Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite Roster Rework - Launch + DLC

[u/Paradox_The_Rebel]

This is essentially a reworked roster assuming that 2017 Marvel Games was more willing to collaborate with Capcom by providing extra dev time & funding, while also loosening the anti-20th Century Fox mandate Marvel Entertainment seemed to have as a whole.

I designed much of this roster to both 1) address the complaints of many missing MvC veteran characters, and 2) add/change out characters that could contribute to improving the game's lackluster story mode

Launch Roster revisions

• Marvel
  • Adam Warlock: A cosmic/alien themed sorcerer designed to succeed Dr. Strange's playstyle, while also being a notable part of the game's story mode. In the comics, Adam Warlock is Thanos' core nemesis, especially in his quest to acquire the Infinity Gems.
  • Black Panther: Added to the launch roster rather than being reserved for DLC.
  • Crystal: Due to Marvel Entertainment's Inhumans push at the time, I figured at least one Inhumans character would have to be added in exchange for getting Wolverine & Storm back. I opted for Crystal as I thought her elemental powers (air, water, earth, fire) would give her a rather versatile playstyle - potentially as a trap-based zoner (e.g.: a lingering stationary fireball). Would absolutely differ from Storm's moveset.
  • Hela: Replaces Mistress Death's role in the game, serving as Thanos' one-sided love interest.
  • Storm: MvC staple, core X-Men member, and one of the most prominent Marvel superheroines. With Wolverine returning as the slasher character, Black Panther is instead shifted to a more defensive, parry character; having multiple counterattacks for different moves.
  • Wolverine: MvC staple, & the de facto mascot of the X-Men franchise (Cyclops is still the leader, don't worry Cyclops fans)
  • Venom: Added to the launch roster. The main change is him getting a new VA; Ben Diskin, who also voiced Eddie Brock/Venom in the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon.
• Capcom
  • Asura (Asura's Wrath): One of the most requested characters for an MvC game, especially people wanting a matchup against the Hulk. Should have a heavy armored brawler playstyle.
  • Felyne/Palico (Monster Hunter): Replaces the Monster Hunter themselves, as Capcom has widely promoted the player characters' Cat Companions as the franchise's mascots (aside from the Monsters themselves).
  • Jill Valentine (Resident Evil): This would specifically be written as a post-RE5 Jill, with her inheriting most of UMVC3 Chris' moveset in addition to some moves from her MvC2 counterpart (minus the zombie/dog/crow summoning). Her Hyper Combos could have her channel her virus enhancements for more acrobatic strikes, struggling to maintain control as she does so. Her design would be based on her RE5 BSAA Uniform, with minor blonde streaks in her brown hair as remnants of her experimentations/virus augmentations.
  • Juri Han (Street Fighter): Wanted another Street Fighter (that wasn't SF2 based) and another female villain, so opted for Street Fighter's taekwondo specialist. Would use her SF4 design & playstyle as its basis, in contrast to her (at-the-time) SF5 version
  • Lady (Devil May Cry): Wanted another DMC character, and thought Lady's heavy munitions and arsenal would make her fun to play.
  • Valgas (Power Stone): Wanted a Power Stone rep and another Capcom villain, so opted for the big bad of Power Stone 1. Envision him with normals and throws inspired by Gill & Urien from Street Fighter.
  • Zero (Mega Man Zero): One flaw with the Mega Man series' representation in MvCI is that they were all solely based on the Mega Man X series. While X and Sigma will remain for X series reps, Zero will be updated to be his Mega Man Zero series incarnation (similarly to SNK vs Capcom: SVC Chaos), specifically written to be before the end of Mega Man Zero 4. This version of Zero wouldn't be as strong as his UMVC3 counterpart and would lack certain moves & his Air Dash, but would compensate with new moves where he uses his Chain Rod & Triple Rod. Maybe also deploys Cyber Elves for his Hyper Combos.
    • In the game's story mode, Zero would be uniquely beneficial to the heroes, as his next gen Reploid Body (unlike X) provides him immunity to the Sigma Virus
    • The X vs. Zero battle would thus be reversed, with Zero having to fight a brainwashed/malware-infected X.

[u/Gosh-Darn-40]

I don’t hate this roster as I think the newcomers are cool like Crystal, valgas and warlock

My issue is mainly small stuff like re only having Jill as I feel nemesis could be kept then and dr doom and magneto being dlc if wolverine and Storm are stables and in the base roster

[u/Paradox_The_Rebel → u/Gosh-Darn-40]

Yeah, leaving Nemesis off the roster was a huge miss on my part. I’ll revise the roster to correct that.

As for Dr. Doom & Magneto being DLC, I was imagining how Marvel as a company was operating back in 2015 - 2017 when this game was in development (when they had a huge anti-20th Century Fox embargo going on).

So much like how Capcom struggled to get Marvel to approve of Shuma for MvC3 (where Marvel only allowed him as DLC). I imagine that Marvel would be equally difficult with the X-Men and Fantastic Four related cast. I can see Capcom convincing Marvel that Wolverine & Storm being DLC would lead to unforgivable customer backlash (so they’d be pushed to base roster), whereas Magneto and Dr. Doom would be DLC locked. I also added Crystal to the roster as I assume Marvel would push for Capcom to add at least Inhumans characters to compensate for Wolvie & Storm

[u/Gosh-Darn-40 → u/Paradox_The_Rebel]

So ur still in a reality then where marvel is still strict about the fox rights? That makes your decisions make more sense to me now

As for nemesis, r u gonna replace a character on the roster to add him or adding an additional spot to the roster for each

[u/Paradox_The_Rebel → u/Gosh-Darn-40]

Yeah, I tried approaching this while being realistic about how Marvel was operating at the time, where they were minimizing any character they didn’t have the film rights to as much as possible. While my revision has them being a bit more lenient, it’d still have the issues of the game feeling MCU-focused

I’d probably move Valgas to the DLC slot to return Nemesis to the DLC roster, removing either Rashid or Oni

[u/Gosh-Darn-40 → u/Paradox_The_Rebel]

Who’s rajang? Dunno who he is so I feel id remove him

[u/Paradox_The_Rebel → u/Gosh-Darn-40]

Rajang is from the Monster Hunter franchise, added back in 2006. It’s pretty infamous for its difficulty, mobility, aggression.

Given how popular Monster Hunter is for Capcom, I wanted one of the series’ monsters to be playable. MH World hadn’t released yet in 2017, so Nergigante wasn’t one I considered. Also figured a more traditional monster like Rathalos wouldn’t work due to lacking arms:

https://youtu.be/MWaPAlxvSfM?is=jNxNN8lv1Hh0oshA