At the beginning of Marvel's Midnight Suns, players are introduced to the Midnight Suns who specialize in taking out magical menaces. Lilith is a massive supernatural threat that will take the likes of Blade, Nico Minoru, Maqik, Doctor Strange, and Ghost Rider to take out. They all seem like they belong in a story surrounding the more mystical side of the Marvel universe, but the game also has Tony Stark and Carol Danvers providing back up. Marvel's Midnight Suns is all about the war against the supernatural, and those two heroes do not seem to really belong in that type of story.
Throughout the story of Marvel's Midnight Suns, players meet up with all sorts of heroes that decide to join their cause. Heroes like Spider-Man and Wolverine do not necessarily belong in a supernatural story, but the game justifies their inclusion through the narrative. Tony Stark and Carol Danvers, however, are not really given a significant narrative reason for their inclusion. It makes them really stand out within this story, and almost feels like they were just shoehorned in due to their popularity.
Iron Man and Captain Marvel Are Just Kind of There
Tony Stark and Carol Danvers are a part of the Marvel's Midnight Suns story from the beginning, but the game does not go into much depth about why they are there. Throughout the narrative, the two characters are heavily involved in the fight against Lilith and each of them are tasked with running one of the in-game systems. Tony Stark runs the forge and is responsible for opening up Gamma Coils, and Carol Danvers is responsible for running the Hero Ops and Intel feature. They serve as vital parts of the gameplay loop, but the two characters not really feel like they belong in the story.
Carol Danvers is all about protecting the galaxy and journeying across the skies as Captain Marvel. She combats aliens and is heavily involved in the Kree and Skrull conflicts. She even remarks on how she misses the stars throughout the story of Marvel's Midnight Suns. Tony Stark is an Avenger and deals with things like terrorists, Thanos, and all of his business rivals. He is all about creating a safer planet via his technology. Neither of them specialize in supernatural threats, and the game does little to justify just why they have gotten involved in this conflict.
The game is called Marvel's Midnight Suns, and it should focus on the titular team. Instead, Firaxis chose to make two characters who are not members of the original Midnight Sons nor have anything to do with the supernatural a major part of the story. While they are both pretty fun to play, and they do not ruin the narrative, they still feel a little out of place. Tony Stark may be one of the most popular Marvel characters right now thanks to Robert Downey Jr. and the MCU, but that does not mean he needs to be in every Marvel game.
Every Other Hero in Midnight Suns Justifies Their Existence
While Tony Stark and Carol Danvers just show up at the start of the game, the other non-magical Marvel heroes all seem to have their existence justified. Spider-Man does not join until Venom gets corrupted by Lilith, Captain America does not sign up until Avengers Tower is attacked, and Wolverine makes his first appearance when Sabretooth attacks the Midnight Suns. While none of these characters specialize in the supernatural side of the Marvel universe, each one of them has a very clear reason for why they joined the cause.
It would make sense for Tony Stark to join the cause eventually, but that reason should have been made clearer in the story. Carol Danvers has an entire galaxy to protect, and the story should have given her a far greater reason for specifically coming to defend Earth from Lilith at the start. It just does not feel very natural or organic for them to be a part of this cause right away, and it really makes them stand out among all the other heroes.
Marvel's Midnight Suns is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions in development.
