Mortal Kombat Devs Creating Marvel Fighting Game
Back in April of this year rumors began to surface that NetherRealm Studios, creators of Mortal Kombat and Injustice: Gods Among Us (DC Comics fighting game), was working on a Marvel fighting game as well. Those rumors have gained more momentum as an alleged roster of characters has been leaked. The leaked roster comes courtesy of Reddit user u/Comicconthrowaway who proves a long list of well-known Marvel heroes and some lesser-known villains.
When attempting to create a superhero game, the roster is one of the most important parts. With the success of the DC and Marvel movies, fans know and expect more of their heroes than ever to be present. Take into consideration how widespread the MCU is with the Avengers, the X-Men, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and many more, how many characters have the potential to be in this video game. Plus, Marvel has a history of making great fighting games as with such titles as Marvel vs Capcom.
The full list of characters includes many Marvel Universe mainstays such as Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Groot, and Rocket (as one character), Gamora, and the Hulk. It also includes some of the upcoming heroes we’ll be seeing later this year or in future MCU projects like Blade, Moon Knight, Shang-Chi, Invisible Woman, and Mr. Fantastic. As well as other fan favorites like Wolverine, Ghost Rider, Gambit, Kate Pryde and Venom.
That’s a massive list of heroes for the game, but it also includes some villains, of which only two, maybe three are top tier. On the list there is Doctor Octopus, one of Spider-Man’s famous foes, Bullseye made infamous by Daredevil despite being one of the lamer foes in his rogues gallery and the Hulk’s Abomination.
The biggest failure I see in the roster so far is in the number of villains and the quality of them. Alongside those three villains, the game will also reportedly feature the Blob, Mojo, Mephisto, Daken, Arnim Zola, Deacon Frost, and Madame Masque. Unless you’re a die-hard comic book fan, you’ve probably only heard of or really know a couple of those names.
I don’t mean to come across as though any of them don’t belong in a Marvel fighting game, they’d all make great characters. But are we really going to put in Arnim Zola, a man whose head is just a computer screen and also in his stomach over the Red Skull?
When the X-Men have such a deep, diverse, and diabolical roster of villains such as Magneto, Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, Mystique, Emma Frost, or Sabretooth you’re going to opt for Mojo, the Space Faring Streaming Magnate who floats around in a hover chair? It’s insulting.
Granted, this list is rumored and could very well be incomplete or even just a smattering of characters they’d like to include. It may not even have gone through any sort of vetting process or made it much further than a whiteboard in some office space.
Included with the leak was that Deadpool would be offered a pre-order bonus and that the first DLC pack would include Daredevil and Cyclops as well as two crossover characters, Lord Raiden from Mortal Kombat and Kylo Ren from Star Wars.
It’s also being rumored that the game will be based loosely on Marvel comics World War Hulk storyline. If Injustice: Gods Among Us has taught us anything, should this game be successful Marvel will undoubtedly release an entire side-story based on the game. Plus, the roster can be expanded on for years to come to help fill out the more villainous side.
Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for Avengers: Infinity War