Marvel’s Midnight Suns: 5 mysteriously absent characters
It’s been a bit of an unexpected wait, but one of my most-anticipated games of 2022 is getting in just under the wire. Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a cross of two things I am absolutely a huge fan of, both Marvel and turn-based strategy RPGs.
However, there is one thing about the roster that bothers me. While Marvel’s Midnight Suns boasts a pretty sizable roster of heroes and even features some less-known heroes getting some spotlight, the roster has a fair amount of characters who by and large feel super out of place in a game all about the supernatural space of Marvel. Not Spider-Man, as he often teams with the likes of Doctor Strange and has fought plenty of mystical enemies himself, but honestly characters like Wolverine, Captain America, and especially Iron Man and Captain Marvel feel woefully out of their element.
With that in mind, here are five more fitting characters that should have at least been part of the roster of Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Maybe they can be added in a future expansion or hopefully a sequel…
#5. Howard The Duck
Ok look it’s funny that Deadpool “campaigned” to be included in Marvel’s Midnight Suns and is part of the DLC pack of characters, if you were going to put an irreverent meta-breaking hero that better fits the vibe of your game, Howard the Duck is your guy. Sure, it might be a little bit of a challenge to figure out what exactly Howard’s move set would be but it could absolutely be done and be a little more original and refreshing choice than the dude who we all know as the easy go-to for 4th-wall breaking meta humor (plus despite his comics usually being of the more existential nature, Howard has absolutely had plenty of adventures involving the supernatural).
#4. Wiccan
Marvel’s Midnight Suns has Scarlet Witch, but what about her magically-imbued offspring? Wiccan has a wide range of magical talents and would be a great fit for the game. Wiccan’s inclusion would also be an opportunity to spotlight a lesser-known newer character that would help it feel like the game isn’t mostly relying on old favorites. A majority of the characters in Marvel’s Midnight Suns have been around for over 30 years and in many cases far longer. It would be good to have at least one or two that represent the newest generation of Marvel heroes.
#3. Nightcrawler
Sorry guys, you picked the wrong X-Man. Wolverine is cool and all but there isn’t one mutant more versed in dealing with the supernatural than Nightcrawler. Hell, he’s even part of a team that’s pretty much made up of magic-based characters (Excalibur). Aside from the fact he’s a more natural fit story-wise, Nightcrawler’s combat potential between his skills with swords, natural agility, and teleportation skills is off the charts. Could’ve been a really fun character to use in this type of game, he better be included if there is a second expansion or sequel.
#2. Moon Knight
Marc Spector not being in Marvel’s Midnight Suns seems like a serious misstep on several levels. The was a Moon Knight show on Disney Plus earlier this year so awareness of the character is higher than ever but he’s also always been a character steeped in the magical and mystical and is such a perfect fit for this type of story. In addition, you could easily make use of his multiple personalities in battle for a wide array of abilities, maybe even just mix in certain abilities from certain personalities with the card mechanics, making for a super interesting character to use. It just feels like a big missed opportunity for one of the most notable mystic heroes in all of Marvel to not be part of this game.
#1. Elsa Bloodstone
Given that Marvel’s Midnight Suns was set to come out in early October before this last delay that pushed it to December, if you had told me it was to tie in with Marvel’s excellent Halloween offering, Werewolf by Night, I’d have totally believed you. Half the cast of the special would be a perfect fit to be in Marvel’s Midnight Suns and while I wouldn’t expect Man-thing or the titular Werewolf himself to be playable characters, Elsa Bloodstone would seem like a virtual lock. She’s literally listed on Marvel.com as “Marvel’s premier monster hunter”.
So even if she wasn’t featured in a live-action Marvel feature this year, the character seems like she would be a pretty necessary inclusion in a game all about facing the nastiest monsters in the Marvel universe. Elsa Bloodstone’s absence in Marvel’s Midnight Suns is easily the most glaring omission and just seems mind-boggling. It would make more sense if she was the main protagonist instead of some self-insert character frankly. Maybe some of these choices weren’t completely up to Firaxis or 2K games but it still seems criminal to not have Elsa as a featured member of the roster.
And those are five characters I would’ve really liked to have on the roster for Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Maybe some of them might still make an appearance of some sort? We may not know til we get our hands on the game and get to play through the story. I’m still very much looking forward to diving into the game this weekend and continuing to write about it as I play it.
That’s all for today but this post marks my full-swing return to blog posting so expect at least a couple more posts for the rest of the month so see ya real soon!
