Since Sony attempted to take ownership of Capcom’s entire fighting game catalog (successfully by purchasing EVO, unsuccessfully by making “Street Fighter V” an exclusive), they’ve been obsessed with owning a Marvel fighting game all for themselves. Much like them holding Spider-Man hostage in both film and gaming, they took a liking to funding “Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite,” and then doubled down on the idea by funding Arc System Works’ brand new “Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls.”

Now this is, for all intents and purposes, a brand new “Marvel vs. Capcom” game, but without all that pesky Capcom stuff. There’s a mountain of requested additions to the series that have never appeared, who could make their debut in this game instead of some theoretical new “MvC.”

We got newbies in Black Widow, Winter Soldier, Ultron, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and Gamora. And for sure, “Tokon” will have the usual favorites of Wolverine, Hulk, and Rocket Raccoon/Groot. But what about the most wished for, pie-in-the-sky, dreamed-about inclusions yet to be in a Marvel tag team fighting game? Let’s rank them from “eh, okay” to “let’s goooooooo!”

50. Swordsman — This bozo was an original Avenger, and only now is he cool as fuck because Tony Dalton plays him in the MCU. I think you could make a great playable character with a sword in a fighting game.

49. Kate Bishop Hawkeye — Would this be just the Hawkeye from “MvC: Infinite,” but with a different character model? Yes. But would seeing Kate in a game be cool nonetheless? Hell yeah! Give her new arrows to shoot and some rad outfits — presto! You have a new character built on an older one.

48. Klaw — Not the most exciting name, but neither was M.O.D.O.K. when he got announced for “MvC3.” Having a robot claw… hand could lead to neat options, in the same way Spencer’s robot arm (who is canonically his wife, look it up) ended up being great.

47. Cosmo — Capcom put Amaterasu in “MvC3,’ so just put this dog in “Tokon,” and include telekinesis!

46. Quicksilver — If NetherRealm can make the Flash interesting in the “Injustice” games, then Arc System Works can do the same for this mutant freak.

45. Mister Sinister — One of the last big X-Men supervillains to not be in a fighting game, he can use clones in combos, so that’s cool.

44. Nimrod — Here’s a fun way to include Sentinel without including Sentinel.

43. Agatha Harkness or Wiccan — If they aren’t including Dr. Strange, then at least include one of these — just for a different flavor to slinging spells around. Or the sass.

42. Vulture — There’s the bad version of this character, an old man in a feather costume who ages and de-ages. Then there is the badass Michael Keaton version with a high tech flying suit, or the animated one who can throw dagger feathers as projectiles.

41. Mysterio — The most out-of-the-box character in a Marvel fighter is, by far, what Capcom did with Phoenix Wright. I think Arc System Works can top that if they choose to include an anime-inspired Mysterio who uses deception, misdirection, and smoke and mirrors to defeat his enemies.

40. Morbius — Not the best choice for a bloodsucking combatant, but he is a living vampire who got memed on a lot. So that’s something.

39. Ikaris — Copy paste Superman from the “Injustice” games if you want to save the devs time and money. Laser eyes, flight, cape, super strength and speed — it’s the same shtick.

38. Luke Cage/Jessica Jones — They punch real good, and look good doing it. Better than Iron Fist, but not as exciting a pick as Shang-Chi would be.

37. Nightmare — I would love to see a resurgence for Doctor Strange’s underrated villain. Giving him Dormammu or Blackheart’s moveset, but in a smaller frame, would be very interesting to see.

36. Elsa Bloodstone/The Punisher — A person with guns is not that intriguing — especially not one so closely associated and tied to copaganda at the moment. But Capcom made Chris Redfield into a really cool character, so why not double down and make The Punisher equally as cool? And with Elsa, she could send out some monsters like Jill sending out zombies in “MvC2!”

35. Sentry — See: Ikaris.

34. White Widow — Black Widow in “MvCI” was hella cool, but since Natasha isn’t showing up in anymore MCU films, and coming off of the positive word of mouth and reviews for “Thunderbolts,” why not have Yelena in here instead?

33. Silver Surfer — Float around, smack people with the surfboard, summon Galactus in a super move, and say some cool-ass shit about being the Herald to a planet eating weirdo. I love this absurd character and if you’re not going to add Mole Man into this game, make it Jack Kirby’s weirdest success.

32. Ant-Man / Wasp — No clue how you would pull off going tiny and then big, that would be a nightmare to balance, but man would it not be absolutely incredible to see it play out?

31. Mystique — She could be the ultimate clone character! Just like Shang Tsung shapeshifting, or using the opponents moves against them like Taskmaster. Plus, she has both karate skills and a gun, so I’m super down for some Blue Man Group action.

30. Falcon / Sam Wilson — Captain America, Steve Rogers, is already in the game. Sam Wilson can’t be a Cap for “Tokon” but he could be a Falcon, with Redwing and little wrist blasters. But then again, it could easily also be Joaquin Torres, flying around doing super kicks.

29. Sandman — In the same way Green Lantern’s ring can be used to conjure anything in imagination, you can do the same for Sandman and his fists being a mace or a hammer or a big spike. His dash could be turning into sand on the floor, and then he pops up for a quick attack. Just thinking about his movement has me excited!

28. Vision — See: Sentry, but this time he’s a robot.

27. Black Bolt and Lockjaw — I would love for Lockjaw to be the only (and first) Inhuman to be included, but I imagine he’ll be attached to either Black Bolt or Medusa. Sindel from “MK3” screaming people’s skin off, anyone?

26. Nick Fury — The “Chris Redfield in ‘MvC3′” archetype of “man with many guns” is not to be overused, so if it ends up being the head of SHIELD, eye patch and all, I would absolutely not complain.

25. Adam Warlock — See.. You know what? Never mind.

24. Nebula — Gamora in “MvCI” was already a Guardian with a big knife, but I like that you could use her robot limbs in more interesting ways if you need extra moves.

23. Invisible Woman — The least interesting of the main foursome to me, she can turn invisible like Reptile in “Mortal Kombat” and has force field projection, but I don’t see her as a hand-to-hand fighter unless you really get her jacked up and swole.

22. Human Torch — Capcom crafted an overpowered and extremely cool Iceman for the early “MvC” games, so just replace that with fire and you could have a… hot new take on Johnny Storm.

21. Shuri as Black Panther — This one is a bit of a cheat, because Black Panther is all but guaranteed to be in “Tokon,” but Shuri has her own kit, the most advanced technology in the world, and a mind capable to utilize that tech in kick ass ways.

20. Valkyrie — Tessa Thompson rizzed up Valkyrie from being a D-tier comic book character to a notable hottie in the MCU, so this is all thanks to her, and not the “Thor” movies she’s in. Ride in on a Pegasus, swinging her sword around like a badass, maybe a magical ability or two, and presto, you got yourself a top 20 character.

19. Scarlet Witch — Not too many magic users are included in these games, and I loved what Capcom did with Dr. Strange in “MvC3.” Her spells are even more deadly and supernatural, reality breaking in fact, so I’d love to see her included.

18. Namor — He’s a cooler Aquaman from the “Injustice” games, with little flying wings on his ankles, which means he can do super jumps to compete with Iron Man’s jetpack boots and Doctor Doom’s… well he has those too, actually. That weirdly makes sense with the Robert Downey, Jr. connection.

17. Jeff the Baby Land Shark — I’m so sick of these humanoid characters with boring two arm, two legs frames. What about Jeff, who can slip and slide around, shoot water out of his little adorable mouth, and dig under the ground, and pop up anywhere? The possibilities are endless with him.

16. Squirrel Girl — Is she the most powerful hero in the Marvel universe? Or just a crazy woman who thinks she has powers? Either way, she can use squirrels, and people love her, so she has great odds to make it into this game (again, “Rivals” does wonders for your popularity).

15. Mephisto — The early MvC games had Blackheart, a tall demon with devil powers from hell. But now, imagine if the literal Satan of the Marvel universe replaced Blackheart, and could do cool shit like shoot out little imps and summon hellfire. Now you got a stew cookin’ for a brand new character with a similar play style to someone already previously established.

14. The Thing — One could argue that having a Hulk clone made of bricks is not the most exciting choice. But on the other hand, he says “it’s clobberin’ time” in a New York accent, and hasn’t been in any of these games before, so yeah I want him included so I can throw rocks at people and feel like a tough guy.

13. Beast — Hank McCoy has been hanging upside down off of ceilings doing science experiments since the ’60s. The disrespect is so real with Beast, and he would be both a bulky, big boy choice with a high health bar and speed to boot. Plus he has those slutty little glasses.

12. Bullseye — Is he too high? Not for my list! I think Bullseye would be sick in a fighting game. Throwing random household objects with precision, doing some of the same shit Taskmaster did in “MvC3,” I think he would work out great since these games need a healthy ratio of heroes to bad guys and cosmic flying fighters to street-level names using fisticuffs.

11. Hela — This might be the “Marvel Rivals” influence creeping in, but Hela is very cool in that game, and would fit in perfectly to “Tokon.” Flowing cape, throwing knives, summoning creeps to help her fight off pressure from the rushdown characters; she would be quite the hot pick.

10. Mr. Fantastic — I think, infamously, the most-requested and notoriously-excluded characters are Marvel’s first family: The Fantastic Four. Do you group them together? Do just one, or all of them? Or, like “MvC3,” combine them into the Super Skrull who has the powers of all four? If I had to choose just one though, it would be the stretchy patriarch, Reed, because the possibilities of his move set would be infinite.

9. Nightcrawler — There are so many X-Men who should return from the early games. Ones who have never been used before, and none more outstanding than the blue German teleporter who sometimes has a sword. He is tailor-made to be in a fast paced video game like “Tokon” so here’s hoping that Arc wisens up, and expands the roster with mutants.

8. Shang-Chi — They put Iron Fist in “MvC3” before him? Shameful and disgusting as far as I’m concerned. I cannot believe after the success of the film with Simu Liu that they didn’t fast track a sequel, and no one rushed to make a Shang-Chi game or include him in games. So much wasted money left on the proverbial table.

7. Miles Morales — Since every Marvel game on the face of the earth is bound to have Peter Parker in it, to sell more copies obviously, then why not double down on the amount of web slingers? He has everything Peter does and more, electric powers, invisibility, and a concentrated dose of teenage awkwardness.

6. Loki — The trickster god, Loki uses magic to bewilder his opponents. That and a whole lot of lying. Turning invisible, turning into your opponent, having a badass lance staff thing — you could have a field day making up moves for Loki to have. And an alt costume could be Sylvie the Enchantress!

5. Moon Knight — He’s just Batman with multiple personalities and an Egyptian god hanging about. Boomerangs, staff, kung fu, the power of the moon, sick ass cape — he’s got it all. Plus, you could make him a stance character with a more aggressive play style if you choose one of his other personalities.

4. Green Goblin or Hobgoblin — Flight mode? Pumpkin bombs? Evil laughs? I can’t think of anything extra you would need to add to that kit to make it more interesting. Nobody would play like a Norman Osbourne, and maybe you could do some cool combos that incorporate switching on and off the board.

3. Doctor Octopus — He was supposed to be in “MvC3,” but it was far too challenging to implement all of the robot arms and the movements. But I think the best and most compelling Spider-Man villain (boo me all you want, I don’t care) needs to be in these games one of these days. Can’t just be Venom over and over — that’s so lazy. Mix it up. Put in Doc Ock!

2. Blade — I don’t need to justify Blade, the motherfucking Daywalker, being this high on the list. He’s got the fangs, the swords, the guns, the attitude, etc. But instead, I will just go on a mini rant about the inability of Disney to make the “Blade” movie with Mahershala Ali. What are you idiots doing? It’s movie making malpractice to not just let him kill vampires for two straight hours and then link that up with the game Arkane is working on.

1. Daredevil — By far the biggest omission Capcom ever made was not including the man without fear. He’s skilled in hand-to-hand combat, has those cool batons that turn into long ranged whips, and could even bring Elektra into one of his supers. Plus, the new show is rad, and his popularity is much higher than it was when Ben Affleck played him in 2003.

Image Credit: Marvel Entertainment on YouTube