Comic book heroes that deserve AAA games

Batman and Spider-Man are no doubt the most famous superheroes in the world, starring in some of the most popular films of all time, along with a handful of great games. However, while they've both appeared in titles that worthy of their fame, so many other costumed characters are in desperate need of a game to match their potential. Even a slightly underwhelming Bat-adventure like Batman: Arkham Origins is better than almost every other game starring a hero from Marvel or DC Comics. And we’re sick of standing by and doing nothing!

We’ve collected the heroes that are most deserving of a game that’s at least as good as Arkham Origins. We’d even settle for a slightly middling game that fits thematically, like the humorous Deadpool from earlier this year. These guys and gals would translate wonderfully into a digital medium, if only the right publisher would give them a chance.

How’s this for a multiplayer focused game: One character is a super strong rock man, one can shoot fireballs, one can throw invisible force fields, and one can stretch far enough to span the entire screen. That accounts for each member of the Fantastic Four, a sci-fi squad of adventurers that have had worse luck with games than they’ve had with movies. But all that could change with one multiplayer-focused, third-person beat-‘em-up.

The most important thing in an FF game is that each character has a very unique skill set that the stages are built around. Fantastic Four is built on a family dynamic, so the game should always have all four characters on screen, whether they’re controlled via an online buddy or AI. And FF’s archenemy, Doctor Doom, is the perfect game adversary, given his love of attacking the team with hundreds of robots before throwing them into death traps.

Think Aquaman sucks? That’s he’s useless out of water? That he’s a loser who spends all day talking to fish? If you still define Aquaman by his appearance on Super Friends, you clearly haven’t been reading his comics lately. Aquaman is a badass King of the Oceans that will stab Darkseid in the face, and has risen above being the butt of lame jokes. He somehow became the coolest member of the Justice League, which makes him more than deserving of a game.

The biggest issue with an Aquaman game is that some portion has to take place underwater, and underwater levels are almost always terrible. To cut down on that, we propose that most of the ocean gameplay be kept to a hub area that AM uses to travel to different parts of the world to fight crime. And whether underwater or on dry land, Aquaman needs deep melee controls built around his trident--sort of like Batman’s fisticuffs in Arkham, except AM can also call a shark to bite off your head.

This being from another world may be faster than a speeding bullet and can leap tall buildings in a single bound, but he’s also the one with the worst luck when it comes to video games. Superman has appeared on systems as early as the Atari, but his adventures were either barely average to the worst games ever made. For a character that just reached his 75th anniversary, it’s about time he got a good game--but how do you make one for a character that’s all but invincible?

Despite all the advancements in gaming hardware, Superman’s powers are still too god-like to accurately show in action. EA’s Superman Returns had a smart idea by having Superman’s health bar represent the well-being of Metropolis, playing up Supes' role as protector and bypassing his indestructibility. The next Superman developer should run with that novel idea for a sandbox game, but find a way to not make it as boring as EA did. Replacing Brandon Routh as Superman would definitely help with that.

Superman may be overdue for a good game, but Wonder Woman is in desperate need of any visibility outside of comics. DC may say that she’s part of “The Trinity” alongside Batman and Superman, but it’s hard to believe it based on her lack of media appearances beyond her campy 1970s show. Who knows when Princess Diana will get her own film, but a kickass game would remind people why she deserves one.

Given Wonder Woman’s roots in Greek mythology, God of War is a great inspiration to start with. WW is as strong as Superman and more of a natural-born fighter than Batman, so the brutal combat would fit her like an indestructible bracelet. We’d be willing to bet she can tear off Medusa heads even faster than Kratos can.

As we mentioned before, both Spider-Man and Batman have had great games, proving that street-level heroes work great for action games. So why hasn’t Daredevil, the samurai of New York City slums, appeared in one yet? DD swings around The Big Apple just as much as Spidey, but Daredevil is also just as skilled in hand-to-hand combat as Batman. If Marvel really wants to rip off the Arkham games, DD’s grittier feel fits better than any of their other heroes.

In fact, Daredevil’s radioactively heightened senses would make more sense with Batman’s Arkham ability. Daredevil could actually sense an attack behind him or find a clue buried in a crime scene; Detective Mode is basically how the blind Daredevil always “sees” the world. When you really think about it, Batman has starred in the perfect Daredevil games. It’s about time Matt Murdock stole them back.

GL almost had a good game with the movie tie-in Rise of the Manhunters, and there were some good Green Lantern missions in DC Universe Online. But we’re not ready to settle when he’s so close to greatness. With so many Earth-bound heroes in games, Green Lantern’s ideal adventure would embrace his sci-fi roots, with him meeting aliens and battling ancient evils. Hmm, that sounds so familiar…

Green Lantern has been an outer space cop before the developers of Mass Effect were even born, so we don’t see anything wrong with the ringslinger taking it back. And just like Mass Effect’s Shepard being whoever you want, your Green Lantern could be any of the 3,000 members from the galaxy-spanning Lantern Corps. And while the scale and setting might fit Mass Effect’s, the combat could get way crazier, seeing as Green Lantern’s ring can create anything he imagines. Sounds like the ultimate Omnitool.

Those are our picks for deserving supermen, but we're betting you have your own favorites that are primed for video game stardom. Please share your favorites in the comments!

Need to read more about comic books? Read our history of Batman games to the best and worst of Batman adventures and then find out the 9 greatest comic book games that don’t star superheroes.