Yesterday, Marvel revealed yet another upcoming video game: Marvel Rivals, a team-based multiplayer shooter inspired by the likes of Overwatch and Valorant. But among its roster of stalwarts—X-Men Storm and Magneto, Guardians of the Galaxy members Star-Lord and Rocket, and of course, more than a few assembled Avengers—one figure stood out to many. But she’s not as unknown as you might think.
Who Is Luna Snow?
Real name Seol Hee, she’s a South Korean pop idol—operating in a group under the name Luna—who was transformed into a human mutate after a concert she performed at a Stark Industries-sponsored arena. Captured by AIM and held hostage inside a malfunctioning fusion reactor, Luna found herself given cryokinetic abilities by her broken cage, using them to defeat AIM and free herself and the other hostages. Now tacking on “Snow” to her idol name to become a part-time superhero as well as a K-Pop starlet, Luna stepped into the wider world of Marvel heroes, working with the revamped Agents of Atlas squad while managing her touring duties.
She’s Not a New Character
Most people intrigued by Luna’s standout appearance in Rivals—especially over more familiar characters from across the comics or amplified by their MCU presence—probably assumed that she’s a new creation for the game. But Luna’s actually been around for six years… and she was actually created for a game, just not this one.
Luna was developed as an original character for the mobile game Marvel Future Fight in 2018, out of a desire by Korean developer Netmarble to add a unique ice-based hero to its roster while also introducing a new homegrown hero. Luna was given a big push, not just for Future Fight, but with a series of music videos promoting her music as an idol. In the years since she’s grown beyond her appearance in Future Fight, mostly in other games; before she was confirmed for Rivals, she actually showed up a year later in another Netease Marvel game, the 2019 MOBA Marvel Super War.
She’s Actually Been in the Comics, Too
It’s not just games either. After her appearance in Future Fight, Netmarble handed Luna over to Greg Pak and Gang Hyuk Lim to bring her into the next iteration of the comics team Agents of Atlas. Originally a team composed of characters from back when Marvel was still Atlas Comics in the 1950s (hence the name), in 2019 the publisher relaunched the team as a way to unite several Asian and Asian-heritage heroes into one group, Luna included.
Formed by Jimmy Woo—and placing Luna alongside the likes of Shang-Chi, Silk, Sword Master, and more—this group first appeared during the War of the Realms event series; Luna received her own spotlight solo comic and became a regular in the Agents of Atlas ongoing in 2019. After its conclusion Luna has largely been relegated to brief team-up appearances in Silk and other event titles, as well as anthologies like the Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month special Marvel Voices: Identity.
Luna’s Powers, Explained
Okay, that’s who she is, but what does she do? Luna’s abilities were a moveset created to build her around in Future Fight—Netmarble wanted to create a character with ice-themed powers, and also wanted them to operate a mechanical role of dealing damage and simultaneously supporting allies with healing powers. This lead to her cryokinesis being a little different from other ice-themed heroes like Bobby Drake: Luna creates and manipulates two different kinds of ice. Dark ice forms her offensive and defensive abilities, while light ice has restorative properties that heal and sustain Luna and her allies.
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