Marvel Games has opened up about the possibility of some M-rated superhero games. Marvel Games has made major strides in the last decade by breaking away from movie tie-ins and creating more premium, AAA standalone stories. This has allowed the label to produce some truly wonderful superhero stories that aren’t possible in other mediums and allows for new takes on massive characters that have existed for as long as 60 years. The majority of these titles have been celebrated for injecting a breath of fresh air into these characters because they have the freedom to tell a compelling story that takes risks.
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One risk that many are curious to see Marvel Games take on is whether or not it will do an M-rated game. Given Marvel is a brand that is known and enjoyed by families and children, mature stories outside of the comics are few and far between. Logan, Daredevil, and The Punisher have broken the mold in live-action and X-Men Origins: Wolverine‘s video game tie-in had an M-rating, but that rating is almost never applied to other Marvel games, especially in its current iteration. However, when speaking with ComicBook.com about the recent release of the Meta Quest 2 version of Iron Man VR, Marvel Games VP Bill Rosemann touched on the idea of M-rated Marvel games.
“It’s something we’ve talked about and it comes down to character, being authentic, appropriate, and power and responsibility,” said Rosemann. “The power is we get to work with these great characters. The responsibility is using them correctly. You can try to make a mature game with any characters. Would it be right to have a mature Power Pack game? No, it doesn’t fit the themes and the characters. It’s not the right thing to do. Certain characters could, but we take it very seriously. We sit down and talk about what’s the player fantasy? What do you expect from this character? Who is the audience? If we were going to go down that path, how do we responsibly create it, market it, sell it? With everything, it’s all about the rating, the comics, the games. Marvel’s past is filled with stories of all different ratings. It’s about if we stay within that rating, is it correct for the character? With whatever marketing we do, does it end up in the right hands and the right audience? Those are all the questions we ask ourselves. We have the power, we have the characters. [Our] responsibility is to do it right for the character, the audience, and Marvel itself.”
Given Wolverine’s history of mature stories both due to the level of violence and the adult themes they tackle, some have wondered if Marvel’s Wolverine from Insomniac Games will embrace an M-rating. As of right now, we really don’t know how it will be rated, but Insomniac has stated it will have a “mature” tone. Only time will tell if this will usher in another M-rating for a Marvel video game, but we’ll likely be waiting a while.
What Marvel games would you like to see get an M-rating? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @Cade_Onder.
