building new characters for the game, how do you decide which version and outfit those characters should wear?
Gabriel Frizzera: It varies. We always look for the most visually striking with bigger-than-life costumes, powers and abilities, as they play better in the epic cosmic nature of our game. If a movie is coming out, we try to stay true to the new design, but if we are releasing a classic character we often look into all their versions, and pick the most iconic, the one that most people will recognize. And other times, we blend bits and pieces of many iconic versions into our own, “evergreen” version. And yet other times it’s purely based on the personal taste of people on the team.
In the same vein as the above question, each of Marvel's characters has different physical appearances in the comics and movies. Do you prefer using the film representations of characters, or designs from the comic books?
Gabriel Frizzera: Comics, hands down. Nothing against the movie versions, they work really well on the big screen but in my opinion the comics are the root of it all. Even the best movie costumes are the ones that successfully adapt the striking contrast of the comics, while changing them just enough for their own medium. We do the same, but our game allows for more colorfulness and exaggeration.
Adding content for popular stories is exciting for fans, but creators have favorites too! What Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness content are you most excited about?
Gabriel Frizzera: This is the movie I've been looking forward to most since it was announced. Without being too specific, I am really looking forward to seeing how Wanda’s arc develops, knowing what I know about some of her more dramatic moments in the comics and how deeply this will affect the very nature of reality in the Marvel Universe. I am also looking forward to seeing the MCU Illuminati, and how they’ll deal with their problematic way of dealing with big problems, world-ending problems.
When creating Wong, were you nervous Doctor Strange would overshadow his appearance in the game? What design choices did you make to help him stand out?
Gabriel Frizzera: Nah, this is Wong’s time to shine. He’s a character that has grown a lot since his introduction in the comics, and the movies have done a lot to develop him into a badass mystic in his own right. His powers really shine in our game, and are different enough from other mystics for players to want to add him to their rosters.
The stories in both Marvel comics and movies have become quite complex, and the multiverse storyline adds further to that complexity. How do you decide what stories you want to include in Marvel Contest of Champions events?
Gabriel Frizzera: We have a very talented team of writers that pitches stories for the monthly events. Sometimes they are based on past comic storylines, other times the movies, and other times they are original stories to The Contest. But no matter where the material is inspired from, we always make sure to put our own spin and that the story fits in the ongoing epic we have been creating for the past 7 years in our own version of the Marvel Universe.
Do those stories affect the design direction of characters being introduced to Marvel Contest of Champions?
Gabriel Frizzera: For sure. Every time a new character is introduced to The Contest, we put equal weight between game design needs (what kind of role that character might play against some of the dominant characters in the meta, etc) and representing the true spirit of the character in his/her story. Sometimes these characters are pretty well known to minute detail (people have expectations about how characters like Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Iron Man etc. should move for example), other times we have just a few appearances to go by and have to fill in the details with a complete move set, complementary abilities etc., and in the case of original characters, then we really have fun creating a complete package between visuals, backstory and game design.
What is the collaboration process with Marvel like when deg content? How do you decide what should and shouldn’t be included in new events and with new characters?
Gabriel Frizzera: Our partners at Marvel usually give us a lot of freedom to decide what content from the new events, movies and releases we want to explore in our game. We meet often to detail our plans, and at this point they know we understand these characters and even when we push the envelope, it’s with utmost respect for the spirit of their IP. The winning formula of Marvel Games is finding the right partners and letting them tell their own stories in this massive playground of the Marvel Universe, and Contest in this sense is a trailblazer. We have great rapport with our friends at Marvel and speaking the same language the way we do really supercharges the creative process.
What has been your favorite part of working with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness story?
Gabriel Frizzera: That it’s at the surface so weird and chaotic, but at the same time is so absolutely foundational for the future of the MCU. This new phase has the potential to blow the previous ones out of the water in of scope and ambition, and I can’t wait to see where the story goes from here!
Marvel Contest of Champions is available now for Android and iOS devices. The Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness update is available today, April 29, 2022.