The Avengers are getting a new line of high-end action figures and they’re designed by none other than Tetsuya Nomura, the legendary character artist at Square Enix. On top of his work designing video game characters, Nomura has also designed several action figures before, including DC’s Catwoman and Batman.
Nomura has spent his entire career in video games at Square Enix. He started at Square in 1991 before the company merged with Enix. Starting with Final Fantasy 5, Nomura has had a hand in nearly every game in the Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts franchises, including Final Fantasy 7 Remake and the most recent Final Fantasy 14 expansion, Shadowbringers. Throughout his career, Nomura played a major part in the development of games like Chrono Trigger, Super Mario RPG, and The World Ends With You. He was also behind Cloud Strife’s design in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, having designed the original character for Final Fantasy 7.
More recently, Nomura designed four action figures for the Marvel Universe Variant Bring Arts series. The full lineup includes Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and Spider-Man. While the figures don’t deviate so far from the original characters as to be unrecognizable, they carry a distinctly Nomura look that will be noticeable to anyone familiar with his work, particularly the Iron Man figure, which boasts a pair of mechanical wings that wouldn’t look at all out of place on a Final Fantasy boss. The action figures are currently available for preorder from Square Enix, with a release date of December 2020. Even Avengers and Nomura super fans might not be able to justify getting the full set, as they come in at $134.99 each, but each one also includes a lithograph of Nomura’s concept art for the figure.
The action figures’ release date puts them a few months after another collaboration between Marvel and Square Enix, with the Marvel’s Avengers game set to release this September. While fans originally seemed divided over the game’s depiction of the Avengers, responses to recent news like the game’s upcoming beta and its expanded character roster have been more positive.
The Marvel Universe Variant Bring Arts Avengers action figures may be as hard to afford as the full name is to say, but there’s no denying they’re a special treat for fans of both The Avengers and Tetsuya Nomura’s work. For players who are really looking forward to Marvel’s Avengers and can save up a little between now and December, they may be the ultimate collector’s items.
Source: Square Enix