The Marvel Cinematic Universe's success in creating a cohesive, interconnected narrative across films and TV shows has been undeniable. However, Marvel video games have largely remained isolated entities, each telling a separate story unrelated to others. Insomniac's Spider-Man games, for instance, are completely distinct from Eidos-Montreal's Guardians of the Galaxy, and upcoming titles like Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Marvel's Wolverine, and Marvel's Blade follow suit.
But there was a time when Disney envisioned a Marvel Gaming Universe (MGU), mirroring the MCU's success in the video game sphere. So, what happened?
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According to Alexander Seropian (a Bungie founder and former head of Disney's video game business) and Alex Irvine (a long-time Marvel games writer), the MGU concept, which they both worked on, ultimately lacked funding from Disney's higher-ups. Seropian described it as his initiative, aiming to connect Marvel games in a similar fashion to the MCU, but it never secured the necessary financial backing.
Irvine elaborated on the MGU's potential, highlighting the planned integration of ARGs (alternate reality games) to create a shared player experience across different titles. This would have involved connecting games, comics, and original content, offering a truly interconnected gaming experience. However, the complexity of maintaining consistency between the MGU, comics, and movies proved a hurdle. Irvine suggested that the intricate nature of these considerations deterred some at Disney from pursuing the project.
It's intriguing to speculate on what could have been. A successful MGU might have seen Insomniac's Spider-Man games share a universe with Square Enix's Marvel's Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, featuring crossovers and a shared narrative culminating in a grand event.
The future of Insomniac's Marvel's Wolverine game remains uncertain. Will it connect to the Spider-Man universe? Could cameos from those games appear? The scrapped MGU serves as a reminder of the many ambitious video game concepts that never see the light of day. Though perhaps, in an alternate reality, the MGU thrives.
