Summary
Marvel fans have been treated to a lot of exciting news recently, with big projects in the MCU likeDeadpool and WolverineandThe Fantastic Fourgetting official reveals. Although Marvel games haven’t been seeing as much attention, with titles like EA Motive’sIron Manand Cliffhanger’sBlack Panthergames still lacking substantial information, the fan base has a clear desire to see more Marvel IPs translated to the video game medium. With all of the excitement surroundingThe Fantastic Fourcasting and poster reveal, Marvel has the perfect chance to keep the hype rolling with a Fantastic Four game.
Past Marvel games have generally been hit-or-miss, with some titles likeMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxyand Insomniac’sSpider-Mangames being well received, while a game likeMarvel’s Avengersstruggled to maintain a playerbase. There have even been some sleeper titles likeMarvel’s Midnight Sunsthat received mostly favorable reviewsbut failed to meet sales expectations. However, a Fantastic Four game would have the recognizability and MCU tie-in to potentially be the next great Marvel game success story if it can do these iconic heroes justice.
There are Several Possible Routes a Fantastic Four Game Could Take
A Fantastic Four Game Would Need to Nail its Setting and Story
The casting poster forThe Fantastic Fourreveals a hintas to the exact date in which the film will take place, with The Thing shown reading a real-world Life Magazine with a cover featuring United States President Lyndon B. Johnson from the June 23, 2025 issue of the publication. With the film likely being a period piece set in the 1960s, a Fantastic Four game could follow suit and be set during this same period. Many popular games have utilized this early 1960s aesthetic to great success, likeWolfenstein 2: The New ColossusandFallout 4, so it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to expect a Fantastic Four game to be set in a similar era.
However, Marvel games tend to break from the MCU when it comes to telling their own unique story, so it’s just as likely that a Fantastic Four game could deviate from its film counterpart and take a completely different direction with its setting and story. While therumored villain ofThe Fantastic Fourfilm is said to be Galactus, a Fantastic Four game has other iconic villains it could include, such as Doctor Doom or Super-Skrull. This game could even explore the multiverse and Reed Richards' ties to Nathaniel Richards AKA Kang the Conqueror, given that he is a descendant of Mister Fantastic.
A Fantastic Four Game Could Break the Superhero Live-Service Curse
The big question a potential Fantastic Four game would need to face is what the core gameplay of the title would look like. The underwhelming performance of recent live-service multiplayer superhero games likeMarvel’s AvengersandSuicide Squad: Kill the Justice Leaguemight make going this route seem unappealing for a Fantastic Four game. However, as a team of heroes, it would make a lot of sense for this game to include multiplayer co-op, and it could learn from the mistakes of previous live-service titles to deliver an experience that isn’t so heavy-handed with its live service elements and instead focuses on developing a cast of unique playable characters.
Conversely, a Fantastic Four game could make for a great single-player experience if it followed in the footsteps ofMarvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In that game, players would only get to directly control Star-Lord but could issue commands to other members of the group, allowing them to perform various skills and adding a level of strategy to its action-oriented gameplay. A Fantastic Four game could go a similar route and make Mister Fantastic the controllable character while allowing players to issue orders to Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
WHERE TO PLAY
Fire up a wild ride across the cosmos with a fresh take on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. In this third-person action-adventure game, you are Star-Lord, and thanks to your bold yet questionable leadership, you have persuaded an oddball crew of unlikely heroes to join you. Some jerk (surely not you) has set off a chain of catastrophic events, and only you may hold the unpredictable Guardians together long enough to fight off total interplanetary meltdown.Use Element Blasters, tag-team beat downs, jet boot-powered dropkicks, nothing’s off-limits. If you think it’s all going to plan, you’re in for a world of surprises, with the consequences of your actions guaranteed to keep the Guardians on their toes.In this original Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy story, you’ll cross paths with powerful new beings and unique takes on iconic characters, all caught in a struggle for the galaxy’s fate. It’s time to show the universe what you’re made of. You got this. Probably.
