Will Marvel Games Have Its Own MCU Of Continuity?
Much like Thanos, the boom in Marvel games was always going to be "inevitable." From the seemingly humble roots of the Arkham-inspired Marvel's Spider-Man, we've seen the likes of Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel's Avengers, with upcoming outings including Insomniac's Wolverine, TWO Black Panther games, and EA Motive's recently announced Iron Man game.
Once upon a time, Marvel movies were a similarly sprawling slate of X-Men movies, Fantastic Four, Blade, and more. That all changed in 2008, when Jon Favreau's Iron Man established the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After wrangling the rights to mutants and the FF from 20th Century Fox, everything now sits under a neat umbrella of shared continuity, but can we expect a Marvel Gaming Universe (MGU) to follow suit?
Will Marvel Games Have An MCU Of Shared Continuity?
Click to enlargeWith so many titles coming to Marvel Games, we're rightly asking whether the MGU is a real thing or just the pipe dream of gamers who like to have their ducks in a row. Answering the important questions, Marvel Game VP and Creative Director Bill Rosemann has firmly shunned the idea of a shared continuity MGU.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, Rosemann explained, "The world is, amazingly, very familiar and accepting of the multiverse." Expanding on where things are heading, he continued, "We have all these different realities. Now they're all real, and we want to give everyone the freedom to tell their story. We don’t want to say 'you can’t blow up the moon, because this game over here by another studio needs the moon'. We want to give everyone the freedom and the clear lane to tell their story."
Even if we aren't getting a fully realised continuity of Marvel games, that doesn't mean there won't be links. Giving hope to some sort of unity, Rosemann concluded, "There are things, there are institutions, certain companies, groups… I don't want to say what is and isn't in this game, but for example, there is S.H.I.E.L.D, Hydra, there's the Daily Bugle, there's these different countries that exist. These are building blocks that make the Marvel universe. They make it feel like a real Marvel story. Now with that, [Motive is] going to tell its story, and we will give them that freedom."
What's Next For Marvel Games?
Click to enlargeAlthough a lot of these games are only in their first stages, others are further along. Up next, we've got Marvel's Spider-Man 2, which will unite Peter Parker and Miles Morales against the common cause of Venom. After that, we've seen a first tease of the studio's untitled Wolverine game. Even if Rosemann isn't bringing all these Marvel entities together, the fact Insomniac is handling Spider-Man and Wolverine means they could be more connected than others.
It was always going to be a struggle to create a Marvel Gaming Universe, given that so many different studios have their hand in the pot. Things are already confusing considering Jeff Grubb's rumoured Black Panther game from EA and Amy Hennig's WWII with Black Panther and Captain America. EA has multiple Marvel games in active development, so get ready for a Multiverse of announcements.
