10 Superheroes Who Deserved Better Video Games
Thor
Thor might be the God of Thunder, but he hasn’t really had a chance to show his true power in any of the video games he’s appeared in. His movie tie-in game was nothing more than a God of War clone filled with damage sponge enemies and his appearance in Marvel’s Avengers wasn’t much better. There is a wealth of great comic book stories to be adapted for Thor but for some reason, much like in the MCU, he’s mostly sidelined and never given a chance to appeal to his strengths. Adapting the comics instead of the MCU would also allow players to delve deeper into the Game of Thrones style kingdom of Asgard and focus either on the early days of the God of Thunder or better yet, take the God of War 2018 approach and show us an aged and weathered Thor who must reclaim Mjolnir by proving his worth again.
Batman Beyond
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This should have been the next logical step for Rocksteady with the Arkham universe and would have continued to honor Kevin Conroy’s legacy as Batman by passing the torch to Terry McGinnis as the new protector of Gotham. Batman Beyond might not have reached the same levels of popularity as Batman: The Animated Series but it has developed a devoted cult following in the years since. Forcing an aging Bruce Wayne onto the sidelines and into a futuristic Gotham while mentoring the next generation of crime fighters could let players see Gotham in an entirely new way as well as utilize an entire new arsenal of gadgets. The series also saw the return of familiar foes as well as a rogue’s gallery all his own. A Batman Beyond game has long been in demand by the fanbase and Terry deserves his time in the shadows as the new Batman.
Fantastic Four
For being Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four really hasn’t had their time in the spotlight besides a couple poor tie in games to the original movies of the mid-2000s and the abomination that was the 1997 video game. Within the comics, the Fantastic Four are tied in with nearly every other superhero in the Marvel universe so cameos from the entirety of Marvel canon are technically open for them. Using the format of the recent Guardians of the Galaxy could offer potential for the title with Reed Richards calling the shots when the team is fighting together and then separate levels for each hero to make use of their individual skill sets. The Fantastic Four have some of the most unique power-sets in the Marvel universe and with all the advances in video game tech wizardry, now is the perfect time for the Fantastic Four to flame on for some clobberin’ time.
Spawn
Spawn is one of the few superheroes to go mainstream not tied to either Marvel or DC and managed to become not only an icon but also put Image Comics on the map. Todd McFarlane’s passion project has had numerous video games but none of them managed to capture the look, feel, or the true darkness of the character. A perfect video game adaptation could take inspiration from the Batman Arkham games and let Hell’s anti-hero hunt the lowest of the criminal underworld while balancing his Necroplasm powers. The balance of deciding when and whether to use his powers could also feed into a morality meter in which the player can decide if they want to continue down the path of the anti-hero or fully give into their evil side for special bonuses to their suit and unleash the full power of hell.
Green Lantern
Green Lantern has probably some of the most untapped potential in video games. Ignoring the abysmal tie-in game to the equally terrible movie, Green Lantern’s light hasn’t had a chance to shine in video games outside of his role in the Injustice series and the Lego DC games. Rather than focusing solely on Hal Jordan or John Stewart, players could interact with the entire Green Lantern Corps and be sent on a planet hopping, space exploration adventure to police the galaxy and uncover a universe-ending threat. The power of the ring would allow players to find any number of solutions to encounters and giving these new wielders of the ring the ability to fully customize their powers with innumerable construct options to use during their adventures would ensure that no two players' experiences were the same.
The Watchmen
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Alan Moore’s Watchmen might have subverted a lot of superhero tropes but when it came to the team’s one and only video game outing, it was as generic as you could get. With most superheroes maintaining their heroic stature, a Watchmen game could lean more into the darker side of constantly being in the spotlight as well as the hero’s, in particular Rorschach’s investigations into the seedy underworld of the universe. A more mature superhero video game would fit the darker, more introspective style of story-telling many games are implementing these days and being able to follow all the members of the group and possibly even be given morality choices throughout the story could also help differentiate itself from the source material and give players more agency. Since all but Dr. Manhattan are humans in costume, combat and exploration could borrow heavily from Rocksteady’s Arkham-verse.
Aquaman
Admittedly water levels are the bane of most gamers so the prospect of a game set primarily in the ocean isn’t immediately appealing. The world of Atlantis itself is ancient and full of turmoil with numerous attempts to overthrow the King of Atlantis and this would be an excellent jumping in point for Arthur Curry to earn his redemption and regain his throne. With numerous other kingdoms to visit in which he can gain allies while also learning new abilities, there’s no end to the imaginative locations for players to visit and enemies to encounter. While there would undoubtedly be the hurdle of making underwater exploration fun and engaging, many games in the years since the horrendous Battle for Atlantis have made great strides with these mechanics and a dedicated team could help Arthur reclaim his throne in an epic climactic battle that allows him to fully unleash the powers of the deep.
Iron Man
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The man who launched a billion-dollar movie empire, Tony Stark has remained one of the most popular characters in both the MCU as well as graphic novels. However, his video games have yet to fully capture the true experience of being Iron Man. The VR game did its best to put players in the cockpit of the suit but still felt underwhelming compared to the maneuverability and arsenal fans have come to expect. Marvel’s Avengers also fell short, in several ways, and oddly enough, one of the only games to truly make players feel like they were inside the suit wasn’t even an Iron Man game but Bioware’s Anthem. If the upcoming EA Iron Man game can adapt those mechanics as well as the sense of speed and adrenaline of piloting one of Tony Stark’s incredible suits, it might just be enough to forget his other embarrassing video game entries.
Ghost Rider
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While we’d love to see any version of Ghost Rider get a proper video game, we’d especially love to see the newest incarnation of The Spirit of Vengeance Robbie Reyes and his flaming Hell Charger get some much attention. While the Rider’s only video game outing copied the Greek Saga’s God of War combat, there’s no reason to fix what ain’t broken. Combine Reye’s chain whip abilities with his Hellfire attacks as well as Robbie’s hand to hand combat prowess and the game’s combat possibilities have plenty of room to grow. Robbie could even have his own version of Spartan Rage in which he unleashes his full powers for an extra boost with his demonic form. The ability for Robbie to remotely control as well as instantly teleport to his Hell Charger anywhere could be reminiscent of the Batmobile in Arkham Knight and open unique fast travel opportunities.
Superman
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The most iconic superhero of all time, Superman has had some of the worst video game adaptations of any hero on our list. Given his immense strength, speed and overall power, it’s not difficult to understand how adapting the last son of Krypton to video games would be a challenge for any developer. Possibly the closest we’ve come to a proper Superman game was 2017’s Megaton Rainfall and any potential developer could easily use this as a road map for a potential Superman game. Giving players full access to Superman’s abilities, players would need to strategically engage in combat to minimize not only collateral damage of the city's many citizens but the fully destructible buildings as well. Given Superman’s clearly OP powers, the world he must protect needs to be equally large in scale and offer players a truly enormous open world or galaxy to protect and unleash all the powers of the Man of Steel. Which superhero do you think was done dirty by video games and deserves a second chance at redemption? Share your picks down in the comments.
