Marvel's Midnight Suns - What We Know So Far

Firaxis Games just proved it has more than "XCOM" up its sleeve with the exciting reveal of "Marvel's Midnight Suns." 

2K Games leaks supposedly revealed the future of Marvel, including a game described as "'XCOM' with Marvel heroes," just before E3. However, that leak turned out to be only partially accurate. It's actually an entirely different type of game from the creators of "XCOM. In "Marvel's Midnight Suns," players customize their own protagonist called the Hunter, who leads a team of superheroes against their demon mom.

And yes, it is "Midnight Suns" and not "Midnight Sons." The name of the game seems to draw inspiration comes from Marvel's "Rise of the Midnight Sons" arc from the 1990s. In that story, several of Marvel's supernatural heroes — Doctor Strange, Frank Drake, Morbius, Jonny Blaze, and Blade — banded together to defeat Lilith, Mother of Demons. However, most of this game stands as an all-new adventure with other characters and storylines thrown into the mix.

Here's everything we know so far about "Marvel's Midnight Suns."

"Marvel: Midnight Suns" releases in March 2022. No specific date has been revealed just yet, but it could come up in another showcase before the release window. The game is set to launch on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.

Marvel reportedly reached out to Firaxis about developing "Midnight Suns" after it finished "XCOM 2." So, it's been in development for years. In an interview with Polygon, lead game designer Jake Solomon said that the team needed to scrap many of its initial ideas after realizing that the new game needed to be different from "XCOM" if it was ever going to accommodate so many heroes and play-styles. Solomon described the process of building the game as being "surprising and terrifying in the beginning."

It's unclear if the developers plan to have any DLC or major updates in mind after the fact. Not all the characters have been confirmed, either.

"Marvel's Midnight Suns" sets the tone for its story with a flashy cinematic trailer. The trailer explains that the world's heroes once conquered humanity's greatest evil, Lilith. However, the Mother of Demons has somehow come back to life and superheroes need your (The Hunter's) help to save humanity.

A few familiar faces like Iron Man, Captain America, and Captain Marvel pop up in just the first few seconds of the trailer. Then, some more magical characters like Nico Minoru and Doctor Strange resurrect the protagonist out of an ornate coffin. This newly awakened hero steps up to the plate to help slay their demon mother alongside a cast of heroes who don't typically interact with one another. It's crossover appeal, magic, and monsters all in one.

The announcement trailer didn't showcase any gameplay, but players can see some of their favorite heroes using their abilities in creative ways throughout the trailer.

Jake Solomon told Polygon a bit about what players can expect in the game, which apparently has "zero mechanics" in common with "XCOM." The Hunter leads three heroes at a time into turn-based battles. As for which heroes are turning up for the fight, Firaxis confirmed Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Blade, Nico Minoru, Magik, Ghost Rider, and Wolverine as playable characters so far.

"Midnight Suns" also departs from "XCOM" by utilizing "social links." Players unlock new skills for their teammates as they forge friendships over time. The Abbey, a secret base of sorts, offers the player a roaming space in which they can interact with the other superheroes between missions. You can even give them gifts, which helps to strengthen these relationships.

Most noticeably, "Midnight Suns" won't carry over the permadeath feature of "XCOM." Solomon explained that permadeath makes more sense in "XCOM," which features average soldiers fighting against a superior enemy. Meanwhile, "Midnight Suns" empowers the player as a superhuman being. In Solomon's words, "the bad guys are terrified of you," instead of the other way around. 

Interested players can get their first glimpse of the gameplay in "Marvel's Midnight Suns" by tuning into a showcase on the game's official website on Sept. 1, 2021 at 11:30 AM PST.