Social Network Teams Up With Marvel, Lets Kids Be Super Heroes

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The popular kids-only social network site Club Penguin is making every kids dream come true — becoming a Super Hero.

Club Penguin is partnering with Disney Marvel to let kids dress their penguin avatars as Avengers characters including Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk. This is the first time the site is allowing users to dress up as characters from a franchise outside the Club Penguin world.

Usually, kids avatars in the virtual world are winter-clad penguins, but now children can choose to suit up as one of 14 different Marvel characters, and they don't have to always be a hero — super villiain Loki will also be an avatar choice.

The social media site — a place where kids can play virtual online games and talk with other kids — gained significant popularity for its rigorous safety controls and moderators to monitor activity. The site is seen as a fill-in for social networks like Facebook that currently don't allow kids under 13 to register.

SEE ALSO: How Disney’s Club Penguin Became the Biggest Social Network for Kids

Club Penguin Island will also receive a Marvel-themed makeover adding a bank, a jail and a Super Hero Headquarters to the destinations kids can explore.

The kids' mission — if they choose to accept it — is to defend or defeat the evil Destructobot that has landed on the island.

“Everyone wants to feel special and believe that they can do something that no one else can do. That optimism is what drives both Club Penguin and the Marvel story lines and characters,” said Lane Merrifield, co-founder of Club Penguin and executive vice president of Disney Interactive Worlds.

The Super Hero takeover begins June 14th and ends July 3rd.

Images courtesy of Disney's Club Penguin.

BONUS: 6 Social Media Sites for Minors Clubpenguin.com This site lets kids take on avatars of penguins and chat with friends on their "lists." Kids can only choose from pre-selected phrases (more than 300,000 in all) when chatting and unrecognized phrased must be approved by moderators. Parental controls are available to manage chat time as well. Kids can even earn "coins" in games — which they are encouraged to give to charity. The site is best for kids 8 and up.