A mixture of excitement and speculation has sprung up since the announcement of a new, AAA videogame project from Skydance New Media, based on a Marvel Comics property, but there are some Marvel characters more deserving of this kind of game adaptation than others. Gamers have good reason to look forward to the title, as Skydance’s games division is headed by Amy Hennig, whose work as a creative director at Naughty Dog included several of the critically acclaimed Uncharted games. The official press release from Marvel notes, “Skydance New Media has assembled an accomplished crew of developers with decades of AAA experience in action and adventure gaming, as well as a diverse team of creative consultants from the worlds of film, television, and comics.” Based on Hennig’s background, and the development team’s description, gamers can reasonably expect a big-budget, cinematic action game, but the Marvel heroes who could benefit most from this treatment may not be the most likely ones to receive it.
Early rumors suggest that Skydance is adapting Ant Man or Fantastic Four as their videogame, but these are not the best choices among Marvel’s rich history. Ant Man remains present in film as part of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, and the Fantastic Four have had three recent film adaptations as well. Both are examples of characters whose origins are in pulp “super-science” concepts, and their histories in Marvel comics are extensive, but a AAA, cinematic videogame offers a chance to focus on less oversaturated characters with more dramatic personal stories.
Naughty Dog took Uncharted beyond its roots as a Tomb Raider-style experience, rooted in pulp adventure traditions, to deliver genuine character development and extremely human moments among its characters. Later works from the studio, like The Last Of Us, moved beyond pulp entirely, and offered grittier, post-apocalyptic stories with a deeper focus on humanity and its flaws. Skydance would be wise to avoid backpedaling into pulp and selecting a character that lends themselves to the gravitas and drama that modern cinematic action games are capable of.
Hennig herself has expressed her love for pulp adventure, and her involvement in the first three Uncharted games suggests Marvel’s new game might have a similar tone. Modernizing pulp genre stories, as seen in MCU films and other works, often involves a self-aware, half satirical tone, a lot of jokes, and sometimes unearned shifts into character drama. This offers a “fun” experience, but largely wastes the potential of pairing a Marvel character with modern AAA videogame storytelling. The God of War series stepped beyond brutal epic bloodshed with its more character-focused 2018 title, and Skydance would be wise to forgo yet another pulp adventure game to dive into Marvel’s catalog of darker, more complex heroes.
The cinematic game Hellblade touched on issues of mental health and was critically acclaimed for its handling of the subject matter. An atypical, troubled hero presents more opportunities for quality storytelling than pulp heroes overcoming problems with bravery and ingenuity. This makes The Sentry, Robert Reynolds, one of the best choices for Skydance’s new title to focus on.
Sentry is considered “the most powerful” Marvel hero, with the “power of one million exploding suns,” but the character struggles with addiction and mental health issues. Reynolds broke into a lab looking for drugs and ingested a serum that made him phenomenally powerful. He was a hero for many years, before discovering that his personality also contained The Void, an equally dangerous villainous side. Reynolds wiped his own memories of his life as Sentry, as well as everyone in the world, and was introduced in the comics as an unremarkable, middle-aged man. Discovering the truth about his role as the Sentry is initially thrilling, but when he discovers the buried secret of The Void, Reynolds must grapple with whether he is willing to let his hero persona be forgotten again in order to contain the existential threat of The Void.
Insomniac’s upcoming Wolverine video game will offer a fresh take on the beloved mutant character, whose background also involves false memories and buried history. Like The Sentry, Legion is another Marvel character whose power eclipses conventional heroes, and another who struggles with internal conflicts. Legion is a mutant, the biological son of Charles Xavier, and a version of the character was adapted into an FX television series.
Born David Haller, the comic book version of the character suffered an early trauma due to a terrorist attack and was comatose for many years. During that time his mutant powers manifested, and his psyche splintered into multiple personalities as a coping mechanism. Each personality has its own mutant power associated with it, similar to the character Crazy Jane from DC Comics’ Doom Patrol. Like Sentry, Legion is often his own worst enemy, and he took similar action, wiping himself from existence in Marvel comics. Both of these characters are excellent choices for AAA videogame adaptation, as they have built in inner conflicts, enabling compelling character arcs.
The Batman Arkham games’ original takes on the iconic DC crimefighter are some of the most well-regarded in gaming, and a Moon Knight title could give Marvel games their own gritty avenger. Like Legion and Sentry, Moon Knight suffers from dissociative personality disorder. Marc Spector was an ex-marine and CIA agent who became a mercenary. After being fatally wounded on a mission, the Egyptian moon god Konshu resurrects him as the “moon’s knight,” beginning his career as a masked crimefighter. While Moon Knight has pulp-styled origins, the handling of the character is closer to the approach Image Comics would later take with Spawn, maintaining the character’s brutal history and flawed humanity well beyond their supernatural origin story.
Few comics grant Moon Knight superpowers, as he is typically depicted as a street-level hero, perhaps making him the best candidate for a videogame adaptation, as superhuman powers and invulnerability are difficult to translate into gaming. Moon Knight made use of multiple civilian alter egos, including a businessman and a taxi driver, to gather information, and the ambiguity of whether his shifts in personality are due to the influence of the moon god, or his own mental illness, could make for excellent storytelling opportunities.
Until an official announcement is made, fans will continue to speculate as to which Marvel characters are likely to lead Skydance’s AAA videogame. The connection to the Uncharted series’ wildly cinematic pulp adventures may suggest a similar tone for the new Marvel game, but Skydance has a chance to embrace the modern wave of titles that pair quality action with deep character studies. Focusing on a lesser known, but more complex characters, like Sentry, Legion, or Moon Knight, would offer gamers a more meaningful experience, and possibly expose them to a bit of Marvel lore they are unfamiliar with. Each of these characters combine comic book origins with struggles over personal identity, giving the game a chance to make their inner struggles as compelling as whatever external antagonists they are pitted against.
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