Comic book fans and movie fans are unquestionably stoked for next year's release of what may be the biggest comic book movie event of all-time - The Avengers. Bringing together the heroes (and stars) from different superhero films for the ultimate team-up adventure is every fanboy's dream and come May 2012, that dream becomes a reality.

For gamers looking to enjoy interactive experiences based on The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America and Thor however, it's been nothing but a big pile of frustration, disappointment and wasted dollars from Sega. Every single one of these movies had a video game adaptation come out and every single one was downright awful. So, what about The Avengers?

In early August we heard the wonderful news of The Avengers game being canceled. It's usually never good to see projects come to a close, or studios like THQ’s Brisbane branch, but in this case, with Marvel's track record with video game adaptations and broken promises of "quality" games, the worst thing they (and us gamers) could have happen was another bad game to come out and tarnish their "Avengers Assemble" branding initiative.

Since the news broke, several screenshots of pre-production on The Avengers leaked, showing off the game's villains as well as the costume designs of the heroes. It's clear, at least for part of the game, that the heroes were based on the Ultimates version of the characters - whether or not players could choose the movie-likeness of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers or Chris Hemsworth as Thor we may never know.

Interestingly enough, another leak gave rise to a now-taken-down video of first-person gameplay for The Avengers which actually looked quit interesting and different from the previous Marvel movie games. Could this have been one of the very, very few good movie tie-ins? That's still a leap but we can at least discuss what happens next with The Avengers property.

As it turns out, Marvel has the rights back for The Avengers and they are interested in getting a game made for it - it all comes down to finding the right publisher.

"The rights for a video game based on Marvel's Avengers IP have reverted back to Marvel... The company is in early stages of exploring potential publishing and licensing opportunities."

I think most fans can agree that this - or in addition to this- we'd love to see Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3. Just make it less stupid and repetitive, and bring back some of the depth and customization that X-Men Legends 2 had. Nothing like a 4-player, co-op team-up superhero game!

The Avengers film stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgard. It is of course written and directed by Joss Whedon, opening in theaters on May 4, 2012.

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Source: GameSpot