Yet another story of a rejection surfacing later on down the road
“If we have him as our boss, the American fans are going to lose their mind!! That’s how much of an impact THIS GUY has,” former Capcom staff member Katsuya ‘Shaky’ Akitomo once said about including Galactus as the final boss in the 1998 release of Marvel vs. Capcom.
But this wasn’t meant to be, as once Marvel got word on Capcom’s intentions with Galactus, they wanted someone else instead as the final boss — who also wouldn’t make it in.
“Marvel suggested to us the character of Loki (those who know him are connoisseurs),” Capcom staff wrote many years ago on a ‘Secret Web Page’ that documented various aspects of Marvel vs. Capcom’s release, which was translated by our own Nicholas ‘MajinTenshinhan’ Taylor, and pointed out by SeventhForce.
“[Loki’s] one of the biggest enemies for The Avengers, thus also for Captain America. As a choice, he’s a very good fit,” they wrote. “He uses magic so you can make him do anything. For a game like this, that’s very beneficial. It makes basically anything okay.
“However, HOWEVER. Who knows him in Japan? He’s all covered in green tights. He has a helmet that looks like bug horns… W… WHAT’S COOL ABOUT HIM?!?!?! (However, when a good artist draws him, Loki is actually cool),” Capcom’s staff wrote at the time.
Onslaught ended up being the final boss for Marvel vs. Capcom, but the developers were clearly very excited to add Galactus to the game, as they felt he’d top the inclusion of Apocalypse as the final boss in the 1997 release of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter.
“Now, here we’re going to talk about our conflict regarding the final boss Galactus. His design, his size, his power… he was totally unbeatable, the greatest, in all regards!!! He’s an ‘omnipotent god’, after all,” they wrote.
However, Marvel overruled their desires and noted that “As the finishing blow, they told us that Galactus is an omnipotent god so you can not defeat him and he also wouldn’t even fight,” the developers said.
“Tomichin, our director, started thinking ‘What does this even mean for us?’ and even our American Comics adviser Shaky Akitomo was in a state of bewilderment,” Capcom wrote.
All was not lost though, as Galactus would re-emerge as the final boss in the 2011 release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, which goes to show good ideas will often resurface later on down the road.
As the years have passed though, Loki has emerged as one of the more popular characters in the Marvel franchise, thanks to his portrayal by Tom Hiddleston in many live action adaptations.
However, Capcom’s aversion to including him has kept true through the years, where he was once again up for consideration in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, but the game’s producer, Ryota Niitsuma, said that “His specialty is to deceive his opponent’s through magical illusions,” and he was unsure how that would fit in the context of a fighting game.
Given Marvel’s penchant to include Loki, and his heavy popularity, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him included in a Marvel vs. Capcom 4, or whatever name the next Marvel game developed by Capcom takes.
If you want to go further, make sure you check out the four characters Marvel required to be included on their end of the roster and other fighters who were rejected along the way, including The Fantastic Four, Dr. Octopus and Spider-Woman in the first Marvel vs. Capcom game.
Source: Event Hubs
