Marvel’s Midnight Suns was reportedly a “commercial flop” according to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, but its critical success will hopefully encourage Firaxis to push for a sequel. Marvel’s Midnight Suns was ambitious as a tactical-RPG with social simulation, and all the mechanics baked into it would be a phenomenal foundation for another installment, breeding infinite potential for sequels that feature other Marvel characters and notable regions in the Marvel universe.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns already sets itself up perfectly for a possible sequel with a post-credits teaser, and Deadpool’s own Marvel’s Midnight Suns DLC references that tease. There are difficult decisions that Firaxis would need to make, and design-wise it would be interesting to see what the team comes up with in a studio that no longer harbors the talent of Jake Solomon, but it would be great to see iconic characters with further narrative or gameplay potential return.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns Characters Who Still Have Potential
Doctor Strange and Scarlet Witch have narrative importance throughout Marvel’s Midnight Suns, and it would be interesting to see them return if a sequel follows the same occultist tone. Still, having them omitted from a sequel would not be the worst possibility, particularly because fans already have occult specialists in Magik and Nico Minoru.
These two characters would be fundamental to have back after having been the heart and backbone of players’ experiences in the Abbey. Likewise, Blade and Captain Marvel are essentially tapped in terms of gameplay - considering how limited Blade’s mechanics are - but narratively there is an entire romance storyline waiting to be fulfilled.
Hulk is as tapped as any character in terms of gameplay, but because Bruce Banner is the only character who players cannot befriend in Marvel’s Midnight Suns, it would be nice to see him have some sort of importance in a sequel’s narrative. Magik, Nico Minoru, Blade, Captain Marvel, and Hulk could have the most fulfilling narrative developments in a sequel if they were let back.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns Characters Who Still Have Gameplay Potential
In terms of gameplay potential, Captain America deserved to have more Chain attacks considering how his vibranium shield ricochets between enemies, but apart from that there is a fairly low ceiling for the character’s narrative or gameplay potential in a sequel. Further, iconic Marvel characters such as Iron Man who are already oversaturated in modern media should not be needed to uphold a sequel, especially since his corny humor was already at an all-time-high in Marvel’s Midnight Suns.
However, while Tony Stark may have reached his full potential, Iron Man is nowhere near what his potential could allow in gameplay. Iron Man has yet to summon a horde of autonomous suits to aid himself and the player, for example, or include a card that envelops him in the Hulkbuster armor for a turn or two.
Spider-Man, Wolverine, Ghost Rider, and many others are also arguably tapped out, though Deadpool is wholly underutilized in gameplay as far as his fourth-wall breaks and cartoonish capabilities are concerned. Deadpool should be able to equip bombastic weapons and make an entire spectacle of his card abilities, and yet he has been stuck with restrictive animations due to the game’s rating. If a sequel could rectify this, Deadpool would become hysterical in gameplay alongside Iron Man as returning characters. In fact, there is an argument to be made about all DLC characters returning in order to spend more time with them.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions coming later.
