Marvel.Com Interview: Punisher

Iron Man’s not the only blaster causing Marvel fans and gamers alike to shake with anticipation at the arrival of the DeNA and Marvel real-time co-op brawler “Marvel Mighty Heroes.” Frank Castle has a thing or two to say, do, and blow up, too.

That’s because players will get three versions of Marvel’s Punisher character to control in the game that will be available for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch and Android™ phones and tablets, among others.

“Marvel Mighty Heroes” lets players choose their favorite Marvel comic book characters such as Groot, Captain America, Star-Lord, Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Spider-Man, and scores of allies and nemeses. Players can put together a customized team of super heroes and super villains, each with different skills, abilities and powers to clobber, shoot, smash and blast the path to victory. The game’s multiplayer mode will afford players the chance to test their skills against competitors and earn a spot on the leader board or combine forces with friends to save the universe one battle at a time.

DeNA executive producer Justin Lambros tells us that with his legendary reputation and skill, Punisher comes ideally suited for the game.

Marvel.com: Given Punisher’s popularity in everything Marvel, tell me more about his role in the game and what he will mean for players in the thick of the action?

Justin Lambros: Punisher is a straight damage dealing Blaster and a bit of a glass cannon. But we’ve given him some powerful skills to blast away with machine gun fire, set the level ablaze with incendiary rounds, or toss grenades at enemies. He will require a bit more skill in dodging attacks, but he will cause major damage to get you to the top of the leader boards if you keep him alive in the thick of action.

Marvel.com: There’s more than just one type of outfit worn by the Punisher for the game. There’s the classic costume, with the Frank Castle sporting a pair of machine guns and the notorious “War Journal” outfit, with the long, black coat and big guns. Then there’s the Captain Punisher, a mash-up of Castle and Steve Rogers! How did you and the team decide on those costumes and why?

Justin Lambros: Picking the different suits for each of the heroes is one of the most engaging parts of building this game. We get a small group of folks together representing art, design, and production from the team, who all happen to be big Marvel fans and we hash out what suits we should pick. Most characters start with a standard baseline version, which was the Classic suit for the Punisher. Then we tend to go with what’s the most bad ass version of the hero or villain. For Punisher we agreed the War Journal suit with the trench coat was clearly the one. Lastly, the Captain Punisher suit was a personal favorite of mine. Having Frank Castle with his twisted sense of honor decked out like Captain America was a great twist post-[[]] in the comics.

Marvel.com: Can you give us an idea of what it’s like to build these characters and decide what they offer? Any hints as to who may be coming in the future?

Justin Lambros: A 3-D character pipeline is a difficult thing to manage, with lots of moving parts and tons of stakeholders. We’ve got a great art director and a seasoned team of game makers who help make this challenge a bit easier. First we work with the good folks at Marvel to align our event plan fiction, i.e. which comic events and series are we pulling from. Once we decide on the character list, we go ahead and pick suits and rarities, then the designers start work on the stats and skills. They try to pick abilities that fit well into the game play, but also show off the characters’ unique personality. Art kicks into high gear with concept art, and then doing the 3-D modeling and getting all this approved through Marvel. Once we get them rigged and animated, then the VFX, tuning, balancing and polishing starts happening. We’ve put dozens of characters into the game and have a pretty large stockpile of characters and suits waiting to get into the game. And, as for hints at what's coming up next, think of your favorite characters from comics that have inspired the blockbuster Marvel Studios films, or look at the major comic events that have resonated over the years. That's where we are going and can’t wait to unveil our plans officially very soon.