An original First Nations superhero is coming to the mobile fighting game Marvel Contest of Champions this November.
At New York Comic Con 2023, Contest of Champions developer Kabam unveiled Chee’ilth, an all-new Marvel character created and inspired by First Nations people. “[E]ndowed with fighting strength from Brother Grizzly and the skill to heal from Sister Eagle,” Chee’ilth arrives in Marvel Contest of Champions next month.
Check out a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Chee’ilth below:
“First Nations people in pop culture is kind of a fascinating thing,” said Contest of Champions designer Justin Ostensen. “A lot of the times, you know, First Nations people, they’re in art and they’re in media, but they don’t get a chance to control it — to create the story themselves. Chee’ilth is the newest superhero coming to Marvel Contest of Champions. She’s different because she’s a First Nations hero — and she’s created by a team of First Nations people.” Said team includes cultural experts Alison Pascal and Linda Epp, as well as artist Austin Harry.
“The biggest thing about working with Marvel that surprised me was their excitement about the idea,” Ostensen continued. “They want this character to exist. They want diversity and inclusiveness to be a major focus for them. ‘Let’s get the cultural experts in, let’s make sure we’re doing this correctly, and let’s make sure we knock it out of the park.'”
The origins of Marvel Contest of Champions’ Chee’ilth
In addition to her appearance in Contest of Champions itself, Kabam has teamed with Marvel for a special comic book telling Chee’ilth’s origin story. “The way that Chee’ilth gains her superpowers … There’s this attack on her small town, there’s a nuclear reactor that goes down, and it sort of creates this big wave of gamma mutates — think Hulk, Abomination, those sort of monstrosities — and they start rampaging through the town. They start hurting people,” Ostensen said.
The designer continued, “And so, Chee’ilth goes to rescue her abusive father from these gamma mutates. And these two spirits are looking on — Brother Grizzly and Sister Eagle — and they decide to bestow their power on her, because she shows the sort of courage and honor that they’re looking for.”
Marvel celebrates Native American Heritage Month
Chee’ilth’s arrival to Contest of Champions in November coincides with Native American Heritage Month. Notably, Marvel Comics will also be celebrating with special variant covers and backup stories from Indigenous and First Nations creators. The publisher previously revealed Cherokee artist Roy Boney’s variants for Ghost Rider #20 and Sensational She-Hulk #2. These covers and comics co-star the characters of Kushala/Spirit Rider and Wyatt Wingfoot, respectively.
Marvel Contest of Champions is available on iOS and Android.
