10 Marvel Studios Games We'd Like To See

Last week Marvel Studios outlined its movie plans from now until 2020, listing release dates for a wide variety of super-hero projects, including the highly anticipated Captain America: Civil War, and a two-part Avengers epic focusing on the Infinity gems.

What if this studio plotted a similar release schedule for video games? What comic book characters could make the leap from comic page to interactive entertainment? Of equal importance, which development teams have the vision and technical expertise to properly handle these heroes' source material? Lastly, when should these games hit store shelves?

Playing the role of the fictional string-puller at Marvel, I put together a timeline of 10 games that I would love to see come to fruition, assigning each a developer and release date. As a huge comic book fan dating back to the early ‘80s, most of my picks stem from Marvel’s big events throughout the years. Three of my creations are linked to the current motion picture/television universe, which I am also quite fond of.

Since Marvel’s current licensing conundrum is only for motion pictures, I assume all of the studio’s characters and teams, such as Spider-Man and X-Men, are fair game. Following Marvel’s track record of working with a wide variety of studios, not just those under Disney’s payroll, I’ve chosen the teams I feel best fit the games, regardless of current affiliations (like Sony and Activision's current handling of Spider-Man).

Here’s what I would do If I had a blank check to create new interactive experiences within Marvel's wonderfully diverse universe:

The Avengers: The Infinity Gauntlet
Developer Raven Software
Release November 8, 2016

The Pitch:
Based on 1991’s six-issue limited series of the same name, The Infinity Gauntlet game pits the entire Marvel universe against Thanos, a cosmic deity questing to collect all six Infinity gems. These powerful cosmic objects give the bearer unprecedented control over space, time, soul, reality, power, and mind. If they are assembled at once, Thanos becomes a god, capable of ruling the entire universe.

Developer Raven Software is selected to bring this experience to consoles as an isometric RPG brawler, designed similarly to the studio’s other super hero games, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and X-Men Legends.


The Game:

Rather than matching the characters’ appearances to the look of the current movie and comic versions, The Infinity Gauntlet would be a period piece, showing the heroes’ classic looks from the ‘90s; high collars, frilly boots, huge shoulder pads, and all. The one big change: The Guardians of the Galaxy (the version from the recent comics and film) would exist in their current form, but with retro outfit designs.

The game’s story is a reinterpretation of the comic books events, starting with The Avengers attempting to stop Thanos from stealing the first gem (space) from a hidden S.H.I.E.L.D. base on the moon. The race for the other gems unfolds across five different regions of Marvel’s expansive universe – from Asgard to Zenn-la.

The selection of playable characters is unprecedented, offering dozens of X-Men, all of The Avengers, The Hulk, Spider-Man, Silver Surfer, Thor, Adam Warlock, Nick Fury, the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, Alpha Flight, and numerous other cosmic beings. Toward the end of the game, that pool shrinks significantly when Thanos snaps his fingers and kills off most of the X-Men and all of the Fantastic Four, just like he did in the comic series.

Combat is of the button-mashing variety with strong emphasis’ placed on super moves and environment interaction. Character leveling steers away from slotting attribute points, and is instead based on in-game performance. All attacks and moves gain experience through use and level up over time. All of the actions the player makes feed into a base pool, which raises the character's level, and ups his or her hit points and defense.

Choice is woven throughout the story, giving players a degree of ownership over the narrative arc. Do you team up with villains or lock them away? Teaming up with evildoers unlocks them as playable characters. Locking them away opens up new hero choices. At the end of the game, all of these choices add up for the final confrontation against Thanos. Like the comic, the heroes have one shot at stopping this tyrant. If the player fails, rather than delivering a Game Over state, the outcome of this battle determines the starting point for the sequel, The Infinity War.

Coming up next: Captain America on drugs...

Captain America: Streets of Poison
Developer United Front Games
Release March 14, 2017

The Pitch:
The best Captain America stories were told between issues 300 and 400 by writer Mark Gruenwald. During this time, Gruenwald transformed Captain America's image from that of a squeaky-clean American icon to a conflicted hero. One story, Streets of Poison, shows Steve Rogers addicted to a designer street drug. Since his DNA is enhanced with the Super Soldier Serum, the drug affects Rogers differently, turning him into a violent mess of a hero.

This nine-issue arc is the first act in Captain America: Streets of Poison, an open-world game developed by United Front Games (of Sleeping Dogs fame). The other acts pull from Gruenwald's earlier work with the character.

The Game:
The opening cinematic shows Captain America in a no-win situation. A Hydra agent is seconds away from opening fire on hostages. Captain America either has to watch the hostages die, or use a gun to drop the Hydra agent. He chooses to save the hostages, but his shot doesn't just maim the agent. It kills him. Cap collapses to his knees. We see him struggling to cope with what he had done in a montage that gives way to the game's first mission. The government sends Captain America to Manhattan to survey a gang war between Kingpin and the Red Skull. While interrogating a lead, Captain America is injected with the drug, Ice. It masks his pain and he succumbs to it. He falls off of the grid, becoming a nobody. The government needs him, but they can't locate him. During this time, the missions have Cap completing questionable favors for gangs and drug dealers, hallucinating in bouts of rage as he does so.

With the United States' hero believed to be dead, the government enlists Super Patriot to take over as Captain America, not knowing that he too holds a dark secret: He enjoys murdering criminals. The new Captain America unleashes a world of pain against the criminal empires of the United States. The government is pleased with the reduction in crime, but still doesn't know the means to which it is achieved.

With the help of Daredevil and Black Widow, Captain America cleans himself up, and is determined to take his mantle back. He dawns the new identity of US Agent. His mission: Expose the truth behind the new Captain America, and win back the government's faith in the process.

With Cap no longer on Ice, the gameplay reverts back to a full-on, open-world super hero experience. Captain America's shield and acrobatic combat prowess are the centerpieces. His trusty motorcycle handles city traversal, but he can also call in a favor from S.H.I.E.L.D. for fast-travel. The game concludes with a showdown between Captain America and US Agent on the White House's lawn.

Coming up next: Move over Kratos...

Black Panther
Developer SCE Sony Santa Monica
Release November 1, 2017

The Pitch:
Timed for release to accompany the launch of the Black Panther film, this third-person action game sees the Wakandan leader in a fight to defend his technologically advanced African country from a slew of forces that threaten its safety and sovereignty. The African plains offer a unique setting to explore, while the mix of melee combat and tech gadgets allows for an exciting mix of gameplay.
 
The God of War developers at Sony Santa Monica are the perfect fit for this first solo Black Panther game. The team’s expertise in tight and engaging melee combat ensures that T’Challa moves with grace and ferocity. And the environment artists that previously brought ancient Greek mythology to life would do a phenomenal job of crafting a wondrous and wild Wakanda.
 
The Game:
T’Challa is forced to step off the throne to help defend his people and country, as invaders come to take his land and the vibranium it holds. Levels see the Black Panther heading out into Wakanda to retake his country piece by piece after a devastating initial attack.
 
In between levels, T’Challa returns to his home palace to level up his skills and plan his next move. An interactive map allows T’Challa to choose which part of Wakanda he’ll retake next, knowing that whatever location he doesn’t choose will allow the invaders to become more entrenched.
 
The melee combat system focuses on fast and brutal strikes, and options to strike from hiding for devastating results. T’Challa is acrobatic and fast, and the battles should reflect those traits, with lots of options to leap and assault from raised platforms, vault over enemies, and swing athletically between platforms, trees, chandeliers, and vines.
 
As a special bonus, a couple of levels switch control over to fellow Black Panther, and T’Challa’s sister, Shuri – who does her own part to fight back against the invaders on other fronts of the conflict. If the developers are particularly ambitious, we’d even get an awesome team-up level in which T’Challa’s one-time-wife, Storm (of the X-Men), steps in to help her husband out of a scrape.

Coming up next: Galaxy overdrive...

Guardians of the Galaxy: Future's End
Developer Insomniac Games
Release March 6, 2018

The Pitch:
The humorous and destructive approach of the Guardians of the Galaxy is the perfect fit for Insomniac Games, specifically the team behind Sunset Overdrive. Guardians of the Galaxy: Future's End is a unique side story to the motion picture universe that pits Star-Lord and his team against Kang the Conqueror, a deadly foe who uses time travel to warp reality. The battle unfolds in an open world on an alien planet that is seen from both present day and the 31st century. Early on in this adventure, the modern day Guardians come face-to-face with the Guardians of the future.

The Game:
All five of the modern-day Guardians characters are playable, but Rocket and Gamora, the two most nimble characters, are the mains that see the most action. Star-Lord, Groot, and Drax are only controllable in missions designed to take advantage of their skill sets. Major Vance Astro is also controllable for a brief moment in the final battle against Kang, which is set on a sliver of earth hanging precariously between the two timelines.

Much like Sunset Overdrive, the focus of the game is that of city traversal mixed with weapon and melee-based combat. In the second mission, the Guardians are dislodged in time, giving them the ability to phase between realities with the click of the button. This technology is similar in design to Halo: The Master Chief Collection's functionality for retro and modern graphical settings. Only in this experience, when the button is pressed, the guardians warp from present day to future. If Rocket is in the future sliding along a broken rail that is running out of track, he can jump to the past – a time in which the rail is new – to continue his slide. In addition to the subtle visual clue of the rail being broken, the player can tap a shoulder button to see a ghostly wireframe overlay of the other timeline.

And yes, the soundtrack is a Star-Lord mix-tape of earth hits.

Coming up next: Episodic wizarding...

Doctor Strange: Hands of the Dead
Developer Telltale Games
Release July 18, 2018

The Pitch:
Although Doctor Strange is armed with an impressive arsenal of black magics, they shouldn't be the primary focus of a video game. His mystical talents are a better fit for a story-driven mystery that is slower in pace. This story sees Strange in his prime, and a part of the New Avengers team. He's their primary defense against all things mystical, and their connection to a world that none of them can enter.

In this adventure developed by Telltale games, Strange and his team are tasked to solve a series of murders occurring within seconds of one another across the globe. The same symbol is engraved on the forehead of each victim. How did these people die at the same time? The only clue they have is the symbol, a magical mark that warns of the end of days, Strange deduces.

The Game:
The entire story is seen through the eyes of Strange, but Black Bolt, Namor, Iron Man, and Mister Fantastic – his Avengers brethren – have a hand in some of the action. Closely following Telltale's blueprint for The Walking Dead and The Wolf Among, most of Strange's time is spent exploring and communicating with other characters. Player choice is woven into these moments, leading the story to different scenarios involving different characters.

The only actions in the game are tied to spell casting and mystical arts. Rather than implementing quick time events for combat, all of the battles unfold in CG cutscenes created by Blur, which serve as rewards for solving mysteries. The plot eventually gives way to reveal the killer: Baron Mordo. He and his cult are killing off a bloodline to summon a demon – their god – to earth. Strange learns Mordo is using the Hands of the Dead artifact to teleport his followers to different locations in the blink of an eye.

Coming up next: BIOWARE AND X-MEN!!!

The X-Men
Developer BioWare
Release November 13, 2018

The Pitch:
Rather than tracing the same origin story from the X-Men comic books, BioWare is tasked to give Xavier and his school of mutants new life in an RPG that balances storytelling and action in a similar way to Mass Effect. This new take on Marvel's beloved team begins with Xavier walking into the mansion for the first time. His face shows eagerness and determination. He knows he can build his dream here. A young Scott Summers enters behind him. Xavier turns to Scott: "Let's get started. We have work to do."

The story flashes forward one year, picking up with Xavier and Scott walking through the mansion, which now boasts a training room, a hanger with a jet, numerous bedrooms with their furnishings still covered in white tarps, and a device Xavier uses to locate mutants across the globe.

Xavier and Scott are seconds away from embarking on their first assignment: locating a teenager named Jean Grey, who recently fled her home after her mutant powers were revealed. Unbeknownst to Xavier and Scott, a second faction has interest in the same target. A war to control the mutants is about to erupt.

The Game:
A large chunk of the game is dedicated to tracking down and enlisting mutants to join Scott and Xavier's team, much like Mass Effect 2. Some of these recruiting efforts take place in populated hubs, where detective work is required to locate the person of interest. Other missions are combat focused, pitting the soon-to-be X-Men team against the rival's robot army. All of the recruits are instantly transformed into playable teammates that can join in on missions. If a mission is botched, that mutant is lost to the opposing team, and becomes an adversary that must be dealt with at a later time. Mutants that can be recruited are Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Gambit, Beast, Psylocke, Emma Frost, and the most interesting of all given the antagonist, Quicksilver. As if I need to say it, Magneto is the leader of the rival faction.

Missions allow four mutants to journey together. Relationship building is woven into the story, and mostly unfolds in the mansion, which serves as the team's central hub. The training room offers unique challenges that give the team opportunities to level up and enhance their mutant gifts.

Combat blends long-range attacks, like Scott's laser blasts, with combo-based melee. Hidden dice rolls are applied to every action, and experience points are gained with each successful enemy encounter. The battles are fast-paced and frantic, but the game is still an RPG at heart.

Holding true to Bioware's framework, player choice is integrated into most story moments, which dramatically change Xavier's stance in the world. Good actions lead the player along a path similar to the comics: Xavier establishes the X-Men, and helps mutants across the world. Evil actions turn the X-Men into an evil faction hellbent on destroying any organization that doesn't support mutant rights. The evil path concludes with Magneto's death, and Xavier taking up his cause under the X-Men name.

Coming up next: From TV to games...

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Developer Overkill Software, Starbreeze Studios
Release February 5, 2019

The Pitch:
I just started watching the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Blu-ray last week, and outside of the first episode trying a little too much, I've enjoyed every other episode. The character development is handled well, reminding me of Joss Whedon's previous work on Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I immediately started thinking that the show has tremendous potential in the game space. I would enlist Overkill Software and Starbreeze Studios, specifically the team behind Payday 2, to create a team-oriented action game that sends Phil Coulson and his agents on numerous missions tied to the super hero world.

The Game:
Cooperative play is the central focus of the game. All six of the team's agents are playable in each mission, and they all play different roles. Coulson is the general, and the only character with a map, mission details, and the ability to call in S.H.I.E.L.D. support. Melinda May is proficient in melee and stealth. She can also pilot vehicles in specific missions. Grant Ward is the weapon expert and tank. Skye is the hacker and information gatherer. Leo Fitz is the engineer. He wears glasses that allows him to highlight targets and objects of desire. Jemma Simmons is the biochemist, capable of creating weapons and healing objects in the field.

All of the characters can use firearms, but only Ward, May, and Coulson are truly capable of surviving heavy assaults. Success in missions rewards each player with experience points that can be spent on upgrades for the character they used.

Since the game doesn't necessarily need the big name actors behind the movie counterparts of Iron Man, Black Widow, Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, all of these characters make appearances in the game, along with several other recognizable Marvel Comics characters.

Coming up next: Heroes vs. heroes...

The Avengers vs. X-Men
Developer NetherRealm Studios
Release February 16, 2019

The Pitch:
Breaking off from working on new Mortal Kombat and Injustice games, NetherRealm Studios takes a swing at Marvel’s universe with an Avengers vs. X-Men fighting game. Based on the events of the popular comic book series, Cyclops throws down with Captain America, Colossus and the Hulk pummel one another, and Doctor Strange exchanges energy blasts with Storm.

Marvel may have had this idea all along, as the solicitation for Avengers vs. X-Men's eleventh issue simply read "Fatality!"

The Game:
The campaign is divided into two stories, one for the X-Men and one for the Avengers. The player chooses which path they want to go down from the outset of play. Story sequences are wedged between each battle.

A deep roster is offered for both factions. The Avengers consist of Thor, Iron Fist, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Red Hulk, Daredevil, Spider-Man, War Machine, Vision, Captain Britain, and Beast (yes, he switches sides in the story). The X-Men offer Colossus, Domino, Iceman, Magma, Psylocke, Storm, Namor, Gambit, Warpath, and Dazzler. Completing both story trees unlocks Wolverine for all other game modes and multiplayer.

Not all of these characters are available from the outset of play. Choice plays a large role in the game. When an opponent is downed, you are given the option to "Finish Them." Killing an opponent unlocks a different reward (arena or hidden character), meaning players will have to march through the story four times to unlock and see everything.

The Fatalities are similar in design to Injustice's – bloody but not Mortal Kombat gruesome. Namor summons a squid that gnaws on a character for a few seconds before wrapping it up in its tentacles and diving deep into the sea. Storm zaps her foe with powerful lightning blasts dozens of times before creating an electrical tornado that rips through a house. Red Hulk accidentally punches a foe into the opened mouth of Giant-Man. He consumes the character and shrugs his shoulders.

Before you say Warner Bros. would never work on a Marvel property, take into account the studio publishing Lego Marvel Super Heroes last year.

Coming up next: Death in the Marvel family...

The Death of Iron Man
Developer: High Moon Studios
Release: November 5, 2019

The Pitch:
The developer behind both great Transformers games should tackle Iron Man next. It's a perfect fit. High Moon Studios' Transformers games seamlessly blended on-foot action with flight. Speed up the movement just a hair, shrink the characters, and the foundation for an Iron Man experience is born. With Iron Man's lore fully fleshed out on the big screen – and potentially showing him as the villain in the forthcoming Captain America: Civil War – High Moon's take on Tony Stark flashes forward into the future a few years to show his last days.

The game begins with his bid for redemption in a world on the brink of an apocalypse. Stark technology was used by the Red Skull to destroy all of the world's armies. Only a small group of heroes and villains remain, hunted and on the run. Wearing his last Iron Man suit, Stark wages a one-man war against the Red Skull and his army, knowing full well that he's going to die in the process.

The Game:
The Stark technology Red Skull commands is transforming cities and forests into technological constructs that drain the Earth's core, and feed energy to a prototype Iron Man suit worn by Red Skull. Stark battles his way through these mechanical wonders, downing as many Red Skull robots as he can in the process. Although this is Stark's mission, and he makes that abundantly clear to The Avengers, a few of them, including Captain America, join in the fight, them too putting their lives on the line to ensure humanity has a chance.

Iron Man is the only playable character, however. The others can be called in for support when a special meter fills. In most levels, which run between 20 and 25 minutes each, two to three specials can be deployed, some summoning fellow Avengers, others a powerful Iron Man attack that is as elaborately designed as any Final Fantasy VII summon spell.

Iron Man can switch between flight and running on the fly, but in most levels this is just for evasive purposes. Dedicated flying levels are integrated into the story periodically. As an ode to the Transformers games, the final fight with Red Skull pits Iron Man against a 100-story robot. The final blow that Iron Man delivers to drop this menace ends his life. The final shot in the game is of humanity living within the robotic ruins of the world, plants growing out of bolts and metal casings.

Coming up next: Cooperative dinosaur hunting...

Spider-Man & Wolverine
Developer: Avalanche Studios
Release: March 24, 2020

The Pitch:
My lists generally aren't complete until dinosaurs are mentioned. My final entry unites Spider-Man and Wolverine in a cooperative game set in the Savage Land, a tropical region of Antarctica where dinosaurs continue to thrive. Just Cause developer, Avalanche Studios, has proven it can create lush tropical regions filled with high levels of destruction. That studio is a great fit for this project. My direction to the team: Just add dinosaurs.

The Game:
Super villains are disappearing across the planet. Where have they gone? Most of them are joining forces with Doctor Doom in the Savage Land. His latest bid for global domination is to convert all of the Savage Land's dinosaurs into loyal minions. His endgame: Unleash his dinosaur armies in the world's biggest cities and capitals.

Chips inserted into a dinosaur brain turn it into a soldier capable of wielding a rocket launcher, chain gun, or sword. Some of these dinos can even speak English.

The first act kicks off with Spider-Man and Wolverine pursuing MODOK. Before they can stop him from boarding a plane, both heroes are captured and become unwanted baggage on MODOK's flight to Antarctica.

Doctor Doom sentences them to death in an arena filled with armor-shielded raptors. This first battle shows how Spider-Man and Wolverine work together to deal with this threat. Spider-Man is tasked to slow the raptors with webbing. He can take them down himself, but the armor slows the process. His best option is to wait for Wolverine to slice off their armor, exposing their weak, scaled flesh. Once the final raptor is slain, Doom sends a dozen-plus villains into the arena, but they are too late: Spider-Man and Wolverine have escaped into an underground tunnel.

The duo emerges on the island's surface, miles from Doom's base. They have no way of communicating with the Avengers or X-Men. Their only hope is to weaken Doom's forces one-by-one across the island.

Spider-Man is equipped with the same web-swinging abilities seen in Beenox's long-running game series. Wolverine, on the other hand, while moving slightly faster than the average human, must rely on vehicles, such as motorcycles, helicopters, and planes to get across the island. Wolverine's claws can latch onto the underbelly of planes, giving him similar mobility to Just Cause's lead.

Players can work together to take down threats or split up to tackle missions on their own. Later in the game, Spider-Man hacks into the dinosaur network, giving him control over all of the dinosaurs. They all become mounts, even the Pteranodons.

Editor's Note: Thanks for reading this piece! I had a blast dreaming up game ideas, but as any developer will tell you, everyone can come up with an idea; the real challenge is executing on it.  I would love to hear your super hero game ideas. List them in the comments section below, and if I get enough of them, I'll round them up for a reader list just like this one. Game Informer's news editor, Mike Futter, was inspired by my work and added his own entry on the next page. Enjoy and excelsior!

Marvel’s What If…?
Developer: Sucker Punch Productions
Release Date: Episodic, Starting In 2016

The Pitch:
Since 1977, Marvel Comics has twisted its own tales, hypothesizing how events might have been different. The What If…? series has persisted over the past 40 years because it explores avenues often otherwise left to fan fiction.

With a full slate of games set for the coming half-decade, Marvel has decided to have some fun with its pantheon of heroes. With more of the general public now aware of these characters and their history, it’s time to explore alternate timelines.

The Game:
What happens when details of the Marvel universe are changed one at a time? So much of what we know about our favorite heroes stays the same, but the stories that unfold are brand new.

Sucker Punch has proven itself to be capable of encapsulated superhero adventures, featuring a variety of traversal systems. The What If…? series will be set in smaller open worlds that are designed around their protagonists. 

What if Spider-Man never separated himself from the alien symbiote?
Peter Parker is the villain of this tale, as Black Cat attempts to stop Spider-Man from terrorizing New York with the help of Reed Richards. Set in New York, Black Cat will need to track down Spider-Man and neutralize the symbiote.

Black Cat will be able to climb buildings and upgrade her equipment with help from The Tinkerer. He doesn’t work for free though, so Felicia will have to engage in theft side-missions to support her hunt for Spider-Man. 

What if Captain America were alive during the American Civil War?
America’s Super Soldier has defended the stars and stripes behind enemy lines before, but never like this. He’ll need to work his way through the South, neutralizing enemy encampments, and dismantling the Confederacy’s war machine, before reaching Richmond to put a stop to the Civil War.

Some missions will be all out combat, while others will encourage a stealthier approach. Cap will have his shield and a saber on foot and horseback.

What if Professor X had become The Juggernaut? 
In this alternate tale, Professor X reached the Gem of Cyttorak before his brother Cain Marko and became the unstoppable Juggernaut. His psychic powers and the Gem’s strength lead Xavier to world domination.

As part of his plan, Xavier turns half the world into mutants. With tensions rising, Cyclops and Jean Grey defect and set out to stop their former mentor with the aid of other mutants.

The game is set in Juggernaut’s massive compound, as Scott and Jean lure Xavier out into the open. To do that, they’ll need to take on his top lieutenants, including The Blob, Toad, Angel, Nightcrawler, Pyro, and Havok.

Players can switch between Cyclops and Phoenix on the fly, setting up combinations using their powers. An experience system powers upgrades, giving Cyclops a diversity of eye-beams using his visor and allowing Jean to use telepathy to stun or telekinesis to toss foes.