Malekith Brings Eternal Winter to ‘Marvel Avengers Academy’

With Dormammu dealt with, the Sorcerer Supreme takes up his new post among the students of “Marvel Avengers Academy.” Our heroes prepare to enjoy the start of winter as snow begins to fall on campus.

But they’re forced to cut their celebration short, as they learn this snow isn’t natural. Malekith has unleashed the power of an ancient mystical artifact to bring eternal winter to Earth and create a new kingdom for the Dark Elves and Frost Giants. Luckily, a number of new faces—including some Asgardian warriors—pour into the Academy to help our students fight the villain and his armies and prevent this new ice age.

Marvel.com: While our heroes were focused on battling Dormammu, Malekith has quietly gathered new power and now threatens the world. What evil will the Avengers Academy students and faculty be up against as the first snow falls on campus?

Allen Warner: There have been mentions of the Casket of Ancient Winters being somewhere in New York going all the way back to our Spider-Man event, and during our Doctor Strange event, we learned that the evil Dark Elf ruler Malekith had finally gotten his hands on it. Marvel fans know that it’s one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe, and can be used as a weapon of mass destruction to unleash infinite icy storms across the world.  Malekith wants to use its powers to plunge our world into the next ice age, so that the Dark Elves and Frost Giants can take over. The Avengers Academy students not only have to defend their campus from Malekith, his minions, and angry Frost Giants, but they also need to deliver supplies around the world to help people survive the storms, and fight back against the Dark Elves.

Marvel.com: Malekith has generally been considered an enemy of Asgard and its warriors; will any of them be traveling to Midgard to aid our heroes? And will anyone else come to the Academy’s rescue as the winter semester begins?

Allen Warner: We learn that Thor (Jane Foster) has been defending Asgard in Odin’s absence, and he asked her to come to Midgard to help battle Malekith and the Frost Giants. Her designs and animations are great, and I really liked exploring a dynamic for them that’s unique to the world of our game. He personally asked her to take on the mantle of Thor when Thor Odinson was missing in the timefog, and there are some fun and interesting aspects to their shared history, how there came to be two Mjolnirs, and watching her meet Loki and that “other” Thor for the first time. We also learn that Angela has been hunting down Malekith on her own for some time. I’m really excited about having her in the game. She and Odin also have a unique dynamic in our world, and I think people will be blown away by her designs and animations. We’ll also be reintroducing Sif, who was one of our most popular characters during the Civil War event, and fits in perfectly with these other Asgardian warriors.

The Asgardian warriors have crossed paths with other heroes on their respective journeys, and they call on some of their most powerful allies from A-Force, including She-Hulk, Singularity, America Chavez, and Captain Marvel. They’re all incredible characters who bring something completely unique to the event, and the world of “Avengers Academy.” I’m really excited about this lineup because we’ve been waiting to introduce them for a long time, and our talented art and animation teams have done some amazing work for all of them. I think players who aren’t familiar with some of these characters are going to fall in love with them, and fans of these characters are going to be thrilled. Sticking to the awesome female hero theme, we’ll also be giving players the chance to get some of the great female heroes they may have missed in previous events.

A-Force in “Marvel Avengers Academy”

Marvel.com: How will Malekith’s unleashing of eternal winter set the scene for our event district? What new outfits will we see our heroes sporting?

Allen Warner: This is the first time we’ll be changing the look of our entire playspace, and covering the ground in snow. It looks great, and makes the event feel really special, festive, and different from anything we’ve done before. The event district itself is one of my favorites. It’s an icy landscape with Malekith’s ship dominating the scene. The open Casket of Ancient Winters releases a constant blizzard, our new heroes are trapped in ice, and massive Frost Giants stand guard on either side. Outside of the event district, there’s also a really cool Ice Palace where a lot of animations will happen, and some great holiday themed buildings and decorations, including a series of awesome animated holiday scenes featuring our hapless helper robots.

We decided to really embrace the classic fantasy aspect of battling elves and giants, so the outfits are based around fantasy archetypes that will be immediately recognizable to anyone who’s familiar with fantasy games, shows, and literature. Characters like Spider-Woman and America Chavez will transform into fantasy archetypes like a rogue, a paladin, an archer, a blacksmith, a healer, a huntress, and more. There will also be some really cool fantasy inspired creatures, decorations, and animations.

All of the fantasy outfits are amazing, but my favorite outfit in this event has to be Lady Loki. Loki adopts her female persona to infiltrate A-Force and befriend the influx of female heroes. Her intentions are mischievous and malicious at first, but she ultimately fits in better than expected. I think it’s one of the best looking outfits we’ve ever made, the animations are fun and dramatic, and I think her story turned out really hilarious and heartwarming.

Marvel.com: How will our heroes—new and old—battle Malekith and his Dark Elves to put a stop to his plans?

Allen Warner: Our heroes will battle Malekith, Dark Elves, and massive Frost Giants. The Frost Giant fights in particular are really cool because all of the event heroes will be able to attack the giant at once, so it makes for these great scenes with everyone showcasing their powers. Heroes will also pilot Sleigh-Cycles, delivering supplies to citizens around the world to help them deal with the blizzards, and defend themselves against invading Dark Elves.

Marvel.com: While dealing with this new threat is the big focus here, will players be able to see any signs that will prepare them for the next enemy on the horizon?

Allen Warner: Two characters we’ve been teasing since the beginning of the game are finally about to enter “Avengers Academy.” One is an angry robot with a grudge, and an endless army of followers. The other is a guy with a whole bunch of arrows.

Get the latest news on “Marvel Avengers Academy” at Marvel.com!