2019 is already shaping up to be a very exciting year for video games. With Kingdom Hearts 3, Resident Evil 2 and Apex Legends already being released and making headlines, it seems like a few upcoming titles are not getting the attention they deserve. One of those titles is Marvel Ultimate alliance 3: The Black Order. This is a game that fans have been begging for since its predecessor, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, came out a decade ago. The game is being developed by Team Ninja, who is famous for titles like Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive.

The Ultimate Alliance series allows you to select a team of 4 of your favorite Marvel heroes, and fight your way through various super-villains, creating some unique teams and encounters that you would not see anywhere else. A couple of X-Men could team up with Mr Fantastic and Captain American to face off against Spider-Man’s nemesis, the Green Goblin. While the idea itself is exciting, the game play was also just plain fun. With the success that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had since the release of Ultimate Alliance 2, it’s not surprising that this game will feature heroes and villains that the originals did not.

In the debut trailer, which was a surprise announcement at the 2018 Game Awards, we see the Black Order (Black Dwarf, Proxima Midnight, Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, and Supergiant) and of course their leader Thanos. Obviously from the title, there are no surprises there, but the inclusion of Supergiant indicates that this game will be tied closer to the comics than the films, not to mention everyone is sporting their comic book aesthetic. From the trailer we also see that the game will feature the heroes you’d expect in a Marvel game, Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Nick Fury and Black Widow. But there are a few new faces to the series, like the Guardians of the Galaxy (Star Lord, Gamora, Groot, Rocket Raccoon, Drax, and Nebula) as well as some lesser known characters like Crystal and Lockjaw from the Inhumans. The trailer also shows off several more baddies (Sandman, Ultron, Kingpin, Green Goblin, the Sentinels, and Ronan the Accuser), which makes it seem like we will be able to team heroes and villains together to take on the Black Order. While these are all the characters that are confirmed so far, expect to see a lot more in the final game. Ultimate Alliance 2 had 22 playable characters, so it won’t be surprising to see that number grow, possibly even double for this installment.

While this threequel has been talked about and wished for since 2009, there was one disappointing aspect of the announcement. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 will be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch. This is a pretty good snag for the Switch which typically relies on Nintendo branded names like Super Mario, Zelda, and Metroid for exclusives. But many gamers are upset that they will not get the long awaited game on other consoles, especially considering that the original 2 were available on almost all systems. The big question for Nintendo will be, “Is Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 a big enough name to sell more Switches?” We will have to wait and find out when the game drops later this year.