For many years we have had an era of hero movies, both from Marvel and DC, generating a lot of money for the companies that own the IPs (Disney and Warner respectively). Every year, we had access to several superhero films, each with its own peculiarities, some good and some not so good, but almost always generating a good profit (especially in the case of Marvel).
Despite raking in billions for years, superhero movies were often criticized by those who consider cinema to be something else (Martin Scorsese to name a few), many saying that it was just a phase, just like Western movies. Whether this is true or not, one thing is certain: hero movies haven't made as much money as they used to. However, this may have opened some doors to other media, such as video games.
Hero games are nothing new, we've had Batman games for years, very good ones by the way, and also lots of Spider-Man games, not always so good. But the rise of hero movies has brought visibility to some characters who didn't have it before, which has led to good games like Guardians of the Galaxy and Gotham Knights. And there are still a few more games in the pipeline, which we'll mention below:
Marvel games in development
Marvel's Spider-MaN 2
As its name suggests, Marvel's Spider-MaN 2 is the sequel to Insomniac Games' incredibly successful game, exclusive to PlayStation consoles. In this sequel we'll be able to control both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, and each of them will have unique characteristics and a dedicated skill tree.
The game is still set in New York, but the map will be twice as big and will include other cities such as Brooklyn. Swing, jump and glide with the new Web Wings to travel around Marvel's New York and quickly switch between Peter Parker and Miles Morales to play out different stories and use epic new powers as the infamous villain Venom threatens their lives, those close to them and the city.
Marvel's Iron Man
Announced a while ago, we still don't have many details about the game, but we do know that it is being developed by EA Motive, the studio responsible for the remake of Dead Space, which was very good indeed. The team is being led by Olivier Proulx, who has experience in other Marvel games, such as Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, working alongside a dedicated team of industry veterans at the studio, including Ian Frazier, Maëlenn Lumineau and JF Poirier.
Developed in collaboration with Marvel Games, the game will feature an original narrative that navigates Iron Man's rich history, drawing on Tony Stark's complexity, charisma and creative genius, allowing people to truly feel what it's like to play as Iron Man.
Marvel's Wolverine
Insomniac's success with Spider-Man has borne fruit, and they are now also developing a Wolverine game, but don't expect a Spider game with a Marvel mutant skin. The game will adopt a darker (and perhaps bloodier) style, which, let's face it, is what this character deserves.
Rumors say that the game will be released in 2024 (which wouldn't be surprising given Insomniac's efficiency in releasing good games) and will be aimed at the +18 age group. Apparently, the game will not be open-world and will follow a similar formula to what we see in the God of War 2018-Ragnarok games.
Captain America & Black Panther
One of the games we have the fewest details about, its name is still unknown, announced only as "Untitled Captain America and Black Panther Game". The game will be directed by Amy Hennig and Marc Bernardin, is being developed by Skydance and promises to deliver some of the most beautiful graphics ever seen.
We know it's a cinematic action game set in World War II, mainly because Hennig is famous for working on fast-paced, story-driven games like Uncharted. According to the trailer, it's obvious that you'll play four main characters, which a later press release revealed to be a young Steve Rogers; Azzuri, T'Challa's grandfather and the previous Black Panther; Gabriel Jones, a soldier; and Nanali, a Wakandan spy.
Marvel's Back Panther
Recently announced, the game of the famous Black Panther will be developed by EA's also recently announced AAA studio, called Cliffhanger Games. Led by Kevin Stephens (Monolith Productions), Cliffhanger has already brought together talented talent with leaders of the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking action-adventure game, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor , along with veterans of major franchises including Halo Infinite , God of War , Call of Duty and others.
The original game of the much-loved character will be a third-person adventure that promises to build an expansive and reactive world that allows players to experience what it's like to take on the mantle of Wakanda's protector, the Black Panther.
DC games in development
Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League
Everyone wanted to see a Justice League game from RockSteady, but in return we're getting a Suicide Squad game trying to kill the Justice League. With a good story, which it seems to have, the game could work well, but the gameplays that have been made available to the public have not been very well received.
The game is set in an open world based on Metropolis in the style of Sunset Overdrive, with each of the characters having unique abilities. However, what most displeased the public was the fact that the game looked more like a generic shooter than a hero game, and also because it had too many elements of a service game. The game would have already been released if it hadn't had such a negative reaction from the public, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Wonder Woman
There's a new Wonder Woman game coming from Monolith Productions, the studio best known for its hand in creating two of the best Lord of the Rings games. We know the studio knows what it's doing when it comes to Tolkein's fantasy realm, so we're looking forward to finding out how it gets on with one of DC's protagonists.
The next Wonder Woman game was revealed at The Game Awards 2021, where publisher WB Games announced that it was creating a "single-player open-world action". He "will feature an original story set in the DC Universe", so it won't be a movie adaptation.
Despite its lack of narrative connection to the comics or films, Monolith says the game will give us the full reigns of the RPG for "to become Diana of Themyscira in the fight to unite her Amazonian family and the humans of the modern world“.
The Wolf Among Us 2
Few people know, but one of Telltale's biggest hits, The Wolf Among Us, is part of DC's Vertigo imprint. The sequel to the game was planned to be released this year, but in order to bring the game to a more improved engine, the game was postponed until 2024.
We've made the difficult decision to delay The Wolf Among Us 2 #TWAU2.
To give more context, we spoke with IGN: https://t.co/afoCUHZwIy pic.twitter.com/KhrAfIrwYB
- Telltale (@telltalegames) March 1, 2023
In The Wolf Among Us 2, fairy tale characters are real and walk among us in New York. Play as Bigby, the "Big Bad Wolf" and Sheriff of Fabletown, as you return to a noir detective world where there are no fairy tale endings.
Are you excited about any of these games? Will the age of heroes be transferred to games? Whether it is or not, we have a large number of games being developed, with their own particularities, which means more games for us to enjoy. And as far as movies are concerned, who's to say we're not entering the era of game adaptations? I'll leave that to you to think about. Have you thought about it and would you like to talk about it? Let me know in the comments...
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