Recent releases from both DC and Marvel feature famous heroes corrupted by villains. This could mean a new era of superhero games where players are maybe not the hero facing the big bad anymore but are instead saving the main hero. So, could the recent battle between good and evil be the future, or is this just a coincidence?
Marvel and DC took slightly different directions but follow the same trope of the hero becoming corrupted. Midnight Suns shows Hulk corrupted by Lilith and Iron Man threatening to take him out but being unable to take the shot. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League takes a different approach to the trope — its villains are tasked with trying to save the heroes whom Brainiac has corrupted. These different routes can appeal to gamers in unique ways.
Marvel Turns Allies into Enemies Using Corruption
Marvel’s Midnight Suns use the Hulk’s corruption to achieve a goal, instead of it being the entire premise of the title. The villain, Lilith, corrupts the Hulk to obtain the Gamma Accelerator. This adds the Hulk to the player’s list of enemies throughout Midnight Suns, with a demonic form to add to the event.
The approach of a known hero acting as the player’s ally-turned-enemy can appeal to gamers in a few different ways. On the one hand, this can make taking down the big bad much more impactful, as they have taken something (a friend, in this case) from the player’s character. On the other hand, being a known powerful hero, the friend-turned-enemy makes the main enemy appear much more imposing. They are no longer crazed characters attempting to achieve world domination but are instead someone to be feared — someone who may also be able to sway the player to the dark. The corruption trope can easily lend itself to more impactful villains who can make players feel almost powerless before letting them become fleshed-out supers who save the day.
DC Flips the Script of Who’s a Villain & Who’s a Hero
DC takes an entirely different approach to heroes becoming villains. While major heroes like Superman are corrupted in the upcoming Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the player is not another hero who had their friend corrupted and wants to save them. Instead, players participate as members of the Suicide Squad, a group of former villains who are tasked with killing the Justice League, flipping the roles of hero and villain.
Role reversal has many appealing qualities to gamers and can lead to multiple opportunities for future hero games. Switching sides from good to evil, even through force, can cause players to question not only a character’s morals but where things genuinely stand when it comes to good or evil if a villain is the one saving the day. It can also allow players to experience many of the abilities of different characters they have faced for years. Everyone knows how to battle as Batman or Superman but what about as their enemies? Being able to battle as a villain with loose morals at best is a very enticing format that, combined with a corrupted hero, allows players to fight as a villain without overly changing a hero’s moral and ethical boundaries because it can be explained away as corruption.
The fact that superhero games are stepping away from the all-powerful, infallible hero poses an exciting future for games. Not only can this trend lead to terrifying villains who can turn the strongest ally into the most significant enemy, but they can also force a player to experience true betrayal if developers choose to set the corruption in the late game. It also allows developers to explore the world of morally gray villains and what a villain might do if that hero threatens their evil plans and entire way of life. Taking them down is the only option, even if it means going against another villain they may have partnered with.
