EA and Marvel Games’ collaboration will result in a handful of games, with EA Motive’sIron Mangame and Cliffhanger Games’Black Panthergame now announced and revealed to be in development. Neither game technically has a title thus far and hardly any other information is known besides what genre is being used to classify them. It is unknown if all games in this collaboration will be announced soon, but a pattern can already be seen emerging from the characters thatEA and Marvelhave chosen to feature.
Marvel’s Spider-Manfrom Insomniac seemingly has a monopoly on the character in terms of a standalone experience, and has also staked its claim on Wolverine and possibly other X-Men characters as a result.Skydance’s untitled Marvel gamefeatures Black Panther as one of four playable protagonists, though, which shows that ensembles can still include their own take on the same characters. Still, this could be evidence that EA is cherry-picking Marvel’s most iconic and untapped superheroes.
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EA May Only Be Tackling Marvel’s Most Popular Heroes Left on the Drawing Board
In what would be yet another attempt at capitalizing on the excitement around popular superhero media, EA might be selecting its Marvel game characters based solely on who is popular at the moment whilst still being largely untapped. There hasn’t been a remarkableIron Mangame aside fromMarvel’s Iron Man VRon Oculus Quest 2, and therefore it has infinite potential in a modern AAA game.
It won’t take much to have EA Motive’sIron Mangame be a wholly improved experience compared to what has been offered before in the character’s standalone games, and there is now a wealth of inspiration to draw from in games likeMarvel’s AvengersorMarvel’s Midnight Suns.Black Pantherhas the odd circumstance of having two games released in the future now, but this only reiterates the idea that the character is a hot commodity somehow for gaming.
It would not inherently seem as if Black Panther is the most dynamic or versatile character to cherry-pick, and it will be interesting to see how similar or differentEA and Skydance’s Black Panthersare. Either way,Iron ManandBlack Panthergames both point toward a clear pattern and only so many iconic characters will supposedly be in the running for EA’s collaboration.
If it is true that at least three games are being considered, it would not be completely plausible to assume Captain America may take that third opportunity. Captain America would easily be the most popular character option when considering howthe MCU pedestaled him and Iron Man prominently, but there are a few other contenders for an EA Marvel game as well, with Hulk likely being somewhere near the top of that list.
This will make it incredibly interesting to see who EA and Marvel choose for a third game, and the potential for more collaborative games might depend on how its first few perform. If so, then a reliable way for them to perform well is indeed to plaster a beloved character onto it, rather than let EA try its hand on a less popular or less instantly identifiable character.
Marvel fans have been itching for aDaredevilgame, for example, but EA’s current collaborative slate suggests that it will instead piggyback on the success the MCU brought to Marvel characters. Only time will tell which direction this partnership goes in, and in the meantimeEA’sIron ManandBlack Panthergameswill follow Marvel’s recent trend of impactful games.
Cliffhanger Games and EA’sBlack Panthergame is currently in development.
