It’s Marvel Cosmic Invasion release day, which means we get to play as our favorite Marvel icons in a brawler straight from Dotemu’s beat ‘em up-filled shelves.
The Marvel Universe has existed for eight decades, and it's no mystery that some characters are far more popular than others. Characters like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and even Dr. Doom have always been fan-favorites, whereas B-tier heroes like Black Panther and the Guardians of the Galaxy got their breakout popularity after the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s success.
As someone who’s not too deep into Marvel (or DC) comics, watching lesser-known heroes take the spotlight is a welcome treat. Granted, I’ve had my fair share of knowledge back when I was playing older Marvel games like Ultimate Alliance and X-Men Legends, but what Cosmic Invasion did differently was balancing its hefty roster of iconic Marvel characters with the franchise’s not-so-celebrated heroes.
The lack of Avengers, except for Iron Man and Captain America, is one of Marvel Cosmic Invasion’s interesting omissions. To be fair, we’ve already had enough time with these heroes in Marvel Rivals and the blockbuster movies, but it’s a bold creative choice to take out popular icons like Thor and Hawkeye. (If fans want to play as Thor in this game, they will have to make do with Beta Ray Bill.)
Another missing quadrant from Marvel’s roster of superhero groups is the Guardians of the Galaxy. You only have Rocket Raccoon around to save the galaxy from Annihilus’ wrath. Unfortunately, the rest of the Guardians are out of the roster here. However, you can still find more of them in their standalone Marvel game (which you should give a chance, by the way).
Even the X-Men are far from complete here. Wolverine, Phoenix, and Storm are your chosen heroes, but the rest of the A-team, like Cyclops and Rogue, are absent.
This doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing. In fact, it makes the game far more interesting for fans who want to know more Marvel characters.
What’s great about Cosmic Invasion is that non-mainstream faces like Phylla-Vel, Nova, and Frank Castle’s Cosmic Ghost Rider are all enjoying their limelight here. We don’t normally see them in popular media, and we certainly don’t see more Frank Castle as Ghost Rider in other video games. Cosmic Invasion’s total embrace of the weird and odd side of Marvel is a breath of fresh air for the franchise. The closest thing we have recently is Jeff the Land Shark and Cloak & Dagger in NetEase’s Marvel Rivals.
Dotemu does a great job of bringing together this roster of heroes in a beat ‘em up. Sure, they may not have fleshed out character arcs here, but it’s a great first step for Marvel Games to invest more into their long list of underrated heroes and put them front and center.
For more like this, stick with us here at Gfinityesports.com, the best website for gaming features and news.