EA and Marvel Games’ collaboration will result in a handful of games, with EA Motive’s Iron Man game and Cliffhanger Games’ Black Panther game 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 that EA and Marvel have chosen to feature.
Marvel’s Spider-Man from 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 game features 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.
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 remarkable Iron Man game aside from Marvel’s Iron Man VR on Oculus Quest 2, and therefore it has infinite potential in a modern AAA game.
It won’t take much to have EA Motive’s Iron Man game 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 like Marvel’s Avengers or Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Black Panther has 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 different EA and Skydance’s Black Panthers are. Either way, Iron Man and Black Panther games 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 how the 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 a Daredevil game, 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 meantime EA’s Iron Man and Black Panther games will follow Marvel’s recent trend of impactful games.
Cliffhanger Games and EA’s Black Panther game is currently in development.