C2E2: Marvel Takes Digital to a New Level, Reveals Documentary Series in the Works

by David Fairbanks

Marvel’s House of Ideas panel at C2E2 2015 was hosted by Ryan Penagos and features Nick Lowe, Joshua Hale Fialkov, and Mark Waid on stage, focusing heavily on Marvel’s digital endeavors with brief mentions of the 75^th anniversary of Marvel Comics, the Marvel Gaming Universe, and a new documentary series called Tales to Astonish.

 Joshua Hale Fialkov and Juan Bobilo will be bringing Amazing Spider-man: Who Am I? to the Marvel Infinite Comics lineup, but unlike titles like AvX and Wolverine, Who Am I? will be released in a batch on May 6 containing the first four chapters, with another batch of chapters to be released approximately a month later.

Who Am I? will focus on what someone with the powers of Spider-man will do without his background, as he awakens in a body with his powers in the midst of robbing a bank. He has all of the power and no understanding of the responsibility. Fialkov says he was told “not to worry about print” and that the series will take advantage of digital-only techniques, worrying about their print viability later if needed.

Ultimate Spider-man (animated) will have a free Infinite Comics debuting soon.

Mark Waid’s Daredevil: Road Warrior Infinite Comic is coming to print July 2014 as issue 0.1, bridging the gap between his two Daredevil volumes. Waid admits that they are reverse engineering the title to make it viable for print, saying “there are two characters in particular that loan themselves beautifully to digital comics; Doctor Strange, who I have ideas for, and Daredevil. For Daredevil: Road Warrior, we faded the POV from the way you see the world to the way Matt Murdock sees the world.”

Marvel has provided new updates to their augmented reality app, Marvel AR. The updated version promises to be faster playing, better functioning, and offering more content with the relaunch of Amazing Spider-man showcasing some of the new features.

Updates to the Marvel Comics Unlimited app were announced, including the implementation of audio soundtracks—described by Fialkov as “so well done, so interestingly done,” highlighting a particular Captain America issue that “had a Cap theme, a Bucky theme, and more” that had won over a once-skeptical Fialkov. Described as music in a video game, with seamless transitions and a theme for a given “stage” that could change and then revert back as the story progressed.

Marvel Comics Unlimited will also have video added to the app. Currently available on the first six issues of Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers, there will be behind-the-scenes footage, interviews (one example was a discussion with Hickman on the design he created for the Avengers roster), and other miscellaneous footage.

Like the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Marvel Gaming Universe is set to be intertwined. Penagos showed a brief preview that looked to be setting up a video game exploring the multiple realities that are colliding in the Marvel Universe thanks to Hickman’s current Avengers storyline, though he was unable to tell us what the video game is yet. Marvel’s video game staff are included in the editorial retreats to ensure that the whole of the Marvel Universe has a matching vision, with game scripts being written or supervised by comics writers to keep a consistent voice.

Finally, Marvel announced their Tales to Astonish documentary series. Directed by Emmy-winning Eric Drath (30 for 30), the first installment will focus on Civil War and clips featuring Joss Whedon, Stan Lee, and Tucker Stone were previewed. The series hopes to tie into the real-world events that Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko were experiencing and trying to bring into their comics. There has yet to be any announcement as to how or when it will be released.