Cancelled Avengers game details, video, screenshots

While its cinematic universe has taken off to include some of the biggest blockbusters every year, Marvel has reduced its blockbuster video game output. The company has had plenty of mobile releases since Tony Stark first hit the big screen, but the last major console releases capitalizing on Earth’s mightiest heroes include a 2011 Captain America action game and a 2012 fighting game. Things could have been quite different, however, had a canceled Avengers game been released.

Unseen64 and DidYouKnowGaming? have released a new video detailing the story of the canceled project, which has been recounted in bits and pieces over the years, including a major story about the game by Unseen64 in 2011.

Developed by the now defunct THQ, the game in its later forms would have had players taking on the roles of Avengers like Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, and the Hulk in an original story not tying in directly to the 2012 film (though it was set for a release coinciding with the movie). Players would have controlled their chosen Avenger in a first-person mode across a sprawling story focused around the Skrulls, with other proposed story content featuring Ultron and Vision.

The game would have also put the Avengers’ team focus at the heart of the gameplay, allowing for up to four players to fight together locally or online, as well as including team-up offensive and defensive moves.

The game was scrapped and THQ eventually closed after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2012. And though, as the video above reveals, the developers attempted to keep the project alive, it never saw an actual release or completed development.

Marvel has continued to release a number of other mobile and PC titles, like the upcoming Avengers Academy and the ongoing Marvel Heroes franchise, while Marvel’s heroes continue to be represented on consoles with games like Lego Marvel’s Avengers and Disney Infinity. But action-oriented, major titles focusing on Marvel’s most famous heroes have largely been absent during the MCU’s prominence. Marvel has promised big titles are coming, and Telltale Games announced a partnership with Marvel, but for now, watch the history of the canceled Avengers game above to see a glimpse of what could have been.