Marvel has become even more of a household name this past decade, beyond the massive popularity of the comics. A large part of this is due to the runaway success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe of interconnected films, which includes everything from The Avengers to the Guardians of the Galaxy. With such popular high flying heroes that seem perfect for interactive entertainment, naturally, the video game industry has once again jumped into this popularity in an attempt to carve its own piece of the ever-growing Marvel pie.
Perhaps the most notable example in recent years is Insomniac's efforts with both Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. These video game adaptations show no sign of slowing down, as rumors and leaks from the E3 2021 season have trickled out to reveal that plenty more Marvel goodness is on its way. One standout, is that 2K is teaming up with Marvel to deliver an XCOM-style turn based strategy game, albeit with Marvel characters. Nothing is confirmed as of this writing, but there are already a number of classic comic storylines that would fit perfectly with kind of experience.
Marvel's Avengers/Defenders War
The Marvel universe is comprised of hundreds of heroes and villains, and with such an abundance of characters, alliances have naturally been formed over the years. Two of the most iconic examples are The Avengers and The Defenders, superhero teams that have graced the silver screen and Netflix's streaming service respectively over the last few years.
In this comic story arc from the early 1970's, the two star studded teams butt heads in search of a relic known as "The Evil Eye," but it turns out both groups were pawns of Loki and Dormammu's schemes. The teams then team up to thwart the villains before reality is plunged into a permanent dark dimension, a setup perfect for both PvP and co-op gameplay scenarios.
Marvel's The Contest and XCOM
In a twisted game orchestrated by The Grandmaster and Death, 12 Marvel heroes are chosen by each villain and pit against each other like pawns on a chessboard. The villains then take turns quite literally advancing the heroes to battle positions or a more strategic vantage point. From a setup like this, its easy to see why the premise here would fit perfectly with the turn-based nature of games like XCOM, which in many ways borrows heavily from the inherent nature of chess as it is. With each team being limited to a dozen heroes each, this can add replay value to mixing and matching certain skill sets if the full roster were large enough, adding replay value to the game.
Marvel's Age of Ultron
Of the rogues gallery in which the Avengers have faced over the decades, the metallic menace known as Ultron stands near the top as one of the most formidable and deadly. With Thanos having already taken the spotlight in recent years, returning to this villain would be a fresh spin on the formula. Furthermore, the 2013 story arc "Age of Ultron" is ripe material for a video game translation. Set in a doomsday in which Ultron returns and wreaks absolute havoc on the world, the Marvel superheroes are trapped in a desperate battle for survival. Such high stakes are the perfect stage for the intensity that can often be found in real time strategy games.
Secret Invasion
The notion of how the Skrulls operate is a pretty scary one. The race of aliens are essentially shapeshifters, able to mimic the physical appearance of anyone they see, making them experts when it comes to infiltration procedures. This could be implemented as an in-game mechanic where the Skrulls can invade a player's team and take over one of the Marvel heroes, adding a new layer of suspense to the action. This can play out similar to how players can invade worlds in Demon's Souls, which always makes for an intense experience and keeps players on their toes.