.
.
.
Secret characters (which can be unlocked via inputting a special series of commands on the character select screen) are indicated in
.
Captain America. The variation of Cap that I'm including here is his Sam Wilson look, seen in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as well as the upcoming Captain America: New World Order, though this version of Cap has existed in the comics since 2014. His moveset giving him various aerial options as well as more traditional shield-based attacks would be a nice change of pace for the series, and I think this makes a lot of sense overall.
Wolverine. Technically promoting the upcoming X-Men '97 series, Wolverine was an obvious inclusion that a lot of people felt was a terrible exclusion from the original game. Given he's already appeared in a lot of the series, I imagine he'd play somewhat similarly to his typical interpretations.
Spider-Man. Though, similarly to Cap, I'm going with the Miles Morales interpretation so as to promote the Spider-Verse series, as well as the upcoming game Spider-Man 2. Unlike your more traditional Spidey, Miles has a couple of moves with his electrically-based abilities, and his dodges may have him use his invisibility as a nice visual cue. That said, your traditional Peter Parker version of the character would be a "deluxe" costume for him.
Captain Marvel. Given she's effectively one of the MCU's most prominent characters by now, and a headlining inclusion in Infinite, Captain Marvel only made sense to include overall. Not much to add here.
Thor. Specifically her Jane Foster appearance, in reference to Thor: Love and Thunder, as well as being another prominent comic pick that I felt would be fun. A Thor of some description felt like an obvious choice of some kind, and I felt Jane would be a nice change of pace compared to our traditional Thor Odinson pick.
War Machine. The question immediately on people's mind looking at this roster is probably, "Where's Iron Man?" I felt that this decision actually makes sense for a few reasons. Firstly, MCU Iron Man (or, well, Tony Stark) is dead. He might not be dead in the comics, but he's dead in the movies, and Disney like to have a degree of brand synergy going on. We don't yet know enough about Ironheart's "default" MCU look to really warrant her inclusion, and I feel like fans would dislike her getting in over both Tony and Rhodey. Plus, back in the first Marvel vs. Capcom, War Machine was included over Iron Man all the way back then. This is probably one of my most controversial takes with this roster, but I think it's a logical and still fun conclusion.
Ms. Marvel. Admittedly this one was a little more difficult overall - mostly because the MCU version of the character has those strange energy-based powers. However... I like to hope that they'd let us use Ms. Marvel's classic powerset of elasticity and the like. I really hope they would, at least. It also helps that Kamala's a prominent character in the future of the MCU overall, too.
Hawkeye. Specifically in her Kate Bishop appearance, I felt a Hawkeye would be a fun inclusion who - despite obviously representing the Hawkeye Disney+ series - could still have an unusual moveset with a mix of zoning tools and close-up combat. The use of things like trick arrows as well makes it all the more interesting, in my mind, and allows for plenty of potential for something fun and fresh.
Doctor Strange. Doctor Strange is another pretty obvious, but still solid, inclusion. I considered a few different magically-aligned characters (some of which you'll see later!) but I felt like Strange himself would still be a lot of fun to include overall, even if his moveset is likely going to have to be based moreso on the MCU's version of the character.
Storm. Our second X-Men character, I originally considered replacing her with Cyclops due to Thor also having electrically-based abilities - but Storm feels like she'd be a lot of fun in his place given her ability to control the weather. Again, her default look is based on the X-Men '97 appearance, though she'll also have other alts.
Rocket Raccoon & Groot. A combined character in a similar vein to Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, Rocket & Groot would combine mid-range trapping and keep-away tools from Groot with long-range zoning and trapping tools with Rocket. I felt it'd be necessary to include at least one Guardians character, and whilst I did consider either Star-Lord or Gamora for the role (or even Adam Warlock), I felt Rocket and Groot would be the most iconic pair to bring into here.
Wasp. It's kind of surprising to me that we've never seen Ant-Man, the Wasp, or even other characters from that area of the Marvel universe, within a Marvel vs. Capcom game. That said, I felt like the Wasp would be a more interesting inclusion than Ant-Man given she also has his shrinking abilities, though also has access to her stingers and the ability to fly - making her a solid candidate for a glass cannon rushdown character.
Thing. Our representative for the Fantastic Four considering the upcoming film, I genuinely considered all four - but I felt the Thing would be the most iconic of the bunch (shoutout to the Human Torch, though!) Lowkey, I'm kind of surprised that none of the FF have ever been in a Marvel vs. Capcom game before (unless you count Super-Skrull?), so he'd be a popular pick for fans. Thing's moveset is pretty much our stand-in for the traditional Hulk kit - who I've elected to replace with...
She-Hulk. Including her over the more traditional Hulk might seem like a very weird choice, but I think it's almost logical for Marvel to want us to do this. Considering the issues with the Hulk's film rights being owned by Universal, plus the fact that the She-Hulk Disney+ series exists, it makes sense for them to ask for her to be included over her cousin. That said, I still think she'd have plenty of moveset potential.
Moon Knight. Another character mostly included due to the presence of a Disney+ series, Moon Knight is also a character who I think a lot of people would genuinely quite like to see. Not much to say on him, admittedly.
Blade. And yet another brand new character to the MvC series! Blade's got an upcoming film of his own, but I'd like to have his overall vibe here inspired at least in part by the Wesley Snipes films, especially with a variety of weapons from those films as well as the books. He's been a decently popular character that a lot of people would like to see, and he also doesn't have a problem with being in daylight (which other vampiric characters may have had.)
Jubilee. Another X-Men member, but this one being a bit more of a wild-card and a more direct opportunity to represent X-Men '97, Jubilee is a decently popular and more recent character who I felt would be a cool new character to bring in. I originally penned Gambit in her place, but she works well to represent the whole "new generation" thing I had going on with this roster overall!
Howard the Duck. I'd say he's probably my "wild-card" pick for the Marvel roster, but regardless, he's had a couple of appearances within the MCU and is a decently popular, if strange, character that a lot of people would find to be a fun, if odd, inclusion. As for exactly how he'd work, I think he'd use a combination of Quack-Fu - and perhaps he could bring in the Iron Duck armor for super moves.
Scarlet Witch. So, I felt like she'd be another obvious "mage-like" pick that felt like a reasonable choice. Whether you wanted to make her a hero or a villain in the story mode - that's up to you! That said, either way, she'd still be able to have a massively fun and unique moveset all of her own.
Man-Thing. Another wild-card pick in my mind, Man-Thing is picked mostly as a more obscure pick overall - but I felt that he'd be very interesting regardless. Helpfully, he's also appeared in the Werewolf by Night special presentation. In terms of his moveset, I like to imagine his main gimmick would be that his touch burns people, so he can act as a decent grappler.
Kang the Conqueror. The main villain of this game, alongside Wily. I think Kang's inclusion makes a lot of sense given that he's the main villain of the MCU's Multiverse Saga, though we could totally do something unique with him here too. I'll talk about the story ideas later on.
Magneto. Our fourth X-Men-adjescent character, Magneto is a solid olive-branch to the previous fans of the series that may have been lost due to Infinite - partially due to a very unfortunate quote that I'm sure you all remember. That said, he'd also spring to mind as a potentially interesting story character overall.
Loki. Another newcomer, surprisingly enough! Again, his MCU relevance is the key reason as to why he's here, but I also felt he'd have a lot of unique moveset potential what with his magical abilities and his general vibe of trickery and whatnot.
Green Goblin. I wanted at least one iconic Spidey villain here, and even though Venom is the traditional choice that people would go with, Green Goblin finally getting a chance to shine makes a lot of sense to me - especially following Spider-Man: No Way Home.
The Captain. Our secret character on the Marvel side, The Captain is our more traditional "Steve Rogers" inclusion who I felt would make a lot of sense as an interesting secret pick. I originally planned on making this Nomad or U.S. Agent, but including Steve Rogers in an older form would make him a great rival to Ryu, and I could easily justify costumes based on other Steve Rogers looks.