WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR MARVEL'S MIDNIGHT SUNSBecause the Marvel IP is prolific in every medium, it is interesting to see how they iterate upon one another and how one may try to distance itself from others for originality. It is unfortunate, though, that if characters appear in multiple original IPs, they will still be compared to those from other franchises. Marvel’s Midnight Suns is the latest Marvel game, and because it features many iconic characters from that pantheon, it may be difficult for fans to dissociate it from their biases and thoughts on previous Marvel installments.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns does quite a bit to differentiate itself, and when looking at its narrative as a whole, it is easy to see that it truly is an original story. Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ Hunter is a big part of this, being a fully customizable protagonist character with deep involvement in the narrative. But if Marvel’s Midnight Suns is to be compared to the MCU, there is one villain that the latter has alluded to and never actually revealed or used. Rather, Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ own teases and allusions are fulfilled to satisfaction as it reveals its villain Mephisto later in the narrative.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns Fulfills the MCU’s Lackluster Teases
WandaVision marked a pivotal turning point for the MCU through its Disney Plus shows, and it also carried with it a massive amount of suspenseful teases in each episode. They were paced slowly in order to give them cliffhanger endings that would make the subsequent episode even more suspenseful and enticing, with one character, in particular, being explicitly teased.
It did not help that certain characters were hidden from fans or obscured in order to make their reveals more pungent, but those reveals hardly lived up to the excitement that fans had created in their minds. Mephisto was a character who fans grew to believe would make an appearance at some point, and the insipid reveal of Ralph Bohner instead was considered a low blow after the entire season’s buildup. Thankfully, Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ occult influences with the Darkhold, chaos magic, and Chthon have found a niche place to have Mephisto appear as a key character. Once players receive the Parchment of Power, Johnny Blaze takes the Hunter and Ghost Rider to Limbo.
This is where players learn that Blaze intended to trap them there with Mephisto, before Magik arrives to rescue them. Mephisto’s moments are fleeting, but still fulfills the MCU’s incessant teases and character-baiting as a genuine surprise for the player in Marvel’s Midnight Suns.
Mephisto’s Appearance in Marvel’s Midnight Suns is Appropriately Anticlimactic
Mephisto’s appearance in Marvel’s Midnight Suns is short and sweet, for better or worse. There is a rich history between Illyana Rasputin and Mephisto that ties her in nicely with this narrative beat, but it is regrettable that Mephisto was not offered as a one-time boss fight with Magik, Hunter, and Ghost Rider in Limbo.
Instead, Magik opens a portal for Hunter and Ghost Rider to leave, and she soon follows them after having seemingly dealt with Mephisto. This is only regrettable because it omits whatever interaction Magik and Mephisto may have had in that brief time, but Mephisto is also not a focus in the game otherwise aside from Magik’s friendship-level conversations in Marvel’s Midnight Suns.
That said, it makes sense not to dwell on Mephisto’s presence if he was not a main antagonist figure or going to become a villain reinforcement who players could randomly encounter, like many of Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ bosses do. Mephisto does appear again later during Agatha Harkness’ ritual, attempting to exchange her spirit for Illyana, but is swiftly dealt with once more in another cutscene.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions coming later.