UM SANCTUM SANC-LORE

Scot Amos teases us some extra details. But what do they mean?

Rather than pick a readymade Marvel story to base a game on, Crystal Dynamics is creating a unique story packed with significant details. In conversation with Scot Amos, he drops some little hints about things to look out for. But what does it all mean?

CAPTAIN AMERICA’S SHIELD

“Why does Cap’s shield have a larger star than it usually does? There’s a story behind that,” says Amos. Thankfully, in this instance, he provides an answer: “The Avengers have expanded to the West Coast, so they’re actually covering more of the world so they actually have a unique image. Everything that we do has a story to it.”

THE AVENGERS’ ‘A’

“Why are there little phalanges on the A on the Avengers logo? Well, we have a story for that,”

Amos continues, but reveals nothing more. While other

Avengers ‘A’ logos have featured the arrow, they don’t usually have the little indentations at the top and bottom of the letter. Looking back in Marvel history, the very first Avengers logos did have a little extra serif on top of the A, but on the other side. This time, it looks to us as though multiple As would stack perfectly on top of each other. Perhaps this represents multiple branches of The Avengers being able to slot together? After all, A-Day is a celebration to launch their West Coast operations. Or perhaps it speaks to a wider multiverse.

THE BLUE BACKGROUND

“Why is there a blue background for the ‘A’?

All of this stuff, literally to that level of detail, has some story behind it,” says Amos, and we realise he’s right. Only in marketing materials have we seen the blue, opaque-looking background behind the Avengers’ A. In the A-Day celebrations, it’s simply transparent. Could this link in to the Terrigen energy? Perhaps something to do with the Infinity Stones? Or, again, a link to a wider multiverse?

WEST COAST AVENGERS

Speaking of A-Day, there’s a reason why the team is being celebrated: Amos tells us it’s to open their West Coast branch (usually these Avengers operate out of the East Coast’s New York City). Perhaps this means we’ll see heroes more traditionally associated with that team? Originally founded by Hawkeye, it has included Jim Rhodes (pretending to be Iron Man, but who is more well known these days as War Machine), The Black Knight (who has strong ties to the Inhumans and will be in next year’s MCU film), Vision, and Quicksilver.

THE BIG BAD

We know AIM are the antagonists in the initial main campaign, but something catches our attention. We’re told by Casey Lynch that “if AIM is left unchecked, they could unleash the greatest threat the Earth has ever known.” Similarly Scot Amos says that “AIM’s pursuit of a technocratic utopia could result in one of the greatest threats Earth has ever faced.” But what could such a large threat be? We already know Taskmaster and Abomination will appear as supervillains, but who else might AIM either call upon, or unwittingly unleash? The superintelligent Modok is often associated with the group in the comics, but even he might not be big enough. Could it all end up being something more… galactic…?