With Marvel vs Capcom missing in action, PlayStation and Arc System Works’ spiritual successor, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, has quickly caught the attention of both anime fighting game and superhero fans. Its roster mixes Marvel’s biggest names with some surprisingly obscure faces. Even the game’s first DLC isn’t adding the standard Cyclops, but his Phoenix Five incarnation from Avengers vs X-Men instead. And apparently that’s exactly what the developers were aiming for. After all, according to Marvel Games producer Michael Francisco, character popularity is important — but it wasn’t the only deciding factor.
In the Famitsu issue 1959 interview, Francisco revealed that the team relied on three major criteria when selecting the fighting game’s playable roster. “There were three important criteria. First, they had to be popular characters who represent the Marvel Universe. Second, they had to offer strong gameplay mechanics,” he clarified. “Then finally, we wanted to include ‘surprising’ characters that fans would find delightful.”
With that in mind, Francisco added that Marvel Games didn’t simply demand Arc System Works to stick rigidly to the comic lore and design. Instead, the company encouraged the Guilty Gear developer to preserve each character’s ‘core identity’ while putting its own spin on them. That definitely helps explain why Marvel Tokon‘s roster pairs obvious fan-favorites like Spider-Man, Carnage, and Iron Man with unexpected ones like Danger.
Marvel has hundreds of heroes and villains in its library, so many casual fans probably have never heard of Danger before. Originally introduced as an X-Men villain, Marvel Tokon has completely reimagined her as a ‘newly awakened hero’ driven by curiosity about the world. “If there’s a convincing justification in the story, we are open to new ideas. Specifically in the case of Danger, she took a major redesign after Arc System Works proposed completely changing her origins and motivations,” said Francisco.
Marvel’s willingness to embrace those big changes comes down to one thing: trust. Rather than controlling every aspect of development, the company wanted Arc System Works to just focus on making a ‘great game.’ Francisco even said that before it settled on Arc System Works, Marvel Games kept asking other prospective developers whether the project still works without slapping the Marvel name on it. “When it comes to fighting games, they are the specialists,” he explained, adding that ‘passion’ is the BlazBlue studio’s greatest strength. “As long as they captured Marvel’s spirit and iconic elements, there was no need to force any changes to their vision.”
Francisco concluded by saying Marvel Tokon was created as a way to give back to the community that inspired many of his team to pursue careers in the industry. “Many members of Marvel Games actually entered the game industry because they fell in love with fighting games and the fighting game community,” he said. “And just as we enjoyed making this game, we hope everyone enjoys playing it to the fullest.”
Who do you think the next off-field picks that would fit this fast-paced fighting game? Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls launched on August 6, 2026, on PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store. For more news and interviews, keep an eye on GameObserver.
ObserverCrew Picks
bserver
