The Marvel Cinematic Universe has redefined entertainment with its interconnected films and TV shows, weaving a cohesive, long-running narrative. In contrast, Marvel video games operate independently, with no shared storyline. For instance, Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man series stands apart from Eidos-Montreal’s Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. Upcoming titles like Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Marvel's Wolverine, and Marvel’s Blade also lack any narrative connection.

Disney once envisioned a Marvel Gaming Universe to mirror the MCU’s success in video games. What went wrong?

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On The Fourth Curtain podcast, host Alexander Seropian and guest Alex Irvine reflected on the Marvel Gaming Universe concept they both worked on and why it never materialized.

Seropian, a co-founder of Bungie, known for Halo and Destiny, later led Disney’s video game division until 2012. Irvine, a veteran Marvel games writer, contributed world-building, dialogue, and character backstories to the hit Marvel Rivals.

Irvine shared insights into the abandoned Marvel Gaming Universe plan.

“When I began working on Marvel games, the goal was to build a gaming universe that mirrored the MCU’s interconnected structure,” Irvine said. “It never came to fruition.”

Seropian revealed the initiative was his brainchild but lacked Disney’s financial backing.

“At Disney, I pushed for linking these games together,” Seropian said. “This was before the MCU’s rise, but the project never secured funding.”

Irvine, who worked on the acclaimed Halo ARG I Love Bees at Bungie, elaborated on the vision for the Marvel Gaming Universe.

“We had exciting ideas for pulling it off,” he said. “Fresh off ARGs, I thought, ‘What if we added ARG elements?’ We imagined a hub where all games connected, allowing players to move between titles, tying in comics or original content. But, as Alex noted, funding never came through, so we just made individual games.”

Why did the Marvel Gaming Universe fail to gain traction? Irvine suggested its complexity deterred Disney executives.

“We grappled with questions like, ‘How does this differ from the comics or movies? How do we ensure consistency?’ Those complexities overwhelmed some at Disney, who weren’t keen to tackle them,” Irvine said.

It’s intriguing to ponder what could have been if the Marvel Gaming Universe had been funded. Perhaps Insomniac’s Spider-Man games would have shared a universe with Square Enix’s Marvel's Avengers and Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, with characters crossing over or stories building to a grand, Endgame-like climax.

Looking forward, uncertainty surrounds Insomniac’s Marvel's Wolverine. Will it share the same universe as Marvel's Spider-Man? Could Spider-Man or other characters appear in Wolverine?

Ultimately, the Marvel Gaming Universe remains a missed opportunity. Somewhere, in another reality, it might just exist…