The announcement of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 from Capcom was quite possibly one of the greatest mass internet nerd-gasms of all time. Fighting fans have been screaming for this game for a decade. License issues barred any hope of it ever happening (and actually got the PS2 and Xbox ports pulled after a brief production run), and the presumed death of 2D fighting games basically made it a fanboy pipe dream forevermore. Well, not anymore. 2D fighters are back in a big way, and Marvel’s popularity has skyrocketed since the beginning of the nearly ten year franchise moratorium. Think about it. The last MvC title was released all the way back before the first Toby McGuire Spider-Man movie. A lot has changed since the Dreamcast’s swan song. Marvel is now owned by Disney. 8-bit Mega Man is cool again. Yet a few things stay the same, like the fact that Hulk movies still suck, and fans eternally obsessing about who is and who isn’t going to make the cut for what will undoubtedly be the most bitched-about fighting game roaster of all time. Marvel and Capcom both share an absurd wealth of classic franchise faces. Will they rely on familiar brand staples and fan favorites, or take a few risks with new or generally unknown cult characters? V.S. series regular Chun-Li is obviously in (her silhouette is on the teaser art), and the much welcomed new comic relief Deadpool made his debut at E3. What else is in the cards is unknown (Gambit plz), but here’s a list of ten essentials that Capcom needs to make happen.
#10: Blade
Dating back to 1973, Blade’s character (based loosely on a composite of various black actors, most specifically Jim Brown) came to life in Marvel Comics’ The Tomb of Dracula #10. You could count the reasons Blade deserves to be in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 all day. He has a background in street fighting. He’s a master swordsman and lethal with throwing knives, so he can counter an assault from Strider. He is a trained marksman who can compete with Chris Redfield’s heavy artillery. Most importantly of all, he’s a freaking vampire hunter. Blade versus any number of Darkstalkers (Morrigan & Felicia, already having been confirmed) is something worth the price of admission alone. To paraphrase Darth Vader, “It’s time to increase the level of black representation on the committee.”. Let’s get captain flat-top in the game Capcom.
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
#9 Nightcrawler
Another X-Men character? Why not? Didn’t they start the V.S. series in the first place? Aren’t they the most awesome Marvel franchise? Indeed they are (deal with it), so his inclusion is almost a no-brainier. He can climb walls. In a 2D fighter, that skill alone is legendary. He’s also got invisibility and teleportation. Finally, there would be somebody to counter Dalshim and M. Bison’s rampant teleport spamming.
#8 Mike Haggar
Final Fight‘s own Mike Haggar predates 99% of the characters in every V.S. Series installment, yet he’s never been given a chance. We’ve been waiting two decades to see the original “Mr. Saturday Night Slammasters” get his shot. For years he’s been overlooked, or just barely missing the cut with meager cameos in the Street Fighter Alpha franchise, while every other core Final Fight character has at one point or another made it in. Cody and Guy are in Super Street Fighter IV, yet the ass-kicking mayor of Metro City isn’t even mentioned. Mike Haggar vs. Zangief anybody? How has this not happened already? Haggar was meant to be featured prominently in the finished-yet-unreleased 3D fighter Capcom Fighting All-Stars, but that’s it. Since that cancellation, his presence has been dark in the Capcom world. Let’s get this done Capcom. It’s time for Mr. Muscle Bomber to get out of politics and back to ass-kicking.
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
#7 Mega Man X
Mega Man has enjoyed a serious resurgence in his classic form for the past couple of years, but it is long past time for the greatest incarnation of the character to make his fighting debut. I’m taking about Mega Man X. Since his golden age on the Super Nintendo dating back to 1993, the Mega Man X brand has been known as the truest evolution of the classic character – classic Mega Man, but with an edge. Think about how his abilities can transcribe to a 2D fighter. Wall cling, anyone? Above all else, it would be nice to finally get to see Mega Man X use his secret Shoryuken attack against the guy Dr. Light borrowed it from. Mega Man X vs. Ryu… FIGHT!
#6 Nathan “Rad” Spencer
Bionic Commando had a double relaunch last year with a big budget console game, and a smaller scale 2D remake of the original game for DLC marketplaces titled Bionic Commando: Rearmed. Suffice to say, fans didn’t respond to the dreadlock-sporting Jake Gyllenhaal-wannabe interpretation of Rad from the retail title (which was actually pretty decent otherwise) and opted instead for the classic 80s rendition. Nathan’s mechanical arm is just begging to be spammed and abused to lengths that cable could only imagine. Better yet, play up his classic handicap and don’t let him jump. Use the bionic arm for everything. If he needs to get across the screen, let him grapple his way. Note to Capcom: keep the awesome stache from Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2.
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
#5 Dr. Wily
I’m honestly surprised this hasn’t happened already. Aside from a background appearance in the first Marvel vs. Capcom, Dr. Wily hasn’t ever been featured in a playable role. Here’s the perfect opportunity. There’s so much potential here. Capcom could play up his space capsule, boss morphing form, or let him control various robot masters Smash Bros. style. Dr. Wily probably has the most shape-shifting potential of any character from the Capcom library.
#4 Black Cat
Though Marvel seems to be downplaying Spider-Man in favor of Iron Man (who is obviously the big ticket item right now), Spidey is a franchise regular and a shoe-in for MvC3. However, for being one of Marvel’s most popular brands, Spider-Man has very little representation in the franchise. Venom’s status is unknown, so I purpose Black Cat. Felicia Hardy is a jewel thief, trained in martial arts and often used as a love foil for Spider-Man. She’s got speed and stealth. Black Cat and Strider on a team? How about the two Felicias, Black Cat and Felicia from Darkstalkers (already confirmed)? Oh, yes. Capcom crossover titles of the past have had a severe lacking of female representation on the roaster, probably because they came from a different era. Times have changed, and so has Capcom. Black Cat would make an excellent addition to a franchise currently light on Spidey representation.
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
#3 Classic Rogue
I hear you. “Rogue was in MvC2!” That’s true, but she wasn’t what she used to be. Rogue was a star player in the very first Capcom Versus title X-Men vs. Street Fighter. Playing off her trademark super power stealing ability (Power Drain), Rogue was essentially the Capcom equivalent to Nintendo’s Kirby in Super Smash Bros.. She could steal Ryu’s Hadouken, pilfer Juggernaut’s Earthquake Punch, snipe Charlie’s Sonic Boom, and carpet bag Dhalsim’s Yoga Flame. Nobody was immune to her copy ability, except a clone fight against herself. Unfortunately, due to the sheer roaster size of Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Rogue was critically gimped by the removal of her copy ability in favor of a simple life force drain thus making her redundant, likely because Capcom didn’t want to have to draw new animation sprites for her to mimic the abilities of fifty-six characters. After Super Smash Bros. Brawl‘s standard-raising performance of Kirby, and the announcement of MvC3’s intentionally lowered roaster for the sake of balancing, there is no excuse for Rogue to not be included in her ungimped power stealing original form. A couple of things though: keep her classic Jim Lee 1990s appearance. It’s how she looked in the past installments, and it’s the definitive version of the character. Also keep the kissing gimmick she used to steal powers. 3D Rogue/Chun-Li lesbian makeouts = instant classic.
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
#2 Hit-Girl
I’ve touched on this one before, but it deserves further mention. While Hit-Girl isn’t “technically” a Marvel character directly (owned by Mark Miller, distributed by Marvel), legally her inclusion shouldn’t be a major issue. If Nintendo can get Sonic the Hedgehog into Smash Bros. Brawl, then Hit-Girl shouldn’t be a stretch for Capcom. Mindy MacCready/Hit-Girl is one of coolest and most controversial comic book heroes in years. She’s a blood soaked ninja assassin trained by her daddy Damon MacCready to kill (very brutally) in the name of justice. After the movie adaption of Kick-Ass was released, parental groups were up in arms about the precedent the character set for movies in regards to showing violence against children. While that could be an issue in making the roaster, the game is already guaranteed a T-Rating anyway solely for the inclusion of Felecia and Morrigan. Just do it already, Capcom!
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
ÂÂ
#1 Stephen Colbert
I’m going to steal one right here from the list of my fellow Kombo writer Matt Green over at Press the Buttons and give a second shout out for Stephen Colbert. This isn’t as far fetched as one might think since Stephen has had a run-in with the Marvel universe before. He teamed up with Spider-Man in issue #573 of The Amazing Spider-Man and has for several years featured Captain America’s shield on his set, presented to him by none other than Marvel Entertainment Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada. Still think this is too far out there? Capcom has licensed the creations of cultural specific comedians before, and in the V.S. Series no less. The Japanese version of Marvel Super Heroes vs Street Fighter featured a character named Norimaro, a nerdy Japanese schoolboy type character (hellbent on obtaining Chun-Li’s panties), created by Japanese comedian Noritake Kinashi. Stephen Colbert (pronounced “koulbear”) is the creation of American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and all-around awesome guy Stephen Colbert (pronounced “kolebert”). Licensing issues a factor? Make him a DLC character. Marvel is almost inevitably going to nickel and dime us for new blood over coming year anyhow. May as well go for the gold. The world will not be complete until we have Captain America and Captain “I Am America (And So Can You!)” fighting side by side.
