The Fantastic Four are confirmed to join Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order as DLC characters. The announcement came during the Nintendo Direct livestream event from E3 2019.
The Nintendo Switch exclusive is the long-awaited third installment in the beloved Marvel Ultimate Alliance co-op series, spiritual successors to the X-Men Legends games. The third Ultimate Alliance adventure unites the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, the X-Men, the Defenders, the Inhumans, and the Spider-Verse for a battle with Thanos and the Black Order in a hunt to find the Infinity Stones. Up until now, the only major corner of the Marvel Universe to be overlooked in trailers for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is the one belonging to Marvel's First Family, the Fantastic Four.
A new gameplay and story trailer for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 shown during the Nintendo Direct revealed four new playable characters from the upcoming RPG: Luke Cage, Elsa Bloodstone, Ghost Rider, and Elektra, who was previously teased in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 merchandise. At the end of the trailer, an expansion pass for the game was confirmed. The expansion pass will include content from Marvel Knights, X-Men, and Fantastic Four. Nintendo will begin to release the DLC content in the fall.
So far, there's been no confirmation on which characters from these three properties will be featured in the expansion pass, but possibilities include Blade, Moon Knight, Punisher, Shang-Chi, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Colossus, Iceman, and more. As for the Fantastic Four, it's likely that all four main members (Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and The Thing) will make into the expansion pass, along with another popular choice, Doctor Doom. Doctor Doom, the Fantastic Four's greatest enemy, was the final boss of the first game and an unlockable character. This news could also put Silver Surfer on the table.
The absence of the Fantastic Four has been a major complaint for recent Marvel games, comics, and merchandise over the years. All four members were famously pulled from the MMORPG, Marvel Heroes. This was of course all due to rights issues, but the finalized deal between Fox and Disney allowed the X-Men and the Fantastic Four to finally get their due in Marvel video games.
Fans have argued that Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 needed to be able to incorporate all of the Marvel Universe's most important parts in order to earn its title. By adding the Fantastic Four as DLC, Marvel and Nintendo have managed to achieve just that.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order launches July 19 exclusively for the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Nintendo