Marvel's Avengers Is Getting A New Superhero And Villain
Earth's Mightiest Heroes are getting some new blood as Marvel's Avengers is adding a brand new superhero and villain as part of its "Operation: Taking AIM" update. When the game first launched, Avengers staples including Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, and Hulk made up the starting lineup - alongside the addition of Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. Fans always knew an impressive roadmap would add a whole host of characters and stories through DLC content.
Following the wrapping of the main story, Marvel's Avengers is keeping you coming back for more through DLCs. With criticisms of a lacklustre multiplayer that doesn't exactly have you engaged, a steady stream of new characters is the game's best hope of keeping the stagnating fanbase alive.
Before we get to the reveal of Clint Barton (Hawkeye), his successor is getting her own time to shine. Bear in mind, this game is not to be confused with the completely different Marvel's Spider-Man or recent release of Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Who is coming to Marvel's Avengers?
Although this isn't quite the drop of the PlayStation-exclusive Spider-Man DLC, the name Kate Bishop will be familiar for fans of Marvel's Comics. Many questioned why developers Crystal Dynamics didn't include the Clint Barton era of Hawkeye in the main squad - especially considering the character's popularity with Jeremy Renner playing him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Barton will be pulling back his bow at some point, but when it comes to "Operation: Taking Aim", the focus will be on Kate Bishop. In the comics, Bishop was the second person to take on the Mantle of Hawkeye. Although she's yet to appear in the MCU, expect to hear a lot more about the character thanks to Marvel's Avengers. The official PlayStation Blog expanded on Bishop's role in the story.
Hawkeye's description explains, "As Clint Barton’s protégé who, like him, possesses no superhuman powers, she boasts an impressive skillset that has her able to stand toe-to-toe with the Avengers in protecting the world — a duty that the conscientious Kate takes very seriously". Bishop's story will see her delve deeper into a mystery surrounding the missing Nick Fury, possible time travel, and a new villain called Super Adaptoid. The game's latest villain isn't as big as Bishop and is effectively just an angry robot, but still, it's something.
Will the DLCs fix Marvel's Avengers?
As for what else you can expect in "Operation: Taking AIM", the DLC will have unique rewards and a more challenging version of Kate's final mission when you've completed the campaign. She comes with her own Heroics and Finishers, with a particular highlight being Quantum Shift to teleport away from enemy attacks.
Yes, it's great news that Bishop and even more superheroes and villains are coming to Marvel's Avengers, but is it a case of too little too late? Although her Hawkeye DLC was supposed to arrive in October, Kate Bishop was pushed to December. The video game industry has been turned on its head thanks to COVID-19, so we can forgive the developers for this. Still, there's no escaping the fact Marvel's Avengers dropped well below its sale expectations and sold around 60% fewer copies than Square Enix had hoped.
News of "Operation: Taking AIM" is all well and good, but what about the next-gen ports? Similar to what's going on with Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel's Avengers launched on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 ahead of a planned release on Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 at some point. There's still no date for the next-gen release, meaning not all of us will even be able to enjoy Kate Bishop and her sharp-shooting skills.
Marvel's Avengers is rolling out its next DLC when "Operation: Taking AIM" goes live on December 8.
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