Though Marvel’s Avengers flaws have been discussed heavily, one thing that the game gets right is its cast of characters. While great performances help being characters like Kamala Khan and Bruce Banner to life, strong writing showcases a noticeable level of love for the game’s roster of superheroes. With every War Table and hero breakdown revealing which comics were looked to for inspiration, Crystal Dynamics’ love for Marvel’s best stories is obvious.
With Marvel’s Avengers pulling from several comic stories already, it makes sense that future expansions will follow suit. Considering that there are decades of iconic stories tied to The Avengers, there is no shortage of moments for Marvel’s Avengers to bring to life. Some stories fit Crystal Dynamics’ universe particularly well, however, allowing the studio to tell exciting Avengers stories that please hardcore fans while simultaneously using them to improve the game. While there are many options, the following stories and moments are some of the best.
Civil War
While Captain America: Civil War remains one of the MCU’s standout films, its version of the comic book storyline is of a much smaller scale than the one in the comics. While there are limitations to a live action interpretation of such a story, making its scale understandable, games have no such limitations. As such, much like Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, a version of Civil War can play out that involves a massive number of Marvel characters.
Bringing the Civil War storyline to Marvel’s Avengers could allow for a PvP mode to be added, with two players controlling Iron Man’s side and two others fighting on Team Captain America. Allowing for a different style of gameplay not currently seen in-game, such a mode would surely turn some heads and get people talking about the game. Further, Civil War makes sense within Crystal Dynamics’ universe, as the general public hates The Avengers after their failure on A Day. As such, forcing the Registration Act on the characters makes sense, providing the perfect foundation for the story.
Secret Empire
One of Secret Empire’s biggest strengths is that many fans will not know this storyline. Only happening recently in comics, the books quickly gained notoriety for a Hydra-loving Captain America. Ultimately revealed to be a plot by the Red Skull, the real Captain America eventually made his return to take down the evil version of himself. While this story sees Hydra temporarily take over the world and send The Avengers into hiding, it is ultimately a tale about Captain America.
A Captain America focused storyline would be great to see as Marvel’s Avengers DLC, mainly due to the hero taking a backseat throughout the game’s narrative. Believed dead and only returning in the final act, players do not get all that much time with Steve Rogers. As such, he is long overdue a larger role, and an adaptation of Secret Empire could provide that. Fighting against the human enemies of Hydra would be interesting as well, providing a nice change of pace from constantly duking it out with AIM.
Ultron Unlimited
If any comic book storyline gets properly adapted, it will likely be this one. Beginning with a bold reappearance that sees Ultron destroy an entire country, the story is best known for how it establishes the connection between Hank Pym and Ultron. With Marvel’s Avengers already setting up Ultron through the creation of Roy, it seems likely that Crystal Dynamics has plans to explore this villain at some point. While he could be used to introduce The Vision, two other characters will likely be brought in alongside Ultron instead.
With Ultron so closely associated with Hank Pym, it makes sense for the original Ant-Man to rely on those he knows best. As such, Ultron’s arrival could lead to the debut of Ant-Man and The Wasp. Like the Hawkeye expansions for Clint Barton and Kate Bishop, this could be a two-part story that gives Ultron extra attention and makes his debut even more meaningful. With Ultron Unlimited also introducing the concept of an army of Ultron drones, providing tons of enemies for players to battle before taking on the bot in charge, the story seems like a strong fit for the game.
The Kang Dynasty
Speaking of the Hawkeye DLC, the story started in Kate Bishop’s expansion and set to be continued in Clint Barton’s missions is incredibly time travel focused. As is often the case in the comics, acts of time travel attract the attention of Kang the Conqueror, a villain that rules over the future with an iron fist. Often fighting with The Avengers to protect this future, he could see Clint and Kate preventing the Kree from destroying the Earth as a negative. Drawing the attention of Kang, a new big bad can be introduced that gives The Avengers a genuine threat to face.
While Ant-Man and The Wasp Quantumaniawill be introducing Kang to the general audience, Marvel’s Avengers could beat the MCU to the punch through a re-telling of The Kang Dynasty. The lengthy story sees Kang, as all conquerors hope to do, taking over Earth. As a result, The Avengers do all they can to take it back. An against all odds crossover that is full of character development and subplots, it seems like the perfect moment for a long-term storyline inside Marvel’s Avengers.
Secret Invasion
Finally, there is Secret Invasion. While the story is set to be adapted through a Disney+ MCU series, it will likely have to keep its risk-taking to a minimum. In Marvel’s Avengers, however, the plot twist filled story could be used to its full potential. Further explaining the disappearance of Nick Fury while also revealing that at least one of the game’s heroes is a Skrull-in-hiding, adapting this comic book run would be interesting to say the least.
While Secret Invasion’s twists and turns would be good for a game, its enemies are perfect for providing some much-needed variety in combat. Super Skrulls would be a fun stand-in for Adaptoids, copying a random Avenger’s powers and moves to make for several different types of enemies to fight. Regular, melee focused Skrull grunts can swarm the player, while other variants of the aliens could fire off several different types of weapons to provide some ranged attacks as well.
Any of these storylines would be great to see in Marvel’s Avengers, as all would be ambitious and add to the game’s ongoing narrative in a meaningful way. With many introducing unique bosses and enemy types, too, there is plenty of potential to improve gameplay through these legendary comic book moments as well.
Marvel’s Avengers is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
