Friday’s Disney and Marvel Games Showcase brought with it the expectation of some massive announcements and reveals, and it was not out of the realm of possibility that games such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order or Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 could make an appearance. It had already been confirmed that several games would appear in some regard, such as Disney Dreamlight Valley, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and Marvel’s Midnight Suns. But with both Disney and Marvel in the showcase’s name, speculation stirred about some of the industry’s most anticipated games.
Instead, the Disney and Marvel Games Showcase concentrated its presentation on niche announcements. This included the mobile game Marvel World of Heroes, the visual novel Tron: Identity, and the Mario Kart-esque Disney Speedstorm. Its most sizable announcement, or at least the most anticipated, was the reveal of Skydance’s Marvel game. However, that game did not even share its title, and its details remain obscure besides who its four playable protagonists are. Therefore, the absence of games such as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was definitely felt.
Respawn Entertainment Bowing Out Entirely is Surprising
A sequel to Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was officially confirmed a while back, but has only recently been revealed as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor during May’s Star Wars Celebration event. Lucasfilm had a relatively small outing at the showcase, where there were surprisingly no new game announcements or reveals for Star Wars aside from the LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga Galactic Edition.
This could have been a wonderful opportunity for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to share another teaser or even a full trailer, but Respawn likely has other designs in mind for when and where it will be presented. Moreover, Respawn could have unveiled the Star Wars FPS it has in development, or any of the multiple Star Wars games in development could have been shared. Instead, it seems as though the expectation for what would be shown at the Disney and Marvel Games Showcase should have been a lot lower, to the degree that it would temper what fans should have anticipated.
Nowhere did the showcase explicitly state that other Star Wars IPs would be present, but that was always a possibility due to the specificity of only Disney and Marvel titles being displayed. Respawn did not end up appearing after all, in any capacity, and it is unknown when it will finally release a full-length trailer. Still, its marketing must begin sometime this year if the rumors of a Spring 2023 release date for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor are indeed true.
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Has a Good Excuse for its Absence
On the other hand, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 was also likely on anyone’s wishlist to appear at the Disney and Marvel Games Showcase. Insomniac’s upcoming wall-crawler epic is undoubtedly one of the most highly anticipated Marvel games that has been announced, and it would have pleased fans to see it appear at an event centered around Marvel Games content.
It is unfortunate that Insomniac did not make an appearance either, but at least there is a reasonable excuse for why Marvel fans should not have expected it to be at the Disney and Marvel Games Showcase in the first place. Insomniac’s Spider-Man teasers and trailers will almost assuredly be retained to PlayStation or Sony conferences and pressers, as was Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s initial reveal at the September 2021 PlayStation Showcase.
That reveal and showcase had occurred roughly one year ago, and fans had expected that another PlayStation Showcase would be announced and air a day before the Disney and Marvel Games Showcase. This obviously did not come to pass, but it is certainly where Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 would have appeared instead, and the game could be shown off whenever the long-rumored Showcase finally happens.