PlayStation, Arc System Works, and Marvel Games joined forces to deliver the latest in tag team fighters: MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls! Released on August 6, the game drops players into an all-new Marvel Universe packed with reimagined characters and stages; a thrilling soundtrack; intuitive gameplay; and incredible, jaw-dropping visuals that will keep players on the edge of your seat.
To celebrate the launch, Marvel Comics recently brought the excitement of the game to comic shops with MARVEL Tōkon: First Strike #1, an action-packed comic special written by Steve Orlando, Tom Waltz, and Josh Trujillo, with art by Bruno Büll, Áthila Fabbio, and Ryusei Yamada. Starring the breakout teams of the game—the Fighting Avengers and the Unbreakable X-Men—MARVEL Tōkon: First Strike #1 expands the game’s mythology and reveals the exciting backstories of its playable heroes as well as its antagonists, the Promoter and Champion.
For D23.com, we spoke exclusively Orlando, Trujillo, and Waltz—who each wrote a different story for the anthology-style comic—to learn more:
Q: What excited you most about working on this title, and bringing this particular world to the pages of a comic book?
Steve Orlando (SO): For me, without question—it was the cast. These are some of Marvel’s biggest icons as well as some of their most compelling concepts. To approach them from an almost open canvas perspective was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I love the idea of the Elders of the Universe, it’s a classic comic book idea but also has the feel of an Asimov concept, so to be able to retell the Champion’s origin was a blast! To get to do it with the Silver Surfer, one of Marvel’s greatest characters, as our antagonist, was just the icing.
Josh Trujillo (JT): Oh gosh, I grew up playing a lot of Marvel video games and A LOT of fighting games! It’s really exciting to be a small, humble part of this new generation of fighters. MARVEL Tōkon has such a unique take on the comics canon, I think it’s going to pleasantly surprise longtime fans.
Tom Waltz (TW): Getting to write a classic team of Avengers for the first time was an absolute blast! I mean, c’mon! Such iconic characters! Captain America! Thor! Hulk! Iron Man! What super-hero fan doesn’t dream of putting words into their mouths… and bombastic actions behind those words? And for me, a former Marine, there was no way I wasn’t going to take this unique opportunity to make Cap my POV character. I’m a die-hard Captain America fan from way back (WAY back!), and to have the chance to get inside his head and share his thoughts with our amazing readers… oh, man! I still get goosebumps. And the cherry on top was to have my words rendered by the super-talented team of artist Áthila Fabbio, colorist Javier Tartaglia, and letterer Joe Sabino. I can’t thank my amazing editor, Lauren Amaro, enough for having me onboard for this kick-butt comic!
Q: We read that MARVEL Tōkon: First Strike #1 will expand on MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls’ mythology and reveal backstories of both its playable heroes as well as the antagonists, the Promoter and Champion. What can you tell us about the comic’s different stories?
SO: It’ll be tragic! The Champion, the Promoter, and the Silver Surfer all have stories that rhyme in their ways–they’re all from a people who’ve faced catastrophe, they’ve all had to survive, and they’ve all come out of it fundamentally changed. But here, we’ll see just how different those outcomes can be–the Champion takes his pain out on the universe, the Promoter internalizes it, and the Surfer takes the burden of the whole universe upon himself. This story will show us a glimmer of hope for the Promoter, a way out of the twisted cycle she didn’t know she was signing up for…but will she be strong enough to take it?
JT: My story, “The Battles Ahead” focuses on the Unbreakable X-Men, and specifically on their leader, Storm! This is a prequel to the storyline of the game, but has long-reaching consequences for the launch game (and beyond!) We have a lot of big action moments, but also smaller, tender ones that really highlight what’s at stake for our favorite mutants.
TW: [Our] story is a direct prequel to the Fighting Avengers story portion of video game, which players will be able to experience in some very cool manga-style animated cut scenes when they begin playing. Not to spoil too much, [but] players will find that the core Avengers team we present in the comic book—Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk—have a had a falling out of sorts prior to the events of the game. Our story explains what caused that rift, leaving readers (and players) with the burning question: can the Avengers unfortunate separation be overcome in order to join forces once again to save Earth from one of the biggest threats they’ve ever faced—the Champion?!
Q: …And were these stories that folks had already been working on as groundwork for the game, or were they created whole-cloth for the comic?
SO: A bit of both, at least in my case! Since we’re offering this world’ version of the Champion’s origin, we did have the original version to draw on. But here, we knew we had to polish our take to align with the world of the game–and the mechanics of his tournament. That connective tissue, the tendons between the inspiration and the game’s presentation, was woven whole cloth.
JT: These stories in MARVEL Tōkon: First Strike are completely original, so new players don’t have to worry about catching up on a lot of continuity. There is a grand plan to MARVEL Tōkon in terms of story, and this comic is a great launching off point for that.
TW: The game developers had already laid the groundwork for the story my team and I eventually told. We were shown early versions of the in-game cut scenes, and we were presented with a bulleted scenario for our prequel—basic beats they wanted us to explore in our comic that lead in directly to the story being told in-game. Then we were given free rein to expand upon those beats, giving the overall comic a voice and a look that fit our individual styles. Happily, the game team (and editorial) were stoked early on by what we’d come up with, making this collaboration an absolute joy from start to finish.
Q: What do you hope fans of the game take away from the comic?
SO: Sympathy for the devil! Hearts will break for the Promoter—we’ll root for her; we’ll feel her pain. And once we see how the Champion has used her grief and mutated it into something dangerous, we’ll be chomping at the bit for her to free herself from his service, just like the Silver Surfer escaped serving Galactus—if she can.
JT: I hope they walk away knowing why Storm is the greatest heroine Marvel has, both in terms of her incredible powers but also her empathy. It’s so fun to play as your favorite characters in games like this, but I think it means so much more when you know the journey they’re on within MARVEL Tōkon!
TW: I’m a died-in-the-wool lore aficionado—I always want to know the story-behind-the-story in any medium I consume, including video games. What I hope is that our comic scratches that lore itch for other lore nuts like myself… filling in the gaps that will inevitably present themselves as players begin their in-game journey. Players who’ve already read our comic will know why the Fighting Avengers are split at the start. And players who start the game before reading the comic will have the answers they seek readily available in our story should they want to circle back to know more about the characters they are fighting with (or against) in the game.
Q: Anything else you’d like to tell D23.com readers about your work on this project, the comic itself, etc.?
SO: I can’t wait for you to see this one! Bruno Bull worked some absolutely explosive pages up for this one–and the story is classic comic book tragedy. These stories are the comics glue binding the world of the game to the world that inspired the game—and that game is the next place you’ll be seeing some of Marvel’s most iconic heroes and villains. Play the game, read the story, join the next new iteration of the world of Marvel Comics. And spare some sympathy for the Silver Surfer—he does try so very hard!
JT: It’s such a thrill to write for these iconic characters in this new game! And who knows? Maybe I’m the one you’re playing against online! Good luck…
TW: I’d just like to reiterate how absolutely honored and humbled I am to be a part of such a great project. The Avengers have always been my super-hero dream team, so to have the chance to play in their sandbox—especially as part of such a cool video-game project—is a bucket-list moment for me, and I couldn’t be happier to share the experience with so many wonderful collaborators and fellow comic-book and video-game fans! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone who’ve taken the time to check out our story—we hope you had as much fun reading it as we did creating it. And for those who haven’t picked it up yet, all I can say is: AVENGERS FANS ASSEMBLE! The more the merrier!
MARVEL Tōkon: First Strike #1 is now available on Marvel Unlimited and at your local comic shop—and MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls is now available for PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam or Epic Games!
