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00:00They can't do that.
00:02And you know it, Felicia.
00:03Can't or won't?
00:06Same thing.
00:09Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking back at what could have been with 20 cancelled superhero games that we
00:16never got to play.
00:18But before we dive in, we publish new content all week long.
00:21So be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:27Marvel's Spider-Man The Great Web
00:29New York City. Nothing in the whole world I wouldn't do for this big, beautiful apple.
00:36In early 2024, Insomniac Games suffered a huge leak detailing various projects.
00:42One, which had already been cancelled by the time of the leak, was a live-service multiplayer spin on the
00:48studio's Spider-Man games called The Great Web.
00:51The leaked footage showed it was mostly just a concept, nothing concrete, with all characters featuring similar movesets and animations.
00:59Still, it teased new heroes like Spider-Man 2099 and Spider-Gwen.
01:05If their abilities were expanded on, traveling into alternate universes with others could have been pretty fun.
01:10It's still unclear why the project was cancelled, although one less live-service game on the market is probably a
01:18good thing, even if it does star Spider-Man.
01:21You in?
01:22No!
01:25No!
01:26No!
01:27Project Sabbath.
01:28With the way things have gone with the Arkhamverse lately, it's especially sad to look back on this one.
01:34Project Sabbath was going to be the fifth game in the series, and would have been set ten years after
01:392015's Arkham Knight.
01:42Miss me!
01:43Damian Wayne was to take on the role of Batman, with the game taking heavy inspiration from Batman Beyond.
01:49It was in development at WB Montreal, the same studio behind 2013's Origins.
01:55Details about the game's development are scarce, with only concept art existing.
02:00Regardless, the studio would eventually get to create another Batman game, for better or worse, with 2022's Gotham Knights.
02:10Marvel 2099 – One Nation Under Doom
02:14Although elements of Marvel's 2099 universe have appeared in multiple video games, it never did get a standalone adaptation.
02:22It did come close, though.
02:24One Nation Under Doom was in development at Mindscape for PC and the original PlayStation in 1996.
02:30It was to be a side-scrolling action platformer featuring futuristic characters of multiple Marvel heroes.
02:36Sadly, the team only got less than halfway through completing it.
02:41Though there was never an official announcement, it's believed layoffs at the time led to its quiet cancellation.
02:47All that exists of it now are a handful of concept art pieces, some magazine previews, and some incredibly grainy
02:54demo footage.
02:55Green Lantern
02:56In the 80s and 90s, Ocean Software was a big name in producing licensed games, even dipping a toe into
03:03the DC pool with a few Batman titles.
03:06It also, almost, released a game inspired by Green Lantern for the Super Nintendo.
03:11It was to be another side-scrolling platformer, but was cancelled when production got too costly.
03:17This was the result of Ocean restarting development a few times due to it being unhappy with the game's direction,
03:23and DC requesting story changes to be more in line with the then-current comics.
03:29Although no footage exists, a handful of screenshots, magazine previews, and sprites have been preserved by dedicated archivists,
03:37and the game's soundtrack was uploaded by the game's composer, Dean Evans.
03:48Spider-Man 4
03:56Not every reason behind a game's cancellation is obvious, but it is for this next one.
04:02Sony and director Sam Raimi originally had plans to continue the Tobey Maguire-led film series.
04:08But when the fourth movie was cancelled, so too was the tie-in game being co-developed by Eurocom and
04:15Radical Entertainment.
04:16In 2019, artist Wayne Dalton shared some screenshots from the game, and revealed that the team's work was repurposed for
04:24Prototype 2, also developed by Radical.
04:27The same year, a prototype for the Wii version appeared online, and in 2021, the Xbox 360 version did as
04:34well, giving us all a glimpse at what could have been.
04:42Justice League
04:43Another game whose death is the product of a movie's cancellation, we have a tie-in for Mad Max director
04:49George Miller's Justice League Mortal.
04:51Double Helix was hired to produce a game before the movie started filming.
04:56But Warner Bros. decided to start a new universe with a solo hero, leading to 2011's Green Lantern.
05:05The game was to be an arena fighter with a multiplayer mode featuring 16 heroes and villains, and a story
05:11mode that followed Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Green Lantern.
05:16While the game was scrapped, Double Helix's work, at least, wasn't in vain.
05:22Warner Bros. brought the studio on for the Green Lantern tie-in, Rise of the Manhunters, where some of its
05:27work was repurposed.
05:29I am the baby who lived when he still died.
05:31I am the boy who cannot save his parents.
05:35X-Women, The Sinister Virus
05:37The Sega Genesis got a few great X-Men games, and was planned to receive one more late in its
05:44life that focused on female members of the team.
05:47Clockwork Tortoise, which had recently done well in the superhero game space with The Adventures of Batman and Robin, signed
05:54on as the developer of X-Women, The Sinister Virus.
05:57It would have followed Jean Grey, Storm, and Rogue, trying to stop Mr. Sinister, who had produced a deadly virus
06:04that afflicted all male mutants.
06:06Although it had a positive debut at E3 1996, it faced numerous issues behind the scenes, which led to delays.
06:14With the 16-bit era quickly approaching its end, the game was cancelled, Clockwork Tortoise itself followed soon after, and
06:21barely anything of the game remains.
06:24Gotham by Gaslight
06:26Do these belong to you, Alfred?
06:28Ha! Good lord, no, sir.
06:30There are a lot of great Batman stories that take place in alternate universes or points of time.
06:371989's Gotham by Gaslight is credited with having led to DC's Elseworld series, and sees The Dark Knight contending with
06:44Jack the Ripper in a steampunk Gotham City circa 1889.
06:48It's an interesting take, and could have made an interesting game.
06:51In 2009, developer Wargaming Chicago Baltimore, called Day One Studios at the time and known for its work on the
06:59Fear series, pitched publisher THQ on a Gotham by Gaslight adaptation.
07:04However, the project was never greenlit, reportedly because THQ couldn't obtain the rights from Warner Bros.
07:10others.
07:11Concept art and footage from the proposed pitch are all we ever got to see.
07:16LOBO
07:23In addition to Green Lantern, Ocean Software also once planned to release a game based on LOBO.
07:29It would have been a fighting game with digitized graphics, a la Killer Instinct, and was initially slated to release
07:35for the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis in 1996.
07:39No reason was ever given as to why it never came out, although some have speculated a troubled development period
07:45and the industry-wide move away from 16-bit were to blame.
07:50However, prototypes of both versions have since appeared online, with the source code of the Super Nintendo version available since
07:582016.
07:59So, yes, technically you could have played this one, but it still never saw an official release.
08:09Spider-Man Classic
08:11In 2008, Shaba Games released Spider-Man Web of Shadows, and in 2009, Activision closed the studio, cancelled its planned
08:21sequel, and handed the license to Beanox, which made 2010's Shattered Dimensions.
08:27Spider-Man Classic would have followed up on the dynamic between Spidey and Wolverine seen in Web of Shadows, namely
08:34by allowing us to play as both heroes.
08:36Not much else is known about the game. In 2013, lead character artist B.D. Fulton described it as a
08:43comic book hero buddy flick, which sounds great,
08:46and revealed several pieces of art and character models created for the game, some of which showed off new designs
08:52for villains, Mysterio, and Carnage.
08:55Spider-OK, fine. What do you need?
08:57Ghost Rider
09:03Marvel's Spirit of Vengeance did get to star in the 2007 movie tie-in, but like the movie itself, it
09:09didn't really do the character justice.
09:12A cancelled game from a pre-Tony Hawk Neversoft, on the other hand, sounded pretty awesome.
09:17Meant to release on the original PlayStation, the title was a 2D action game, but it would have allowed players
09:23to move the camera angles to study its 3D environments and uncover secrets.
09:30Armed with his trusty Hellfire chain, Ghost Rider would slash enemies and swing through obstacles, a la Castlevania.
09:38Unfortunately, the project never got very far. Publisher Crystal Dynamics decided to move solely into developing, and the game was
09:46cancelled.
09:51Marvel Universe Online
09:59Cryptic Studios has made a name for itself by creating MMORPGs with licenses like Dungeons & Dragons and Star Trek.
10:06And the team once came close to releasing one for the world of Marvel.
10:10The game would have been published by Microsoft for PC and the Xbox 360.
10:14It spent a year and a half in development, though all we ever saw was a cinematic teaser that showed
10:20the likes of Hulk, Doctor Doom, and Captain America.
10:23The final triumph of Victor Von Doom begins.
10:32Microsoft Game Studios VP Shane Kim cited the crowded MMO market as the reason for cancellation in 2008.
10:40Cryptic continued development with a different license, and other studios have made Marvel MMORPGs since, but it's still a shame
10:47Cryptic never got to release one.
10:56The Dark Knight
10:57Movie tie-in games are mostly a thing of the past, but we can't help but wish this one made
11:04it through production.
11:05It was being worked on by Pandemic Studios, the team behind the original Star Wars Battlefront series, and Destroy All
11:11Humans.
11:12After around a year of development, Pandemic decided on an open-world game, which would have been Batman's first.
11:18Unfortunately, they used their own new engine, Odin, which caused a ton of technical issues when implementing the assets they
11:26had already created.
11:27Publisher EA's strict deadline to launch alongside the movie's home release didn't help matters.
11:33With the license set to run out in December 2008 and the plethora of technical issues, EA chose to cancel
11:40it.
11:40Marvel Chaos
11:51In 2007, EA's Chicago-based studio began work on a new Marvel fighting game.
11:57With fights taking place in 3D arenas and heavily destructible environments, it seemed like a great game for players to
12:03blow off steam as the Juggernaut, Hulk, or Dark Phoenix.
12:07Ready to start fighting now?
12:08However, in 2008, less than a year after the game's announcement, EA shut down the Chicago studio as a result
12:15of internal restructuring.
12:18Not only that, but it also ended its professional relationship with Marvel, killing the game simultaneously.
12:23Oh, EA. If only you had known just how big Marvel was set to become that very same year with
12:31the MCU.
12:32You may have chosen to hold on to that license.
12:34You know, you're just embarrassing yourself.
12:37Black Panther
12:38How many times must I teach them this lesson?
12:41It's the Black Panther!
12:42I do believe you're right.
12:44Good.
12:45You're learning.
12:46One more to draw some EA hate, not that that's very hard to do.
12:51In 2023, EA announced a Black Panther game with Cliffhanger Games, a new developer founded in 2021.
12:57Sadly, in May of 2025, the game's cancellation was announced as part of a larger overall restructuring within the company.
13:05Cliffhanger itself was also shut down.
13:08These weren't the only casualties, but with how popular Black Panther has gotten in recent years,
13:13it would have been really great to see a game solely dedicated to the hero.
13:24It doesn't help that several devs took to social media to praise how hard at work everyone was,
13:30using words like stunning, detailed, and rich to describe the game that would never be.
13:42The Flash
13:52Brash Entertainment's very short life as a publisher was spent making licensed games,
13:57none of which really turned a profit.
13:59This led to financial issues, which then led to layoffs, returned licenses, and canceled games.
14:05One of those canceled projects was an open-world game from Bottle Rocket Entertainment featuring everyone's favorite speedster.
14:14The team was reportedly only six months into development,
14:18but the brief footage that's appeared online since its cancellation shows they were well on their way to making a
14:24great game.
14:25The bright artistic direction brings back memories of the fantastic Justice League animated series,
14:31and the combat, which featured a variety of cool speed-based abilities, could have been something special.
14:39The Avengers
14:46Hype was definitely through the roof when the MCU brought the Avengers together for the first time,
14:52and THQ was working on a game to release the same year.
14:55Interestingly, the four-player brawler was in first person,
14:59and the studio brought on comic writer Brian Michael Bendis to adapt his Secret Invasion storyline.
15:11Sadly, in mid-2011, THQ suffered major financial losses due to Homefront and the U-Draw peripheral.
15:20Along with the rise of the Australian dollar,
15:22this caused THQ to shut down the two Australian studios developing the game.
15:27They then sold the license to Ubisoft, who made 2012's Avengers Battle for Earth,
15:32which came and went with little impact.
15:38Wonder Woman
15:39A new threat comes to our shores, and I must call you home.
15:45This one especially hurts considering the talent that was behind it.
15:50A Wonder Woman game was announced through a short teaser in late 2021, with Monolith Productions as developer.
15:56Responsible for some really solid titles, particularly the Middle-Earth duology with its unique nemesis system,
16:02this got a lot of people excited.
16:05Sadly, that teaser is all we'd ever see of it.
16:08In early 2025, Warner Brothers not only cancelled the game, but shut down Monolith as well.
16:14This was another decision reportedly made out of a need to restructure,
16:18with major losses from games like Multiverses and Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League
16:23likely affecting the wider ecosystem of Warner Brothers games.
16:27Needless to say, a lot of fans were left extremely disappointed. Us included.
16:32You are Wonder Woman
16:42Daredevil The Man Without Fear
16:53Marvel's street-level hero hasn't had many opportunities to shine in games,
16:58and that's why this one stings so much.
17:01In the early 2000s, young developer 5,000 Feet, Inc. began work on a Daredevil game for the PS2, Xbox,
17:09and PC.
17:10It eventually became open world, with Daredevil's signature ability being used to spot faraway crimes.
17:16It would have followed him fighting various gang organizations warring over the Kingpin's territory,
17:21who had recently been assassinated.
17:27All of that sounds pretty promising, but internal issues plagued the production almost immediately.
17:34When 5,000 Feet, Inc. weren't trying to keep peace between Marvel and Sony, who disagreed on multiple elements,
17:40they were dealing with drug-abusing contract workers.
17:43Marvel, unhappy with the product, eventually pulled the license despite the game being almost finished.
18:02The Flash wasn't the only promising game to be cancelled due to Brash Entertainment's financial woes.
18:08Factor V, known for the Star Wars Rogue Squadron series, had signed a multi-game contract with the publisher,
18:14the first of which was an open world Superman game codenamed Blue Steel.
18:19But Brash's closure coupled with the 2008 financial recession not only killed the game, but eventually Factor V as well.
18:31The game's lead designer took to Twitter in 2021 to talk about how the game would have based their fights
18:37around Super Brawls from Justice League Unlimited.
18:40And the footage that's leaked online showcases just that, complete with heavily destructible environments.
18:47We've still never gotten a great standalone Superman game, but at least Factor V returned in 2017.
18:57Which of these cancelled games do you wish you got a chance to play?
19:01Share your thoughts in the comments, and we will see you next time.
19:05We'll see you next time.
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