Lead writer Evan Skolnic announced the new characters while talking up the “modern, relevant and complex storyline” in the new game.

Gamers not familiar with the comics might recognise the characters from their cinematic outings: Juggernaut in X-Men 2, Venom in Spider-Man 3, Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

 

Featuring an upgraded version of the same Alchemy engine that powered the first game, Havok physics, “realistic” lighting and more enemies on screen, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is set against a superhero civil war lifted from the Marvel comic storyline, taking place after a compulsory “superhero registration act” is passed.

In a preview demonstration, we saw a party of Wolverine, Hulk, Ironman and Venom take on hordes of enemies on the approach to Castle Doom. The party members paired up to show off the Fusion moves that give the game its title.

These are co-operative special combos unique to each pairing of superheroes: Wolverine and Iron Man, for instance, perform a “beam splitter” move, in which Wolverine bounces Iron Man’s beam weapon off his claws, splitting it out to blast multiple foes.

In a short cutscene introducing the “Merc with a Mouth”, Deadpool talks to the player directly, breaking the fiction’s fourth wall in the same way as in the comics. Skolnic confirms that playing with Deadpool in your party will mean fourth-wall-breaking throughout, making for a very different experience of the game.