Marvel Comics has had a bit of a tumultuous history. Being founded in 1939 and gaining a steady stream of popularity for the next few decades, the company would release comics and characters that would go on to define the current Hollywood trend. However, before it started a cinematic revolution, Marvel Comics went bankrupt in 1996, leading to much of the company's most beloved characters being sold off to rival studios.
Now, in 2022, Marvel has never been bigger, with several recent films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe grossing over $1 billion, and even the most obscure characters entering the public mainstream. It's hard to believe that the likes of Iron Man and Doctor Strange were once complete unknownsm but because of this fairly recent surge in popularity, many Marvel characters are still without video game adaptations.
Captain Marvel
While her debut movie may be divisive, Captain Marvel is a truly great Marvel hero. On paper, she's essentially Superman, leading way to a game filled with exciting powers and abilities. However, the character of Carol Danvers is actually quite complex, which could lead to some great narrative-focused gameplay.
The recent Guardians of the Galaxy game has showed just how fun a space-faring narrative-focused game can be, so a Captain Marvel game seems like a safe bet. But a Captain Marvel game has some truly exciting potential. A Captain Marvel game could give players access to a whole galaxy of planets, and task Captain Marvel with protecting it all.
As seen in the MCU movies and comics, Captain Marvel often acts as a free-roaming peacekeeper, hopping between planets whenever she's needed. Some form of open-world game where the overworld is space would be a bold, ambitious, but potentially innovative game.
The Defenders
A Daredevil game has been rumored for years now. Before Marvel's Wolverine game was announced, Marvel fans speculated that Insomniac were probably working on a Daredevil game - after all, it does make sense. Over the last few years, largely due to the great Netflix show, Daredevil has risen in popularity exponentially. With some recent MCU movies and shows also confirming that some Daredevil characters are coming back, now is the perfect time for a Daredevil game.
But while Daredevil is an incredibly popular Marvel character, a game focused solely on the Devil of Hell's Kitchen might not stand out from the crowd all that much; with abilities similar to Batman, the game may resemble the Arkham series a little too closely. So instead, a Daredevil game may benefit from some backup.
The Defenders, a team usually comprising of Daredevil, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and Jessica Jones, could make for a great video game. A 4-player co-op action game, in a similar vein to the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and Gotham Knights, could put these heroes back into the mainstream.
Despite Daredevil and Iron Fist's fighting style being quite similar, a potential game could do a decent job of making each character feel unique based on their respective abilities. For example, Iron Fist could use a range of fast and light attacks, along with a powerful charged fist attack, whereas Daredevil could use medium-strength hits but at a slower pace. He could also use his billy clubs for traversal.
Moon Knight
About to get his own Disney+ show starring Oscar Isaac, Moon Knight is one of Marvel's more unique characters. Once a mercenary that was revived by the Moon god Khonshu, Marc Spector takes on the role of Moon Knight to enact justice in the streets of New York, particularly at night. Marc Spector also suffers from dissociative identity disorder, which causes him to switch identities unwillingly.
From a simple gameplay standpoint, a Moon Knight game could take the general structure of the Arkham series, but add its own unique twists. The tone of the game should take Arkham's dark moments and elevate them, really drawing out the key emotional beats of the Moon Knight character. A combination of Arkham combat with Hellblade's storytelling could make a Moon Knight game stand out from the crowd.
Doctor Strange
In the MCU movies, the mirror dimension looks ridiculously fun. A playground of limitless potential, where the conjurer is in control and can shape the world around them sounds perfect for a video game.
Doctor Strange is in desperate need of the video game treatment. His abilities and powers are extremely varied, and would translate very well to the gaming medium. Simple ranged attacks could be in the game, along with some of Strange's more unique powers, like the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak that could capture opponents.
Strange is also a highly skilled martial artist, so some mystical hand-to-hand combat would suit the game well. If the game decided to go open-world, then Strange's Cloak of Levitation would make for the perfect traversal tool.
She-Hulk
A She-Hulk game could take the best parts of a brawler and a detective game and smash them togther to create a truly original and unique experience. While She-Hulk does have super strength, she also retains all of her emotional and mental intelligence while in Hulk form (which she never leaves). By day, Jennifer Walters is one of the best lawyers in New York.
A potential She-Hulk game would carve out a unique identity easily by fusing together She-Hulk's brains and brawn, providing both beat-em-up gameplay and courtroom cases like the Ace Attorney series. Players would have to do some classic lawyering for half the game, accusing the defendant or supporting their case with evidence they've found during the other half of the game, the more classic third-person brawling segments where She-Hulk can use her super strength.
Ant-Man
Thanks largely in part to Paul Rudd's charming performance, Ant-Man is quickly becoming one of the most beloved Marvel characters, and his abilities would be perfectly suited to a stealth game. As Marvel fans have already seen in the first MCU Ant-Man movie, the character is best when he's used for stealthy heists.
An Ant-Man stealth game seems to just make logical sense, with abilities that would give the player an easy escape from human-sized foes, but would mean that the player is then exposed to the dangers of the scaled-down world. Throw in a light-hearted tone, some genuinely funny jokes, and good voice work, and a great Ant-Man game is there for the making.