The first post-launch Marvel's Avengers character is Kate Bishop, the other Hawkeye
No but listen, Hawkeye is good in the comics
Superman and his Super Friends slip on their spandex for the launch of Marvel's Avengers on Friday (though pre-orderers already have access), then after that Square Enix plan to update the action-RPG with new characters and content in that 'live service' way. Last night's 'War Table' stream confirmed the first character coming after launch will be Kate Bishop, the other arrow-plinging hero known as Hawkeye. She's a decent character in the comics, having a fun double-act with the original Hawkeye - who I should stress isn't a wank like he is in the films. Anyway! Come meet Kate.
Kate will star in Taking Aim, the first 'Operation' coming after the game launches, due in late October. Operations are big ol' content drops with new characters, story missions, villains, and such, continuing the story after the main campaign. Looks like her story dovetails with whatever's going on with Clint Barton's Hawkeye, who's due to arrive with a new Operation in November to complete that story.
I like Kate Bishop. Similar to the other Hawkeye, she's just a regular person who's well into arrows and acrobatics. She first appeared in Young Avengers, but I most know her from the Hawkeye series by Matt Fraction and David Aja, where the old Hawkeye works with her and they have a sweet 'buddy cop film' friendship. Funny. Human. Low-level superheroism. Very nice.
The War Table stream began with a tribute to Chadwick Boseman, the recently-departed actor who played Black Panther in the Marvel movies. It noted that "out of respect for a fallen true hero, we have altered what we are showing today," which does sound like maybe we might have been seeing Black Panther. Fortnite currently has a panther statue as part of its big Marvel crossover season, which players are treating as a memorial.
Marvel's Avengers launches on Steam on Friday the 4th of September. It'll also be on PS4 and Xbone. Folks who pre-ordered got early access so hey, you can already watch it on Twitch and that.
Disclosure: Oh right, RPS co-founder Karen Gillan wrote for Kate in Young Avengers at some point. This does now make me worry she might have inherited horrible punning as a character trait.