Infinite possibilities
I haven’t stopped thinking about Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite since it was officially announced earlier this week. We’ve had less than four minutes of total trailer footage, yet my mind is going crazy thinking of all the different possibilities. Before we find out the game’s final roster (which will most likely be through a leak, like every other Capcom fighting game), I figured it’d be fun to list some of the characters I’d like to see.
Taking into consideration Marvel’s potential cinematic universe focus, franchise representation, and just overall fun play styles, I tried my best to limit my picks to 10. I’ve also considered ways to incorporate many characters into as small of a roster as possible since I keep getting that sinking feeling Infinite will feature an initially small cast. Hopefully it’s like Tatsunoko vs. Capcom in that it makes the most out of little.
Hope all of our favorites take us for a ride!
Black Panther
Since Wolverine has yet to be announced for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, I’m afraid he won’t make it to the roster at all since he’s usually one the first confirmations. It might be time to think of a character to replace him, and I can think of no one better than Black Panther. Given Marvel’s huge push in the comics, and with a film releasing in 2018, Black Panther is eerily close to new mascot standards. In fact, you could even translate most of Wolverine’s MvC moveset with little problem. Fighting with claws and badass acrobatics, you could theoretically give him Berserker Barrage and Berserker Charge as supers. A cool Level 3 Super could even utilize his power to control the dead (he is King of the Dead, after all) to summon Marvel characters not in the Vs. series anymore.
Dr. Wily
With Mega Man X already confirmed, I initially wanted to include the series villain Sigma on the list. Sigma’s cool and all, but I’ve always wished for some form of Dr. Wily. I just had no idea how you could work Wily’s machine into the fold. After Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 revealed how M.O.D.O.K. worked, it all made sense. The developers could have Dr. Wily in one of his many capsule ships and simply fire tons of projectiles. Since no one seemed to utilize the keep-away play styles in UMvC3, Dr. Wily could be a huge threat. His supers could even incorporate the robot masters for an extra layer of awesomeness. If we somehow get another Mega Man representative, I’d rather have a new character than Zero or Tron Bonne again.
Ant-Man and The Wasp
I’m pretty sure Marvel’s going to work Ant-Man into the roster given how well the film fared critically, but I would prefer his companion, The Wasp, to join in his place. Since neither character has a variable move set on their own, I could see them as a duo (much like the double billing of the upcoming sequel, Ant-Man and The Wasp). Ant-Man could work for normal attacks, and The Wasp would fly around him as a projectile (but nothing too interfering). One cool super move could utilize the Shrink/Grow discs Ant-Man uses in the films with Ant-Man tossing a toy truck before it grows and explodes in a comedic fashion.
Asura
CyberConnect2’s Asura’s Wrath was one of the most surprising games in a long time. A super macho, ridiculous adventure with tinges of anime influences that featured prominent Hindu and Buddhist mythological figures punching each other in the face. The most punching-est of them all was the titular Asura, whose character is too cool to be limited to a single game. He already fought Ryu in Asura Wrath‘s DLC, so it’s not hard to imagine him punching Marvel characters in the face. His move set is basically already made with projectiles, his six-arm power up, and the eventual million-arm form. I just want Asura in Infinite because he’s not anywhere else yet, darn it.
Squirrel Girl
Squirrel Girl may have been popular among smaller circles, but she didn’t quite hit mainstream success until Ryan North and Erica Henderson’s The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl in 2015. The two’s comic gave Doreen Green a welcome, positive spin and it’s fun to read how Squirrel Girl wins (as the title implies, she never loses). I’m a little worried about how her colorful nature would fit within Infinite‘s art style, but her fighting skills would definitely earn her the place. All of her supers would involve little effort, but maximum damage making her the funniest character on the roster. And since we could have a game without Deadpool or Phoenix Wright, we’re going to need all the comedy we can get.
SonSon
Marvel vs. Capcom 2 featured tons of characters never seen again like Amingo, Ruby Heart, and the anchor of all of my teams, SonSon. SonSon may have been one of the weakest characters, and the chance of her ever appearing again is slim, but I really just want to see an HD version of her. Crazy things have happened recently, so I say we ride this insane wave and bring back the greatest character ever. Or Captain Commando. Or Jin. Or Hayato. Pretend this is an entry for those forgotten saints too. RIP, we miss you every day.
Loki
With how prevalent Loki has been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, it’s crazy he’s not in the MvC series yet. I was surprised to see him ignored in UMvC3, so I’m hoping Infinite doesn’t make the same mistake. His trickster god moveset could feature cheap teleport tactics, or even go as far as mirroring other characters’ moves like Taskmaster did in the previous game. Since Capcom tends to like clone characters, I could see the latter working into his whole playstyle. Maybe Loki would even steal supers from other characters? Either way. Infinite needs more tricky characters in general…especially since it’s getting a big story mode push.
Edward Falcon (or anyone from Power Stone)
Why haven’t we gotten another Power Stone? Is it because the series released on a string of dead platforms? It’s a shame we haven’t seen any of the series’ characters since 2006, so Infinite would be a great place to bring one back. If we’re lucky, Infinite will take a page out of Tatsunoko vs. Capcom‘s playbook and add characters from dead franchises (as that game added characters from Rival Schools, Onimusha, and Lost Planet). Edward Falcon would probably be the best fit with his boxing style and Power Change into a suit equivalent in power to Marvel’s Iron Man.
Rocket Raccoon and Baby Groot
If you’ve seen the recently released trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, you’re most likely enamored by Baby Groot. Since Rocket Raccoon already has an established move set from UMvC3, it wouldn’t be that hard to add Baby Groot into the animations. You could even add Baby Groot into the Level 3 super by having him grow into Adult Groot for a cool beat down. An alternative could be Rocket Raccoon riding Groot, with Groot having all of the main attacks and Raccoon featured in the super moves instead. Either way, Capcom would be dumb not to include this super popular, fun duo.
Aladdin
Because Disney owns Marvel, and Capcom once developed an Aladdin game, Aladdin is technically eligible for entry. Capcom has gone on record stating they’d like to revive dormant series, so anything could happen, right? Haha, there’s no way this would ever actually come to pass but I’d be more willing to accept the potential loss of X-Men with this gem.
It’s Prince Ali and Mahvel, baby.
