Marvel’s Giant Sized Special is a super-powered ad in an actual play mask

Earlier this month, Marvel premiered the Giant Sized Special, an actual play (AP) of their new Marvel Multiverse Roleplaying Game (written by Matt Forbeck) in partnership with the Glass Cannon Network. The cast, led by narrator and Glass Cannon Network CEO Troy Lavallee, play as notable characters from the Marvel Universe—including Vision, Beast, Colossus, and your friendly neighborhood Spider-Mman—who have banded together to form a second-string superhero group called “The Good Enoughs.” 

The feature-length one shot launched on the Marvel YouTube Channel, which has over 20 million subscribers. This makes it among the largest platforms ever to air an actual play. For comparison, Critical Role—the largest and most popular actual play channel—has just over 2 million subscribers; SmoshGames—another large entertainment brand, which produced an actual play last year—sits at a little over 7.5 million. In a medium that struggles to find an audience outside of a very niche section of the internet, any project which stands to breach containment has the exciting potential to revolutionize the space. A short, single-session AP feature with high production value, skilled performers, and a cultural crossover with a relatively untapped audience is exactly what this medium needs to continue growing. However, merely having a platform doesn’t mean it’s being adequately or artistically utilized. In this critic’s opinion, the Giant-Sized Special is a shallow emulation of actual play, mining the community-oriented new medium for profit.