Behind the songstress – interview with Danny Koo and Lola Ong on Luna Snow

After an initial teaser, Luna Snow makes her way into Marvel Super War! If you somehow haven’t gotten round to trying out the entire Marvel mobile game ecosystem, Luna Snow’s a character from Marvel Future Fight, an original character who’s gone on to record her own singles and have supplementary comics! We had the chance to conduct an email interview to peel back the showbiz curtain for a bit, with Lola Ong, Marketing Manager at NetEase Games and Danny Koo, Director of Production at Marvel Games, with us to answer our questions.

GB: Is Luna Snow based on the comics based on MARVEL Future Fight, or directly adapted from Marvel Future Fight?

DANNY KOO / DK: Luna Snow was first introduced in MARVEL Future Fight as a joint collaboration between Marvel Games and Netmarble debuting Marvel’s 1^st K-Pop Super Hero to the world. Ever since, Marvel Games have also partnered up with Marvel Comics to introduce Luna Snow into the comics. She is a member of the Agents of Atlas team and has her own one-shot comic stories. Working closely with NetEase Games, we determined now is the right time to introduce Luna Snow to more audiences in MARVEL Super War.

GB: Will there be MARVEL Super War -first original characters too?

LOLA ONG / LO: For now, MARVEL Super War aims to introduce more iconic Super Heroes into the battlefield.

DK: NetEase Games is one of the top tier developers in the world and we are glad to work with them on MARVEL Super War. If there is any new content that NetEase Games is excited to work on, we are always there to help elevate it.

GB: Are there any other upcoming Asian characters to be added to MARVEL Super War?

LO: Yes, that is definitely in our plan!

GB: Considering how many popular Marvel characters have yet to be added to MARVEL Super War, why Luna Snow first?

DK: 2020 has been a very tough here for everyone due to the global pandemic. We discussed with NetEase Games on how to celebrate the game’s first anniversary during the Winter period with something that’s big, bold, and impactful. We are excited to introduce Luna Snow’s new single titled “Flow (feat. Luna)” and debut her in MARVEL Super War. The lyrics of “Flow” are very meaningful and empowering, bringing an important message about realizing your own powers and celebrating your own strength because you are not alone. We are hopeful that Luna Snow’s new song is the perfect one to encourage all of the players in the game.

GB: Can you tell us anything about other tie-in material with MSW? e.g. Luna Snow’s singles/comics.

LO: For Flow, we invited Luna from the K-pop group f(x) to sing the new single. Considering the success of this, we are definitely considering how to continue different collaborations in the future.

DK: At Marvel Games, we are always up to work with different and bold ideas and we can’t wait to determine what our next steps are with Luna Snow!

GB: How was it like designing Luna Snow for a MOBA from an action game?

LO: Luna Snow can produce dark ice for destruction and light ice for healing, and we designed her with this focus in mind. Luna Snow is a powerful Energy hero in game, and Mid lane will be more suitable for her to show off her powers.

DK: When we first created Luna Snow in 2018, we always referred to her duo powers: dark ice and light ice. This kind of dual power fits the mold of an action game. NetEase has been able to realize her powers on the battlefield and we couldn’t be more thrilled about how they represent them in MARVEL Super War. For the first time ever, Luna Snow is being voiced in a Marvel game as well!

GB: How long does it take to create a character from scratch?

LO: We’d decided to add Luna Snow during the holidays in June. We then started to work on the song around July. So, it took about half year for us to create a character.

GB: Since Luna Snow is an original character, will there soon be a story-mode in MSW so that people can learn more about her, and other characters?

DK: You can learn more about Luna Snow through Marvel. It’s a good resource to have for anyone getting to know Luna Snow.

GB: Considering MSW isn’t officially a worldwide title, can you tell us about plans to have it released outside of Asia?

LO: We have no further news on that front other than what has already been announced.

GB: We asked about Wolverine back in April, he’s highly anticipated so could you tell us anything about him coming to the game?

LO: We are glad that everyone is excited about Wolverine! Right now, we are focusing on Luna Snow and official news about Wolverine will only be announced via our official games channel.

Both Wolverine fans and international fans of Marvel Super War will have to continue the waiting game. If we consider the six month time frame to create a hero, maybe check back in in another half year?

In any case, take Luna Snow as a good start for the coming year. Since they’ll keep their focus on iconic superheroes presumably after Luna’s release, perhaps she’ll herald Wolverine coming in the next six months? We can hope.