You demanded it! More explanations of the thought behind the Marvel characters in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – comin’ right up! All of the remaining nine, in fact. (Miss the first 10? Go here and here.) Just remember the rules:

1. Gameplay comes first, so the color scheme has to differ enough from the others to easily differentiate in the heat of battle.

2. The color scheme has to fit on the character model.

Let’s kick things off with Mr. Wilson…

Deadpool

You know him. You love him. He’s gonna Katana-rama the heck outta you in this outfit most of the time. (Side note: That’s one of the few moves I got to name myself: “Katana-rama.” I love my job.)

My pal Frank Tieri (don’t let him know I called him my pal) wrote a ton of stuff for this game. He also wrote a story a few years ago called “Weapon X: Days of Future Now,” which featured a ragtag bunch of characters led by Wolverine in an alternate future. Capcom even got the “X” in there.

Once upon a time, Deadpool had some good times as part of the Weapon X program. His duds looked like this.

If you haven’t been reading THE UNCANNY X-FORCE, you’ve been missing out – and not just because Deadpool wears gray and black!

 

Doctor Doom

Ever seen Doom where this outfit? If not, then you’re at the wrong website, my friend.

In 2099, a man claiming to be the original Victor von Doom rules Latveria with an iron fist. And he wears blue and silver.

Except when he wears red and black.

And then there’s Mark Millar’s “Old Man Logan” alternate future, where Doom wears black for a couple panels as he watches Logan and Hawkeye drive by in the Spider-Mobile. It sounds silly, but it’s actually quite super-mega-ultra-awesome. (What you see here is the entirety of his appearance.)

 

Hulk

Hulk look like Hulk!

Hulk look like Hulk when Hulk is gray!

Hulk look like Hulk alternate in Marvel vs. Capcom 2!

Hulk…look like character Hulk hates! Hulk hate Red Hulk! But Hulk know fans like Red Hulk, so Hulk wear red for fans. Hulk love fans.

Shuma-Gorath 

Hey, kids! It’s the Shuma-Gorath you know and love from…that one comic he was in that one time.

And from that other comic he was in that one other time.

And when you picked a different skin in Marvel vs. Capcom 2.

And...aw, screw it, we just picked this one ‘cause it looked cool.

 

Super-Skrull

In looking for Super-Skrull alts, we discovered that ol’ Kl’rt (that’s his name – I promise!) pretty much only ever wears this.

Except in the Ultimate Universe, where he prefers white to black and black to purple.

But Kl’rt did have a buddy during Secret Invasion who terrorized Ms. Marvel in her comic for a bit. His name was Rl'Nnd. Because Skrulls love awkward apostrophes.

And then there was this one time when Kl’rt was like, “Yo, Capcom…gimme somethin' new.” So they did.

Taskmaster

Most of the time, Taskmaster wears the latest fashions in skull-masked couture. 

But the first time we saw him, he varied it up a bit with an orange cape.

For a while, when MvC art veterans Udon did their own series calling the character, Taskie went all navy-blue on us.

And then…there was this. I mean, as a University of Tennessee alumnus, I’m all about the orange – but the Frightful Four as it was depicted in a ‘90s DEADPOOL comic could really use a fashion consultant.

Thor

Just three years ago, Thor started wearing this awesome ensemble courtesy of Olivier Coipel. The bad news for this purpose, though: finding good alternates to match it was really freakin’ hard.

So Capcom suggested he take some inspiration from Thor Girl. Hey, why not?

And then Beta Ray Bill let Thor storm his closet. (No pun intended.)

Finally, Capcom designed a new exclusive costume for Thor. It’s…functional. Right?

 

X-23

When Craig Kyle, the creator of X-23, tells you personally her in-game model looks “pretty @#$%ing sweet!”, you know you’ve nailed it.

For a while, Laura Kinney had a more “X-Men” look than she usually does.

She also had Captain Universe powers for a while.

And then there are those times she just wears normal girlie clothes.

Sentinel

I saw some rumors online before we announced the Sentinel that he’d be in the game and look like a more traditional Sentinel from the comics. The “in the game” part was right, the “traditional” part wasn’t. As the MvC pros out there know, he’s got quite the legacy looking like this in Marvel fighting games. With that in mind, changing it would be borderline blasphemy.

The last huge X-Men event, 2010’s “Second Coming,” featured armies of silver Sentinels terrorizing our mutant friends in San Francisco. They kinda looked like this guy.

Lest we forget, before Capcom made Marvel fighting games, they had a Marvel action game to their credit. Here’s the Sentinel from 1995’s Super Nintendo gem, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse.

Of course, there’s a little bit more gaming history to be had for the MvC2 hardcore out there. The type who know what a “curleh mustache” is, who think MvC before ice cream when they hear “Haagen-Dazs,” and why having “MAG-F#$%IN’-NETO” in the game is such a beautiful thing. To them I say…a naughty word I can’t say here about a certain Big Apple sports team (that's about to get its own Marvel shirts). Here’s your Mango Sentinel...