There Was Once an Idea for a 'Marvel Gaming Universe' That Would Tie All the Video Games Together Like the MCU, but 'It Didn’t Get Funded'

The Marvel Cinematic Universe's interconnected films and TV shows have redefined entertainment, crafting a cohesive, long-running narrative. Marvel video games, however, remain isolated entities, each telling a separate story unrelated to others. Insomniac's Spider-Man games, for instance, are entirely 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.

Yet, Disney once envisioned a Marvel Gaming Universe (MGU), mirroring the MCU's success in the video game realm. What happened?

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Alexander Seropian and Alex Irvine, speaking on The Fourth Curtain podcast, shed light on this abandoned MGU initiative. Seropian, a Bungie co-founder and former head of Disney's video game division, and Irvine, a veteran Marvel games writer (most recently on Marvel Rivals), detailed its demise.

Irvine recounted the initial concept: "When I first started working on Marvel games, there was this idea of creating a Marvel gaming universe, mirroring the MCU." However, as Seropian explained, "When I was at Disney, that was my initiative... ‘Let's tie these games together.’ It was pre-MCU. But it didn’t get funded."

Irvine elaborated on the MGU's potential: "We had great ideas—ARG aspects, a central player hub connecting all games, cross-promotion with comics, original content. But it didn't get funded, so we made a bunch of individual games."

The MGU's failure to secure funding stemmed from its inherent complexity, Irvine suggested: "Even then, we wrestled with questions of how an MGU would differ from the comics and movies, maintaining consistency. These complexities deterred some at Disney."

The unrealized potential of an MGU is intriguing. Imagine Insomniac's Spider-Man, Square Enix's Marvel's Avengers, and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy existing within the same universe, featuring crossovers and a culminating event.

The future of Insomniac's Marvel's Wolverine remains uncertain. Will it share a universe with Marvel's Spider-Man? Could we see cameos?

The MGU remains a cautionary tale of a scrapped video game concept. Yet, in an alternate reality, perhaps it thrives.