Marvel and Kabam have announced the release date for Chee’ilth in Marvel Contest of Champions while also revealing that the Apache warrior Kushala would be joining her.
According to a recent announcement from both companies, Kabam’s first-ever original First Nations Hero Chee’ilth enters into the world of Contest of Champions on November 30, 2023. Developer Kabam unveiled Chee’ilth, an all-new Marvel character created and inspired by First Nations people, at New York Comic Con 2023: “[E]ndowed with fighting strength from Brother Grizzly and the skill to heal from Sister Eagle.”
She’ll also be joined by Apache warrior Kushala, who first appeared in the world of Marvel Comics in a Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme comic book in October 2016. Kushala will arrive in the game on November 16, 2023.
To celebrate the news, Marvel has released a new motion comic trailer to highlight Chee’ilth this week. In it, Canadian actress Tantoo Cardinal narrates a story introducing Chee’ilth to fans. Marvel has also released a special, custom comic featuring Chee’ilth, which is available to read online for free now. Check out the motion comic below:
Who is 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,” senior game designer Justin 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.”
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.
