With the probability of seeing Marvel vs Capcom 4 climbing suddenly from “pipe dream” to “distinct possibility” within the last few days, fans of Capcom’s long-running Vs. series have experienced a mix of elation and trepidation. Early reports indicate that Marvel wants to stay focused on characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), possibly even to the exclusion of X-Men-related characters like Magneto and Wolverine.
To the casual observer, this is a matter of two characters amidst a sea of beloved alternatives. But it’s much, much bigger than a handful of mutants: Marvel vs Capcom 4 absolutely needs the X-Men universe. Here’s a few reasons why.
The first and most important thing to grasp here is the clear, calculated reasoning behind the rumored decision: movie rights.
As you might know, while Marvel Entertainment owns the rights to its characters, it licenses them out for appearance in a variety of entertainment mediums. Most notably, it’s licensed the film rights for the entire X-Men universe to 20th Century Fox, meaning that while they’ve made some money on the licensing fees, they’ve missed out on most or all of the $4.4 billion in revenue these films have made at the box office. In contrast, they keep all the revenue on their own Marvel Studios films like The Avengers, Iron Man, and the Captain America series.
The comic is an ad for the game, which is an ad for the movie.
You know how this works. We live in the interconnected age of corporate brand synergy where every product you release in one medium doubles as marketing for the analogous product in another. The comic is an ad for the toy, which is an ad for the game, which is an ad for the movie. So why, then, why would Marvel Entertainment create products that might drive dollars to Fox’s movies?
The simple answer is: they wouldn’t.
In the past few years, we have seen a marked reduction in X-Men-related comics from Marvel. Heck, you don’t have to look any further than the cover of their 75th Anniversary magazine from two years ago to see the writing on the wall:
Anything missing?
Notice anything missing? The X-Men, who are inarguably one of Marvel’s most popular, long-lasting teams, are nowhere to be found! Head to the Toys R Us website and search “X-Men,” and then compare it to a search for “Avengers,” or even “Guardians of the Galaxy.”. The lack of figures and collectibles is staggering by comparison, and none of this is a coincidence.
So yes, it is currently only speculation that the X-Men will be passed on in Marvel vs Capcom 4, but given how Marvel is currently treating the Children of the Atom in other spaces, it seems extremely plausible.
If Capcom wants MvC 4 to get made, they may have to take some orders they don’t like.
According to interviews with then-Capcom employee and fighting game community pillar Seth Killian, he and Capcom had to fight extremely hard to sell Marvel brass on including Vs. fan-favorites like Sentinel and Shuma Gorrath in MvC 3. I have every faith that Capcom will, again, fight to maintain the wishes of the fans, but Marvel has grown vastly in pop-culture power and influence since then, and Capcom’s financial situation has only weakened. If they want Marvel vs Capcom 4 to get made, they may have to take some orders they don’t like.
And that’s the biggest reason the X-Men need to be in MvC 4 if it does indeed happen: if they aren’t, it’s a sign of corporate brand interests and marketing demonstrably trumping the creative intent of developers, and the wishes of dedicated long-time fans. That’s not a precedent I’d like to see set in my favorite creative medium.
Ironically, this ostensibly marketing-focused approach would likely sink a potential MvC 4’s appeal, thanks to one character: Wolverine.
As the only Marvel character to be playable in every single Marvel-related Capcom fighting game ever made (starting in 1995 with X-Men: Children of the Atom), Logan’s exclusion would end over two decades of him being the face Capcom’s Marvel contingent. It would essentially be like Capcom deciding that Street Fighter 5 didn’t need Ryu. Can you imagine how many casual players (who make up the bulk of a fighting game’s sales) would just not buy a Street Fighter game without Ryu? It won’t be as different as you might think for a Wolvie-free Marvel vs Capcom 4.
There’s a reason the very first teaser trailer for Marvel vs Capcom 3 featured Ryu and Wolverine.
Not only does he have clout with Marvel comics fans and Vs. series fans, he was the face of the entire pre-Avengers comic book movie boom. Who in the world could fill the gaping, cross-medium, multi-generational brand recognition hole he would leave? Starlord? Black Bolt? Please. Even Iron Man and Captain America can’t match that level of multimedia reach.
There’s a reason the very first teaser trailer for Marvel vs Capcom 3 featured Ryu and Wolverine duking it out: it was as good for fans as it was for business.
From the outside looking in, a Marvel-themed Capcom fighting game seems like a simple licensing play, which might lead people to believe that one set of Marvel characters is just as good as another, assuming they are well-known and popular enough. However, this represents a huge misunderstanding the series’ heritage and its fans, both of which would be positively gutted if the X-Men universe were excluded from it.
Marvel-branded Capcom fighting games are not some sort of licensed side-show; they are the second longest running fighting game franchise in Capcom’s stable, with as many, or more main-line titles as Street Fighter.
Imagine if Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, Zangief, and had been excluded from SF5, and now you're in the ballpark.
X-Men-related characters have been a massive part of that legacyfrom the beginning. 1995’s X-Men: Children of the Atom was entirely dedicated to the mutants. The broader follow-up from later that year, Marvel Super Heroes, still had a cast that was 50% X-Men. Through the years, roster sizes would swell, but even in the most recent Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, they were tied with the Avengers as the most represented of all of Marvel’s properties with five characters each.
Whether casual or competitive, if you’ve played and enjoyed these games through the years, the idea of this entire stable of characters disappearing into thin air is almost unthinkable. If you are one of the many Street Fighter fans who expressed disbelief and dismay over Blanka not being in SF5, imagine how you’d feel if Ken, Ryu, Chun-Li, Zangief, Dhalsim, and Guile had also been excluded, and now you are in the ballpark of how disappointing a mutant-less Marvel vs Capcom 4 would be for fans.
None of this even touches on how alienated the competitive community would feel. Over 10 years of competitive Marvel vs Capcom 2, players like Justin Wong, Sanford Kelly, and Michael “Yipes” Mendoza elevated the play styles of Magneto, Storm, Sentinel, Psylocke, and Cyclops to what can nearly be called an art form. In fact, the team of Magneto, Storm, and Sentinel (referred to eponymously as MSS) are practically a symbol of the competitive legacy of MvC 2, which survived the fighting game “dark age” in the aughts.
I'll even take 5 more.
The image above was a widely shared meme circulated during the pre-release period of MvC 3, depicting the iconic team in the new game, and a hopeful wish to see another decade of competitive life for the legendary series. It’s fascinating in that, in their original contexts, all three of these characters would be mortal enemies, but to Vs. series fans they are a symbol - a symbol that could be wiped clean away if the X-Men universe is excised from Marvel vs Capcom 4.
Vincent Ingenito is IGN's foremost fighting game nerd. Follow him on Twitter and help him sort out his Street Fighter 5 character crisis.
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