Goofy idea for a hypothetical PS2-era Marvel vs. Capcom released between MvC2 and MvC3.

The goal wasn't to make a wishlist roster, but to build one based on what Marvel and Capcom would've realistically pushed around Holiday 2005:

• Spider-Man 2

• Fantastic Four

• Blade Trinity

• Elektra

• RE4

• DMC3

• Onimusha 3

• Viewtiful Joe

I also tried sourcing almost every character from actual PS2/GameCube/Xbox-era models to keep the gloriously chunky early-2000s aesthetic.

Who would you add or cut?

Here's the roster and what game I pulled each character's panel from.

I think a fan game could theoretically be made using assets from all these games. Maybe someday I'll learn how.

Marvel

1. Spider-Man (Spider-Man 3 - movie tie in game)

2. Green Goblin (Spider-Man - movie tie in game)

3. Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man 2 - movie tie in game)

4. Venom (Marvel Nemesis: Rise of The Imperfects) (not in a movie yet but popular enough to be in the next one)

5. Wolverine (X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse)

6. Magneto (X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse)

7. Storm (X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse)

8. Nightcrawler (X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse)

9. Iceman (X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse)

10. Human Torch (Marvel Nemesis: Rise of The Imperfects)

11. Thing (Marvel Nemesis: Rise of The Imperfects)

12. Doctor Doom (Fantastic Four Rise of The Silver Surfer - movie tie in game)

13. Blade (Blade II - movie tie in game)

14. Daredevil (Marvel Ultimate Alliance)

15. Elektra (Marvel Ultimate Alliance)

16. Punisher (The Punisher - movie tie in game)

17. Ghost Rider (Ghost Rider - movie tie in game) (not in a movie yet but popular enough to get one soon)

18. Hulk (The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction)

19. Captain America (Marvel Ultimate Alliance)

20. Iron Man (Iron Man - movie tie in game)

Capcom

1. Ryu (SF EX3)

2. Chun-Li (SF EX3)

3. Ken (SF EX3)

4. Alex (TvC)

5. Garuda (SF EX3) (Main villain of EX I think?)

6. X (X7)

7. Zero (X7)

8. Leon (RE4)

9. Jill (RE3)

10. Wesker (RE Code Veronica)

11. Nemesis (RE3)

12. Dante (DMC3)

13. Vergil (DMC3)

14. Trish (DMC2)

15. Lady (DMC3)

16. Viewtiful Joe (V. Joe 2)

17. Samanosuke (Onimusha 3)

18. Morrigan (TvC)

19. Batsu (TvC)

20. Regina (Dino Crisis)

Not a wishlist.

Tried to approach this as if I was actually working in the company today and trying to make as many people happy as possible. Only 28 slots per side. 56 total, same as MvC2. Feels like a return to form and a gesture of good will and apology to fans for MvCI. Prioritized mascots, modern relevance, long requested newcomers, and gameplay archetypes as best I could. Surprisingly difficult. I do not envy devs who have to make these decisions lmao.

Would be developed in the RE engine.

Capcom

Street Fighter

1. Ryu (Street Fighter 6)

2. Chun-Li (Street Fighter 6)

3. Juri (Street Fighter 6)

4. JP (Street Fighter 6)

5. Alex (Street Fighter 6)

Megaman (One From Each Franchise: Relevant From All The Legacy Collections That Seemingly Do Very Well)

6. Megaman (Megaman: Dual Override)

7. Zero (Megaman X)

8. Tron Bonne (Megaman Legends)

9. Bass.EXE (Megaman Battle Network)

10. Copy X (Megaman Zero) (Left Field Villain Pick)

Devil May Cry

11. Dante (Devil May Cry 5)

12. Vergil (Devil May Cry 5)

13. Nero (Devil May Cry 5)

Resident Evil

14. Leon (Resident Evil Requiem)

15. Wesker (Resident Evil 4 Remake)

16. Lady Dimitrescu (Resident Evil Village)

Consistent High Selling Franchises

17. Monster Hunter (Monster Hunter Wilds)

18. Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney Spirit of Justice)

Modern/Upcoming Relevance

19. Hugh Williams w/ Diana (Pragmata)

20. Miyamoto Musashi (Onimusha Way of The Sword)

21. Amaterasu (Okami sequel)

Not Relevant But Can't Miss A Game

22. Morrigan (Darkstalkers)

Deep Cuts That Have Been Highly Requested For Over 2 Decades And Never Had Their Chance In A Modern Game

23. Asura (Asura's Wrath)

24. Regina (Dino Crisis)

25. Gene (God Hand)

26. Edward Falcon (Power Stone)

27. Jin Saotome (Cyberbots)

28. Captain Commando (Captain Commando)

Any glaring omissions from past games like Strider Hiryu, Haggar, Viewtiful Joe, Frank West, Spencer, Arthur, etc. are a mix of they already had a chance to have a turn and are not currently relevant. It deeply pained me to cut them, especially Strider and Joe, but I felt I couldn't justify them given the limited space. They can always be DLC if there's an uproar over them being cut.

Marvel

Avengers

1. Captain America

2. Iron Man

3. Hulk

4. Thor

5. Black Panther

Spider-Man

6. Spider-Man

7. Green Goblin

8. Venom

Mystic

9. Doctor Strange

10. Ghost Rider

Street Level

11. Daredevil

12. Punisher

X-Men

13. Cyclops

14. Wolverine

15. Gambit

16. Storm

17. Magneto

18. Scarlet Witch

19. Deadpool

20. Apocalypse

Cosmic

21. Star Lord

22. Silver Surfer

Villains

23. Doctor Doom

24. Thanos

25. Loki

Oddballs

26. Howard The Duck

27. Squirrel Girl

28. Hercules

Tricky to narrow down. Tried to give representation to different sides of Marvel comics. MCU relevance was a heavy influence but characters who have fallen off like Hawkeye or Black Widow were omitted. Daredevil and Punisher have more upcoming and modern hype for example, and Loki and T'Challa remain highly popular despite being out of the spotlight for a while now. X-Men 97 season 2 is being capitalized on as well in terms of which X-Men were selected, plus many of them have been requested for decades as well. Deadpool and Scarlet Witch however are from MCU popularity. Tough to balance modern relevance, fan favorites, oddball picks, and diverse gameplay styles. Hercules is probably the weirdest pick but he checks off a much needed grappler and an oddball at the same time, and he could be a surprisingly hype wrestler character. I'll admit my knowledge of deep cut and oddball Marvel characters is not very extensive. Also tried to favor characters who haven't had their chance where I could. Punisher beat out Hawkeye as a zoner as he's more relevant and popular right now and never got a turn to be included. Silver Surfer beat out Nova as a cosmic air dasher character since we've had Nova twice and people have been requesting Surfer for a while. Only failing is potentially too few female characters. I had Black Widow and Gamora but couldn't justify them over others in popularity. Phoenix and Rogue were just barely cut but the other X-Men characters I have are just too hot right now to leave out. I considered Blade and Elsa Bloodstone as well but it felt too wrong to leave out Strange or Ghost Rider.

Given the same restrictions (56 characters total, modern relevance matters, gameplay archetypes matter, and not everyone can make it), who would you cut and who would you replace them with?