There are high hopes for Monolith’s in-developmentWonder Womangame, even though it’s still mostly shrouded in mystery. It will be the first proper, modernWonder Womanvideo game, which will ideally raise the character to the relevance of Batman who, alongside Spider-Man, is perhaps the best-represented superhero in the world of gaming.
As fansawait more news aboutWonder Woman, they mostly only have two sources upon which to base their speculation: theBatman: Arkhamseries and Monolith’sMiddle-earthduology. The high-fantasy premise and action-adventure gameplay of the latter is expected to informWonder Woman, and the more mature tone of the former may be similarly influential, especially if both IP are meant to exist within the same narrative universe. All of this is to say that, despite there being no gameplay revealed forWonder Woman, there’s plenty of reason to believe that it will be a worthwhile game from a team that has already proven its excellence with previous titles. Hopefully, it will get the ball rolling for another, equally important DC hero.
After Wonder Woman, Warner Bros. Needs to Push Out a Superman Game
A Superman Game Would Complete the DC Superhero Trifecta
AlthoughDC Comics has spawned countless fantastic characters, it would be hard to argue against the notion that Superman, Batman, and Wonderwoman are its three most iconic. There are in-universe reasons for this: these characters are arguably the most competent and powerful in the world of DC Comics, often assuming positions of leadership. But there are also greater metanarrative and thematic factors contributing to why this trio is so enduring in culture and broader media.
Batman represents human cunning, ingenuity, and willpower, his “Dark Knight” mantle cementing him as a terrifying force for order and justice. On the other hand, Superman and Wonder Woman are aspirational figures, true superhumans that are the unattainable pinnacle of what society should strive for. They work hard, but they also enjoy innate gifts, which makes their relationship with society fundamentally different from Batman’s. At the same time,Wonder Woman being steeped in the history of Themyscirawhile Superman is a corn-fed, blue-blooded American makes them polar opposites in some ways.
WithBatman getting fantastic video game representation andWonder Woman hopefully following suit, it should only be a matter of time before Superman gets his due adaptation. He is one of DC’s “big three” heroes, but more importantly, he’s a unique character that could serve as a strong backbone for a standalone adventure, and one that is meaningfully distinct from bothWonder Womanand theBatman: Arkhamgames.
Making a Superman Game Would Be Tough, but Worth It
Superman has long posed an infamous challenge for game designers. After all, when a protagonist can defeat the overwhelming majority of physical threats with a single flick of the pinky, any semblance of gameplay balance essentially gets thrown out the window. But TV shows, films, and comic books have been writing around this roadblock for years now, so there’s no reason why a video game couldn’t do the same thing. It would probably just take a bit of ingenuity.
ASupermangame would likely have to buck most of the trends of the action-adventure genre to work. For instance, Superman wouldn’t be able to take on a crowd of henchmen like Spider-Man or Batman would, as precious few human and alien threats would actually pose any sort of difficulty for him. Perhaps aless combat-oriented approach would work for aSupermangame, though this would require a good deal of outside-the-box thinking when it comes to designing gameplay. Whatever route it takes, Warner Bros. shouldn’t avoid aSupermanadaptation for too long, especially as its portfolio of superhero games continues to grow.
