I’ve loved Marvel since I was little. I was only about 7 or 8 when they launched their “Ultimate” universe with titles such as “Ultimate Spider-Man” and “Ultimate X-Men”, which introduced me for the first time to the world of comic book superheroes. And let me tell you, as someone who has loved Marvel since the early 2000s, I couldn’t be happier that they’ve literally never been more successful right now. Their shared movie universe is changing the face of Hollywood, as it seems like literally everyone wants to have an expanded universe these days, but no one seems able to get it right (as much as a certain studio really wants to, cough, Warner Bros, cough), and not only that, but three of the top 10 highest grossing movies of all time are made by Marvel. That is insane!
Unfortunately, things aren’t looking so good on the gaming and gambling side of Marvel. Their name used to adorn some incredibly fun games – remember “Marvel Vs Capcom 3”, “Marvel Ultimate Alliance”, “Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions” or “The Punisher”? These were some damn fun games, the likes of which we haven’t really seen in a couple of years. The last Marvel console game we got, besides a few Lego titles, was 2013’s “Deadpool”, and that was… Well, disappointing for anyone but the absolute most hardcore fans of the character. It has been three years since then, and during that time certain games, such as the aforementioned “Marvel Vs Capcom 3” and “Marvel Ultimate Alliance” have been made unavailable for purchase due to licensing issues.
Instead, what we’ve gotten are a bunch of mobile games. And don’t get me wrong, some are actually really good, such as “Marvel Future Fight”, on which I admit I’ve spent quite a lot of time and money. But they’re not what I want from my Marvel gaming experiences, and even they have been plagued by licensing issues. With certain small exceptions, you won’t find any X-Men or Fantastic Four characters within most Marvel games due to an ongoing rivalry with movie studio Fox, which owns the movie rights to these characters. While nothing is officially confirmed, several sources have claimed that Marvel has issued a ban on using these characters in any of their games out what seems like sheer spite.
The gambling side of things isn’t much brighter, honestly. The Marvel slots, courtesy of Microgaming, used to be among the best UK online slots presented, but that deal fell through back in – you guessed it – 2013. Since then Microgaming has moved on to making slots based on Warner Bros.’ DC movies, so it seems highly unlikely that we’re ever going to see a proper Marvel slot again. While there is at least some hope for the future as far as videogames are concerned (such as the Marvel game developed by Telltale which was announced last year), Marvel slots seem to be a lost cause.