Highlights

  • Marvel fans are eager to see more Marvel IPs translated into video games, and a Fantastic Four game could be the next great Marvel game success story.
  • The setting and story of a Fantastic Four game could follow the film's 1960s period piece aesthetic or deviate to tell its own unique story with different iconic villains.
  • A potential Fantastic Four game could break the superhero live-service curse by delivering a multiplayer co-op experience or a single-player experience with strategic gameplay similar to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

Marvel fans have been treated to a lot of exciting news recently, with big projects in the MCU like Deadpool and Wolverine and The Fantastic Four getting official reveals. Although Marvel games haven't been seeing as much attention, with titles like EA Motive's Iron Man and Cliffhanger's Black Panther games still lacking substantial information, the fan base has a clear desire to see more Marvel IPs translated to the video game medium. With all of the excitement surrounding The Fantastic Four casting and poster reveal, Marvel has the perfect chance to keep the hype rolling with a Fantastic Four game.

Past Marvel games have generally been hit-or-miss, with some titles like Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy and Insomniac's Spider-Man games being well received, while a game like Marvel's Avengers struggled to maintain a playerbase. There have even been some sleeper titles like Marvel's Midnight Suns that received mostly favorable reviews but failed to meet sales expectations. However, a Fantastic Four game would have the recognizability and MCU tie-in to potentially be the next great Marvel game success story if it can do these iconic heroes justice.

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There are Several Possible Routes a Fantastic Four Game Could Take

A Fantastic Four Game Would Need to Nail its Setting and Story

The casting poster for The Fantastic Four reveals a hint as to the exact date in which the film will take place, with The Thing shown reading a real-world Life Magazine with a cover featuring United States President Lyndon B. Johnson from the December 13, 1963 issue of the publication. With the film likely being a period piece set in the 1960s, a Fantastic Four game could follow suit and be set during this same period. Many popular games have utilized this early 1960s aesthetic to great success, like Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus and Fallout 4, so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to expect a Fantastic Four game to be set in a similar era.

However, Marvel games tend to break from the MCU when it comes to telling their own unique story, so it's just as likely that a Fantastic Four game could deviate from its film counterpart and take a completely different direction with its setting and story. While the rumored villain of The Fantastic Four film is said to be Galactus, a Fantastic Four game has other iconic villains it could include, such as Doctor Doom or Super-Skrull. This game could even explore the multiverse and Reed Richards' ties to Nathaniel Richards AKA Kang the Conqueror, given that he is a descendant of Mister Fantastic.

A Fantastic Four Game Could Break the Superhero Live-Service Curse

The big question a potential Fantastic Four game would need to face is what the core gameplay of the title would look like. The underwhelming performance of recent live-service multiplayer superhero games like Marvel's Avengers and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League might make going this route seem unappealing for a Fantastic Four game. However, as a team of heroes, it would make a lot of sense for this game to include multiplayer co-op, and it could learn from the mistakes of previous live-service titles to deliver an experience that isn't so heavy-handed with its live service elements and instead focuses on developing a cast of unique playable characters.

Conversely, a Fantastic Four game could make for a great single-player experience if it followed in the footsteps of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. In that game, players would only get to directly control Star-Lord but could issue commands to other members of the group, allowing them to perform various skills and adding a level of strategy to its action-oriented gameplay. A Fantastic Four game could go a similar route and make Mister Fantastic the controllable character while allowing players to issue orders to Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing.