SPOILERS AHEADA sequel to Marvel's Midnight Suns is likely years away, but Firaxis Games' treatment of the IP shows how deserving it is of another run with Marvel. Marvel's Midnight Suns took some risks by tackling the darker, shadier side of Marvel, while also bringing in characters who are not commonly associated with this element, like Captain America and the Incredible Hulk. And its representation works out well, if it is missing The Fantastic Four.
Discounting the Hunter, Midnight Suns represents the titular team with four heroes: Nico Minoru, Ghost Rider, Blade, and Magik. Morbius' comic associations with the Midnight Sons throws him into this group as well, when he is added. Magik also doubles as an X-Men representative alongside Wolverine, who will be joined by Deadpool and Storm in Marvel's Midnight Suns DLC. The Avengers, surprisingly, make up a lot of the roster, including Captain America, Captain Marvel, The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Scarlet Witch. Obviously, there is some overlap here, depending on how fans associate The Scarlet Witch and Spider-Man (as well as Venom) also being off on their own in a way. But missing all representation together is The Fantastic Four.
The Midnight Suns and Fantastic Four Team-Up Fans Deserve
It's uncertain exactly what form the DLC will take, but the ending tease of Marvel's Midnight Suns seems like a tease for a sequel, not DLC, just as any good Marvel movie. Fans see Doctor Doom acquire the Darkhold, while himself seemingly trapped in space. Something similar has happened in the comics before, so his future in the Midnight Suns games is a matter of when, not if. And a full game with Doctor Doom as the antagonist is not only warranted for his level of villainy, but because The Fantastic Four would obviously be involved. Whatever happens to The Hunter, it's clear that the Abbey, as well as the other Midnight Suns members should return, but instead of being flanked by a bunch of Avengers, they should team up with The Fantastic Four.
Now, at first glance, this may seem like Marvel's Midnight Suns 2's roster would be smaller, given the four main members of The Fantastic Four. Sure, they could be supported by X-Men characters again (though a case for an X-Men/Midnight Suns game is just as viable), but the game could bring in other members of The Fantastic Four.
While Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Thing, and Human Torch compose the core team, other members have appeared throughout The Fantastic Four's comic history: Crystal and Medusa (Inhuman Royal Family), Luke Cage, She-Hulk, Ms. Marvel, Ant-Man, Namorita, Storm, Black Panther, Powerhouse, Brainstorm, Flux, Ms. Thing, and Spider-Man. There's already overlap with some characters, making their return possible, and each would be interesting to see in Midnight Suns' gameplay. Luke Cage would make for a perfect tank character while giving the Inhumans some love in Crystal and Medusa (post the live-action adaptation's reception) would be great as done through Firaxis' approach.
The ideal core team for a Marvel's Midnight Suns sequel, including these aforementioned characters, could look something like this (minus the player character, of course).
- Nico Minoru
- Ghost Rider
- Blade
- Magik
- Mr. Fantastic
- Invisible Woman
- Thing
- Human Torch
- Crystal (and Lockjaw!)
- Medusa
- Luke Cage
- Black Panther
- She-Hulk
Of course, it's likely multiple teams would be represented, but this line-up does as much as well. Luke Cage could open up in-game dialogue about The Defenders, like Daredevil and Jessica Jones, while The Inhumans could represent Black Bolt and others. There are a lot of directions an eventual sequel could take, and while they are all incredibly exciting, The Fantastic Four does seem to be up next.
Marvel's Midnight Suns is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, with PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions in development.