My interest in Marvel Heroes has been growing a bit in the last couple of weeks and I’ve spent some time checking out what we can expect to find in the game’s announced roster of available heroes. As one might expect, not every hero in the Marvel universe will be available for play at launch (or shortly thereafter), but there were some notable heroes whose omission left me puzzled.
I get why Rocket Raccoon made the short list given the whole Guardians of the Galaxy film that Marvel has on deck. But Squirrel Girl? I fully admit I don’t have my finger on the pulse of the Marvel fandom these days, but is there really a super vocal and passionate Squirrel Girl fanbase out there? This slot could have easily gone to a Gambit or other staple Marvel character.
Everyone has ideas of who they’d like to see added to the game, but this week I wanted to share my own with you. This list isn’t exhaustive by any means, and I may add to it in future columns, but go ahead and read on for a couple of highlights.
Angel/Archangel
When I was just a little boy, there were two Marvel characters that I immediately found myself drawn to: Hawkeye and Angel. These characters are pretty atypical favorites for a kid to have, I would imagine, given the availability of some of the more high-profile heroes such as Wolverine or the aforementioned Gambit, but I loved them nonetheless. Thankfully, Hawkeye will be available as a launch character, but unfortunately, Angel will not.
I’m honestly not too surprised.
Angel is an interesting character to read about – but let’s be honest; his power set isn’t exactly flashy or even practical for a videogame. He’s old school. Angel’s main claim to fame is that he can fly. Big deal, right? Most heroes can do that. Marvel did eventually go ahead and try to work some other goofy powers in to spruce him up, such as giving him claws and healing powers, but his powers are still pretty uninteresting when compared to other Marvel characters.
Archangel, though. That’s another story. Poisonous razor sharp metal projectile feathers, anyone? I can see that working out in a videogame. Unfortunately, while Marvel Heroes will indeed feature flight, I recently learned that flight will not allow for combat capabilities in the game, according to an interview with David Brevik by YouTube personality, Athene. This really limits the cool factor for a character like Angel even if he were ever added to the cast. Arguably, this sort of limits the cool factor for several other Marvel characters as well, but that’s a discussion for another day.
And yes, despite all this, I’d still rather have him in the game than not. Dreams of flying around in an Archangel alternate outfit are enough to crush the more practical arguments against his inclusion for me.
Psylocke
Who doesn’t love a psychic ninja like Psylocke? Ninjas are generally cool – but ones that wield telekinetic katanas and throw psychic knives? Sold! Yet, for one reason or another, Psylocke rarely seems to be included as a character in Marvel games. Sure, she was in some of the earlier fighting games and the original X-Men Legends, but Psylocke just doesn’t seem to get as much play. Heck, I’d love to see her get own film at this point.
Betsy is both fun to read about and makes for a great fit in a videogame, so she seems like a sort of no brainer for me. I hope she is one of the earlier additions to the post-launch roster.
Nightcrawler
This one’s sort of a gimme. I doubt there are many Marvel fans out there who aren’t absolutely clamoring to have Nightcrawler in Marvel Heroes. Again, he’s a deep character with a huge fanbase, and he makes for an extremely satisfying videogame character. If you’ve played the X-Men Legends or Marvel Ultimate Alliance games, you most definitely know what I’m talking about. *BAMF*-ing through the environment (and especially through walls) just never gets old.
I imagine getting this sort of gameplay right and avoiding associated bugs and glitches would add some lead time to his creation in an MMO such as Marvel Heroes, but here’s hoping Nightcrawler sneaks his way onto the roster sooner rather than later.
If you could only pick three heroes to add to the post-launch Marvel Heroes roster, which would they be? Why? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
