Marvel’s Avengers is now available to those who purchased the more expensive versions of the game, and one of the most surprising things about my experience is how much I am enjoying playing as Kamala Khan. Although, this has more to do with how she plays like one of the most famous manga characters in history - Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece.
I wasn’t particularly interested in playing as Kamala Khan going into Marvel’s Avengers. This wasn’t anything against the character or her powers, as most of what I know about her is from the comics. I was just more interested in playing the Avengers from the movies. I was an X-Men kid growing up, back in the days when Marvel didn’t care as much about anyone who wasn’t a mutant or named Peter Parker, so I didn’t start caring about any of the Avengers until the original “Civil War” storyline in the comics and the MCU.
Kamala Khan’s powers are a mixture of shape-shifting and size alteration, which means that she can stretch and expand her body to strike down enemies. While playing as her in Marvel’s Avengers, it quickly felt as if the animators had been inspired by how Luffy fights in the One Piece anime, manga, and video games. In One Piece, Luffy’s body is made of rubber, due to the effects of a cursed fruit that he ate, so he creates an entire fighting style/set of power-ups based around his elastic form.
It’s only natural that characters with similar powers would fight in the same way, but Kamala has many of the same outrageous moves as Luffy, even to the point where she has her own Gear Third with her High Five super attack. The way Khan navigates levels by stretching her limbs to grab ledges and swing from poles even matches how Luffy works in a lot of One Piece video games.
The majority of the One Piece video games on the market are either mediocre or repetitive, with most being mindless beat ’em ups that endlessly rehash the storylines from the manga. Playing as a character like Luffy in a game that’s as polished as Marvel’s Avengers and is set in a familiar setting outside of the One Piece world has been the highlight of my experience so far, and Kamala has become my default choice of hero, as she’s almost like the MCU/One Piece crossover that would never officially happen.
Marvel’s Avengers is available on Google Stadia, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on September 4. Those who purchase the Deluxe version of the game can start playing today.
