The Marvel comic and cinematic universe is filled with themes of friendship and teamwork, with plenty of abilities and skills demonstrated across all of its character. What better way to show that than with a Mortal Kombat style game featuring the best of Marvel's heroes and villains mercilessly on each other. As shown by DC's Injustice series and Mortal Kombat, developer NetherRealm Studios has the experience to nail a Marvel fighting game.
There is so much in-fighting and so many members within the Avengers that it could be its own fighting game. Whatever the story goes with, it has the opportunity to to give players a hands-on opportunity to take on the most iconic characters. Given NetherRealm's history with darker stories, including Injustice, the mainstream Marvel universe could take a more dramatic and dismal turn similar to Avengers: Infinity War in a one-off. Of course, as with everything mentioned here, that remains to be seen, but NetherRealm is the ideal studio to tackle a more mature Marvel game.
An Alternate Marvel?
The Marvel Universe is no stranger to interpersonal conflict. With examples like Marvel vs. Capcom, the heroes and villains are used to teaming up or fighting against each other depending on the circumstance. That being said, NetherRealm could just as easily take an existing plot line and add its more mature style. Whatever the reason, it would also benefit from limiting the number of heroes and villains able to immediately be on the roster, similar to Superman and his allies killing off any defectors in Injustice.
NetherRealm and Marvel could just as well go the Injustice route and create its own story by taking the darkest elements from different mediums during the franchise's run. Perhaps Thanos has snapped some of the universe's population out of existence, and the remaining heroes in the game are who have to fight his forces. It likely wouldn't be something as heavily inspired by the popular movies, but it's a premise that would serve all the needs of the drama NetherRealm has made so popular.
Marvel Fighting Game Rumors
Given that Warner Bros. owns both DC and the Mortal Kombat series, it makes sense why it would pair the two for a fighting game. According to leaker Daniel Richtman, NetherRealm Studios is working on a Marvel game, however unlikely that may seem as a result. It was originally thought the studio was working on Injustice 3, but this rumor seems to point towards the other leading superhero franchise instead. Unfortunately there's no other information that was released with the leak, so it should be taken with a grain of salt. That being said, Warner Bros. is confirmed to be at E3 2021 and NetherRealm is one of its top developers, so fans will just have to tune in to see if its there.
Seeing as the last Marvel vs. Capcom was released in 2017, it's been a while since Marvel's fighters have stepped into the ring, and a new in-universe video game crisis is due any day now. However, only time will tell if it is NetherRealm leading the charge.
A Marvel fighting game made by NetherRealm Studios is rumored to be in development.