8 Best MCU Movies For A Video Game Adaptation

In its first ten years, the MCU saw success that had not been experienced by any other movie franchise in history. It seemed that almost every film that Marvel released as part of its ongoing cinematic universe was expected to reach $1 billion at the box office. Although the franchise has seen these numbers drop off in recent years, the newer movies in the MCU are still making the company a lot of money.

RELATED: Mistakes The MCU Desperately Needs To Stop Making In Phase 5

There was a time when such a successful string of movies would be met with video game adaptations as part of the marketing. In fact, the first five movies in Phase One all received a video game. However, this trend stopped after Captain America: The First Avenger, which is unfortunate as many MCU entries would suit having a video game adaptation.

8 Guardians of the Galaxy

One of the advantages that Guardians of the Galaxy gave Marvel was that it allowed the company to experiment with a group of characters without it compromising the rest of the franchise. If the first Guardians of the Galaxy was a flop, then it would not affect the rest of the MCU going forward. Why then did the company not continue this experimentation by giving fans a video game?

If Marvel did not want to start including video games as they may mess with the continuity of the franchise, then they could have easily given The Guardians an inconsequential space-exploration game to test the waters. If this had been a success, it could have opened the doors to more video game adaptations in the franchise.

7 Ant-Man

If any character in the MCU needed a marketing push, it’s Ant–Man. When the movie was released in 2015, there weren’t many people in the non-comic book-reading community who knew who Ant–Man was. As such, a video game focusing on the title character could have gone a long way to boosting the character’s profile before the movie released.

What’s more, Ant–Man’s powers of size manipulation have largely gone unexplored in video games. Imagine a puzzle game where players have to change size to get through the level or a combat system that requires them to swap sizes to deal with different types of enemies. Sadly, it was not meant to be.

6 Spider-Man: Homecoming

By the time Tom Holland was ready to take on the role of Spider-Man, there had already been dozens of games that let players take control of the web swinger. The difference that fans would have experienced if they got to play a version of Spider-Man: Homecoming is playing as Spider-Man in a world populated by other heroes.

Now, other superheroes have appeared in other Spider-Man games, but none of these took place in the MCU. It would be great to swing through New York City with The Avengers Tower from the movies in the background or with the heli carrier hovering in the sky.

5 Thor: Ragnarok

After fans were disappointed with Thor’s second outing in 2013, Marvel decided to hand the franchise over to Taika Waititi. What followed was a vibrant and hilarious adventure featuring the Hulk and newcomer Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok.

RELATED: Great Movies Let Down By Underwhelming Twists

Even though Thor had already received a game adaptation in 2011, the God of War clone would have been a lot more fun on Battleworld or Waititi’s version of Asgard. The game could have also explored some new ways to showcase The Hulk in a video game.

4 Black Panther

Black Panther was a bit of a surprise success for Marvel upon release. People expected it to do well but not to be the biggest MCU movie to release without the word ‘Avengers‘ in the title. Such a surprise success indicates why Marvel did not adapt Black Panther into a game straight away, but players are still waiting for the opportunity to explore Wakanda.

The movie also lends itself nicely to a video game adaptation. Forget exploring the open world of Wakanda for a second; the espionage sections in the film could also have made Black Panther a great stealth game.

3 Captain Marvel

As the first Captain Marvel was the last MCU film to be released before Avengers: Endgame, the hype behind this movie was huge. The movie was also another example of Marvel exploring an untouched corner of its established universe. As such, the possibilities for exploration or adapting the Captain Marvel movie into a video game are endless.

The movie largely takes place on the Kree homeworld of Hala. This means that a game could follow the exact beats of the Captain Marvel movie or explore some of the character’s missions before her trip to Earth. Either way, it seems like a no-brainer to get people more hyped for Avengers: Endgame in this way.

2 Black Widow

It took a while for Black Widow to get her own movie, but it was worth the wait. As the first MCU movie to release since Endgame, it would have made sense for the studio to bolster the film with a tie-in game. It also makes sense when looking at how grounded the movie is.

RELATED: Best Femme Fatales in Modern Movies

There is no need for developers to worry about spectacle or complicated set pieces when adapting Black Widow into a video game. The focus could rely mainly on stealth, combat, or driving sections similar to GTA.

1 Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings

Shang Chi is an odd character to base a video game on. He was unknown to even some of the most hardcore comic fans at the time of his movie’s release, and his movie didn’t even feature any of the MCU’s big hitters. However, there was so much action in Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings that was the perfect fit for a video game.

The developers could have created an adaptation of the film with some Arkham-style combat or taken inspiration from the underground combat ring in the film to create an MCU fighting game. Just imagine pitting Thor up against Iron Monger in a video game ring.

MORE: MCU: Cameos Fans Would Love To See In Avengers: Secret Wars

 From Ant-Man to Captain Marvel, there are countless MCU movies that deserve their own video game adaptation.  Read More