Excelsior
Marvel Studios recently released a dramatic trailer for the fourth phase of what has come to be known as “The Marvel Cinematic Universe” (MCU). Leading on from over a decade of fantastic comic-book movies — each and every one a chapter within a compelling, emotive, and wildly entertaining universe — the coming years will see a new breed of heroes step from page-to-screen, defending a planet and its populace from the fallout of the devastating Infinity War.
As regular readers will be aware, I love movies. I’ve had the good fortune to spend four solid decades enjoying many films, from many countries, many budgets, and many generations. And while it’s super fashionable to scoff at and mock the MCU, the fact remains that I am completely in love with this franchise. I consider it a blessing that I was able to not only experience the full cinematic run of movies — from Iron Man to Avengers: Endgame — but that I was also able to feel the hair-raising highs, heartbreaking lows, pulse-pounding action, and intense drama of this smash-hit series of blockbusters.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier… since you asked.
Comic books lend themselves marvelously (no pun intended) to video games, a medium almost entirely built on bending the laws of physics and rules of reality. Despite this, comic book-based video games have been relatively hit-and-miss, and one could argue that DC Comics has been more consistent in the field, with Rocksteady’s excellent Batman: Arkham adventures and NetherRealm’s solid Injustice series. But save for Capcom’s Marvel vs. Capcom titles and TT Games’ so-so LEGO entries, Marvel games have struggled to capture the glory of six-plus decades of page-turning excellence. Then, in 2018, Insomniac dropped Marvel’s Spider-Man and, in one swift move, changed the game.
Marvel’s Spider-Man, for the first time in a long time, really brought the Marvel universe to the forefront of gaming, giving the brand a beautifully designed, highly engaging, exciting and — most importantly of all — fun game that rivaled Rocksteady’s aforementioned Arkham releases. Praised by both critics and fans, The web-slinger’s adventures sold gangbusters, leading to an equally cool pseudo-sequel in the form of Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
The Marvel universe features hundreds of heroes and villains, all of whom are able to transcend boring reality thanks to their respective abilities to fly, shoot ice, lift buildings and vehicles, replicate animals, read minds, and — best of all — command armies of squirrels. Almost all of these characters could be crowbarred into a game, one way or another, but only a select few will be chosen to helm their own bespoke title, and even fewer will see success when doing so.
And so, I’d like to hear which Marvel characters you would like to see receive their own game. While Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The X-Men, and even The Punisher have made their presence felt in the digital world, what of the Captain Marvels, Adam Warlocks, Novas, and Mockingbirds of the world?
You can open the envelope on this one. It doesn’t matter if it’s a well-known figure/faction who would shift six million copies, or a relative unknown whose game would sell a grand total of one copy… your copy. I just want to hear who, from Marvel’s amazing universe, you would love to see get their very own interactive epic. I’m excited to hear your choices!