It’s Squirrel Girl’s time to shine! (pic: Marvel/Disney)
Aside from Iron Man and a rumoured Black Panther game, EA’s deal with Marvel includes another unidentified title.
Over a month after the initial rumours, EA revealed that it was partnering with Marvel to create a single-player Iron Man game. One in development at the Montréal based Motive Studio.
Before that, there were rumours that the publisher also has an open world Black Panther game in the works, but EA has yet to issue any comment on that.
EA’s initial Iron Man announcement did confirm that it would serve as the first of ‘several’ Marvel games, but it’s now stated that the partnership will consist of at least three action adventure games for consoles and PC.
Assuming the Black Panther one is real, this leaves one more Marvel title that EA has yet to formally reveal.
‘We look forward to welcoming Marvel into the EA family of creators and know this collaboration will produce exceptional experiences for our players,’ says EA’s chief operation office Laura Miele.
‘We can’t wait to see players’ reactions when they suit up as Iron Man and do the extraordinary things this superhero is known for.’
Jay Ong, executive vice president at Marvel Games, adds: ‘At Marvel, we strive to find best-in-class teams who can take our characters on heroic journeys in ways they haven’t before and collaborating with EA will help us achieve that.’
Whoever the star of this third game is remains a mystery at the moment (not that it’s necessarily based on a single protagonist), but EA claims their strategy with this deal is to attract new customers that don’t play other EA games.
It’s essentially a similar business model to how EA handles its Star Wars games. It may no longer have the exclusivity rights, but EA continues to maintain a working relationship with Disney and Lucasfilm Games and has several related projects in active development.
This is all according to Miele herself, via a Bloomberg report, which also says she was the one to reach out to Marvel in the first place.
Apparently, she contacted Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios (its film and TV division), about four years ago for advice on overseeing multiple studios. During the pandemic, she then began talking with Ong, which in turn led to the deal.
This image is all that EA’s shared about its Iron Man game (pic: EA)
‘We have an intentional, deliberate strategy to have a balanced portfolio,’ said Miele. ‘There will be Marvel fans who don’t play other EA games. That’s been true with Star Wars.’
This deal is also likely what led to Marvel creating original artwork for FIFA 23’s FUT Heroes cards, that depict what certain footballers would look like if they were comic book superheroes.
While the third EA Marvel game remains a mystery, a separate report from Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson (an often reliable source of insider info) says that the Iron Man game has now begun playtesting, to receive feedback on its mechanics and story.
As for Black Panther, no information – official or rumoured – has been shared since word of it first broke.
At the time, it was claimed that it’s in development at a completely new studio and, strangely, doesn’t star Black Panther himself but a custom character who must take up the mantle when their predecessor dies.
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Coincidentally enough, Skydance New Media’s Marvel game also stars Black Panther, but also not the T’Challa Black Panther fans know from the comics and movies.
It’s instead his grandfather, with the game being set during the Second World War and seeing Black Panther team up with Captain America.
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Aside from Iron Man and a rumoured Black Panther game, EA’s deal with Marvel includes exactly one more unidentified title.