Marvel Video Games Need To Stop Chasing The MCU

screenrant.com:

The recent Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy game was a significant improvement over publisher Square Enix's prior licensed Marvel game, Marvel’s Avengers, but both fall into the trap of chasing the Marvel Cinematic Universe instead of confidently telling their own stories. Marvel’s Avengers featured the same MCU Avengers, with the addition of Ms. Marvel, and the Guardians of the Galaxy game made a similar choice in its core cast. These games are licensed Marvel Comics adaptations, not MCU adaptations, so the voices and likenesses of those characters differed from those seen in films. Both games also opted for realistic character models over a stylized approach. This combination gave the games the vibe of a recast fan film instead of a truly original take on the Avengers or the Guardians of the Galaxy. Given the wealth of comic book history to mine from — especially for Avengers members — choosing to focus on the same heroes as the MCU films was a bad call.

The Square Enix published Marvel games make no secret of their MCU influences. Marvel’s Avengers’ Spider-Man was inspired by MCU Spider-Man, and the game’s DLC has included a series of MCU-inspired character skins. Trying to ride the coattails of the MCU is unnecessary, and ultimately a bizarre choice that weakens both games. Quality comic book-based video games have shown they can establish their own continuities that suit the video game medium. The Batman: Arkham series was among the first modern examples of a licensed game with original world-building done right. Though it shared some voice actors with the ‘90s Batman: The Animated Series, it set itself apart as a wholly different vision of Batman and his world. Insomniac’s Spider-Man games similarly set themselves