With the huge success of the Batman – Arkham series and the incredible box office success of the Marvel movies not to mention DC working (maybe a bit too hard) to get their Justice League movie off the ground, I have to wonder what happened to all the superhero video games. Sure, there’s the movie tie-in games for Iron Man and Spider-Man etc. but let’s be honest; those games all suck (except for you Spider-Man 2, you were awesome).
Being a bit of a comic book nut I have to say that there is a metric crap-ton (that’s just a smidge over a regular metric ton) of fantastic heroes and comic book characters out there just begging to get a proper treatment themselves. Here’s a list of a few of my favourite heroes that deserve to get the full meal deal video game treatment.
10 – Heroes for Hire
‘Who?’, some of you may ask. Don’t worry, you’ll know about them soon enough. With Netflix and Marvel working hard to put the Luke Cage and Iron Fist series out (along with Daredevil and Jessica Jones), it seems Marvel is looking to make a name for some of their lower tier heroes, like these guys. Cage and Iron Fist are mainstay members of Heroes for Hire who have also boasted members like Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Moon Knight, Hulk, Deadpool, The Falcon, and Black Panther to name a few, so there’s plenty of crossover potential. It seems like now is the time to push this group into the limelight, unfortunately, with a name like Heroes for Hire and a main character whose catch phrase is ‘Sweet Christmas’, I’m afraid these guys may have to stay in the minor leagues for a while longer.
9 – The Losers
Everyone remembers The Losers movie starring Chris Evans, Idris Elba and Jeffery Dean Morgan, among others, right? Oh, you don’t? So you weren’t one of the three people to see it? Okay, well for the uninformed The Losers is about a group of guys who carried out wet work (read as ‘killed people’) for the CIA until the CIA framed them and had them ‘killed’, so now they’re out for revenge. You know, that ol’ chestnut.
While the comics were pretty contained story wise, it would be fun to have a game that fleshed out maybe the first arc (also the plot to the movie) while having you do other missions as well. You get to plan out your mission step by step and carry them out using different members of your squad. The only downside is that GTA V pretty much put a smaller scale version of this out and then added a game where you can hang-glide to your golf game around it, so it may be a little redundant at this point.
8 – Sandman
While not your typical ‘punch them till they stop moving’ hero, Sandman, or Morpheus or about the 37 other alias’ he goes by, is a unique comic. Falling under the more adult themed Vertigo imprint of DC Comics, it is penned by the unstoppable genius that is Neil Gaiman. Think more of a puzzle type game in the vein of Ico but in the magical settings that Sandman finds himself in, like solving riddles in Hell or hanging out with Batman in Arkham Asylum. Toss in some side missions with his big sister, Death, and some crossovers with more obscure characters like Swamp Thing or Animal Man, and you’ve got yourself a winner!
7 – Daredevil
Daredevil keeps getting shafted. Well, to be fair, it was really just that one movie that shafted him but it was like a Samuel L. Jackson level of shaft.
With Marvel putting a new series out on Netflix about everyone’s favourite blind lawyer, now seems like a great time to put a game out to coincide with it! Seeing as Daredevil’s powers are a little bit like Spider-Man’s (minus the kissing upside down in the rain one), it would be pretty easy to translate. His echolocation can slow down enemies while you kick ass, you can swing around Hell’s Kitchen and maybe even have rooftop races with Spidey (which, let’s be honest, was the best part of the Spider-Man games).
Also, what’s not to like about being a blind guy who dresses as a devil and beats people with two perfectly working eyes senseless with a stick?
6 – Dr. Strange
With a name like ‘The Sorcerer Supreme’ Dr. Strange is already pretty awesome and with Marvel trying to make him ‘the Iron Man of Phase 3’, it makes sense to get him a little more time in the public eye.
Having a guy who casts spells as he battles the occult and all manner of inter dimensional magic creatures that are looking to destroy the world, it kind of lends itself to being the perfect video game. Think Devil May Cry but minus the swords and pretty hair.
Strange could engage in some inter-dimensional travel to battle increasingly crazy looking demons for a final showdown with someone like Mephisto (basically the Devil again) or something along those lines. As you level up and master a wide array of spells you could enlist the assistance of different Marvel heroes you might not immediately think of (like Ghost Rider for instance)to help you defend the realm of Earth.
It doesn’t hurt that you could get better introduced to a character that almost no one knows who’s supposed to carry the entire Marvel cinematic franchise on his caped back.
5 – Green Lantern
No, not the bloated piece of garbage that Ryan Reynolds starred in. I’m talking the actual Green Lantern. If the most recent animated show about the titular hero is anything to go on, the Lantern is pretty bad ass! Let’s think about it for a second. He’s basically an intergalactic cop on a space police force who can make anything with his mind. He fights alien monsters, interstellar super villains AND other Lantern Corps!
There’s bound to be an endless source of entertainment as you level your Lantern up and learn new constructs for your ring. Perhaps you’d get to play as different members of the Lantern Corps (G’nort for the win), or maybe even make your own Lantern to play alongside Killawog, Hal Jordan and maybe even Sinestro (given the time frame of the game). There’s even room for some Justice League cross over. What’s not to love?
4 – Hellboy
Now, Hellboy has already had a game out on PS3 I know, but chances are, most people didn’t. It’s really bad. Like, really bad. But spruce Hellboy up with some graphics that aren’t throwbacks to PS1 and maybe let us play with some of the other characters (a water level for Abe Sapien?) and you’ve got yourself an awesome game!
Hellboy encounters all manner of monsters, demons and gods that you could pummel with the Right Hand of Doom or shoot in the face with The Good Samaritan. And think of all the cool places you would visit! Who doesn’t want to do battle with Satan in Hell as you try to fight your way back to the real world and save humanity? Maybe find yourself on a mythical plane of existence fighting a Japanese fire demon bent on breaking free and set the world afire. Who knows, but it all sounds pretty freaking awesome!
3 – Superman
This seems like a gimme; one of the most popular heroes of all time who is anchor for the Justice League and was the jump off point for a whole new slew of DC movies. How am I still waiting on this game?
Take your pick of storylines or villains. The Bottle City of Kandor? Brainiac? Doomsday? The lost colony of Krypton? Anything involving Darkseid?
You can put Superman all over the universe battling any number of the best villains in the DC universe as well as encountering allies and foes alike and it’s a sure fire hit. I know I’d shell over any amount of money to play as the big blue Boy Scout!
2 – Thor
Thor at number two is a controversial choice, I know, but I’m currently looking at four different designs to get Mjolnir tattooed on my arm and this is my article so deal with it. Just like the situation with Superman this seems like a freebie for Marvel looking to cash in Thor’s newfound popularity.
He basically flies around the universe as the God of Thunder and then gets into battles with all manner of mythical creatures, aliens or that other thing he does… Oh yeah, FIGHTS OTHER GODS! How does no one see how awesome this would be?
Need a story to pick from that’s not too esoteric? The God Butcher storyline from the recent Marvel NOW! re-launch involves an immortal being who has taken it upon himself to kill all gods everywhere and Thor decides to stop him. There’s also the part where it takes place over the past, present and future so there’s three different Thor’s who come together to fight their bitter foe before he wipes out all of godhood.
Who just read that and doesn’t want to play it? If it was you, check your pulse, you might be clinically dead. That’s just one epic story to pick from! There’s also a plethora of awesome side characters to pick from including having the insanely popular Loki hanging around. Get on it Marvel!
1 – The Avengers/ X-Men/ The Justice League
I’m just plain cheating, I know, but hear me out! All three of these franchises have previous games that all utilize the same 2-4 characters on screen that you pick from a mighty team to fight with and then level up (like the Lord of the Rings games if no one has played these great games).
X-Men had two awesome games back on the PS2 (the second, Rise of Apocalypse had a sweet cliff hanger) and the Justice League had a pretty good game too. And the Avengers had two Ultimate Alliance games on the PS3/ XBOX 360 which have eaten up whole weeks of my life.
So, am I saying that these games would be better than the others? No. Nor am I saying that the Avengers, whose chokehold on comic books is becoming nauseating, deserve a game over individual characters. All I’m saying is that these are already established series and would be way easier to put together and release especially considering how much money all three of these franchises are raking in at the box office!
And I seriously want that third X-Men game.
