Stan Lee livens up Spider-Man, X-Men panel
By
Tom Magrino
Comic-Con 2011: Activision-hosted panel brings comics progenitor, Val Kilmer, Peter David, and more to talk up X-Men: Destiny, Spider-Man: Edge of Time.
SAN DIEGO--Activision's Comic-Con 2011 panel was more a promotional affair than illuminating discussion, a fact evidenced by the celebrity-studded panel. Perhaps the most enthusiastic of panelists was none other than venerated Marvel man Stan Lee, who was on hand at the beginning of the panel to laud the work of Beenox and Silicon Knights on Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men: Destiny, respectively.
Asked about his impressions of the game, Lee said that it simply feels good to see something like this made. Lee was also quite keen on comic characters' conversion to games, saying that the interactive medium is far more enthralling than even the movies. "Eat your heart out, Batman," Lee exclaimed.
The panel didn't delve too deeply into the games themselves, largely offering high-concept pitches on why gamers should be interested in the new Spider-Man and X-Men titles. Beenox studio head Dee Brown noted that Marvel offered a significant amount of support during the development of Edge of Time's story. Of course, they also had Spider-Man 2099 cocreator Peter David collaborating on the game's story.
Asked about his inspiration for the story, David said that Beenox had largely mapped out the key story points they wanted to hit, and it was his role to fill in the spaces between. Bemused, David said that he and the writing team would frequently consult with Marvel over an idea they thought would certainly be turned down, but the comics company would frequently say, "Yeah, no problem." This includes a joke near the beginning of the game about the disaster-prone Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Broadway musical.
As for X-Men Destiny, the panel was enthusiastic about the flexibility that introducing all-new characters affords players. According to Silicon Knights' Julian Spillane, the new characters create an interesting new wrinkle in the classic X-Men experience because players aren't confined to, say, Wolverine's story and powers. They can craft the character they want, he said. Scott Porter (Friday Night Lights), who voices the character of Adrian, noted that X-Men: Destiny also features a number of mutants not often seen in games.
Check back with GameSpot later for a video of Activision's Comic-Con 2011 panel, which also featured the likes of Val Kilmer, Katee Sackhoff, Laura Vandervoort, and Jaime Chung.
By
Tom Magrino
Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.
33 comments
@MrDoomLWest they had an article recently on the Silicon Knights studio, receiving money from the Government to keep jobs & their company afloat... in that article it stated that Silicon Knights is still interested in making more Too Human games... so hopefully they keep their word, i'd like to see them finish that trilogy & spruce up the next game a bunch, cause it has alot of potential towards becoming excellent...
I feel like the graphics are better than what the wii can handle. Also the smoke effects are lame, but everything else looks fairly good.
X-Men looks rough around the edges for sure.. but I think it'll be pretty fun.. I hope it's good lol
stan lee ur really genius but Batman is my favourite..i wont mind it this time...coz i have learnt to respect noobs too...love u stan
Stan Lee is awesome, but I don't understand what he meant by "Eat your heart out, Batman"? Batman had the best comic book movie (or the most profitable) best comic book video game series. But I still love Stan :)
Stan Lee is what i love the most about comics. X,en destiny is looking amazing and seeing anti-venom in edge of time put a huge smile on my face. Peter david had a phenomenal hulk run, cant wait to see what he put in edge of time.
Ever watch a video of him talking about video games? He doesn't give a damn if it's bad or good, it's a game that let's you play as Spidey or Hulk. That's a true man right there, knows what's fun.
Finally, an old dude who doesn't think Video Games should play second fiddle to movies. Stan Lee is one of the coolest people on the face of this earth.
I remember Stan Lee for two things: 1) Creating a slew of famous super heroes 2) His appearance in The Simpsons I admire him for both of these things.
I got me Oblivion. I got me sci-fi/modern Oblivion in Fallout. Now I want me superhero Oblivion-like game. Will this be it? Man, I hope so.
Stan Lee is awesoime. A living national treasure. He has done so much for Timely, Atlus, Marvel over the years. Starting in the early 1940's. Comic- Com would such a differnt place without him and his presence.
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X-Men: Destiny
- Publisher(s): Activision
- Developer(s): Silicon Knights
- Genre: Action
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- Classification Board: M
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