The latest video game set among the world of Marvel heroes is Marvel Cosmic Invasion, which features a roster of 15 playable characters to choose from. The new beat 'em up game from Tribute Games harkens back to classic arcade-style side-scroller fighting titles - this time with a range of comic book heroes and settings from the Marvel universe.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion's characters each have unique moves and abilities, plus a selection of alternate costumes. The objective of the game is to defeat hordes of enemies that have been sent to invade Earth by the villain, Annihilus. To do that, players will have a choice of two interchangeable heroes in each round, but picking the correct characters is vital. Marvel Cosmic Invasion was released on December 1 and is playable on PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
Marvel Cosmic Invasion's Playable Heroes List
Captain America
Captain America is one of the heroes players have access to right from the start of the game. The star-spangled hero offers a unique passive ability to boost morale, which allows focus to refill faster and for assists to do more damage. Captain America's outfits provide a range of different hues, including a red variant that swaps the traditional blue portions of the hero's outfit with red, and a black US Agent variant.
Nova
Another character who is front and centre in Marvel Cosmic Invasion is Nova, aka Richard Ryder (who fans are still waiting to see in the MCU). Nova's unique passive ability is the Nova Force, which is a special attack that increases Nova Beam's damage for a short time.
Storm
X-Men hero Storm is part of the initial lineup in Marvel Cosmic Invasion, with her unique ability ("Charged Up"), allowing players who dodge successfully or receive shock damage to infuse their next attack with a shock effect. Storm's default look is the traditional white and gold outfit, but alternate options include gold and blue, black and silver, blue and silver, black and gold, purple and silver, and the Jim Lee colour scheme.
Wolverine
Wolverine is getting plenty of attention from Marvel Games at the moment. In Marvel Cosmic Invasion, the X-Men character's abilities mirror his comic book ones, with his Healing Factor passive allowing him to regenerate lost HP quickly.
Wolverine's base outfit is the yellow and brown suit design, but it can also be altered with the Jim Lee X-Men design and an X-Force style Wolverine.
Spider-Man
Another Marvel character who gets plenty of attention in Marvel Games is Spider-Man, and the character is equally fun to play in Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Spidey's passive ability is his Spider-Senses, which allow for successfully dodged attacks to refill his web canisters.
As always, Spider-Man has some of the best costume variants on offer. Along with the classic blue and red default, Spidey has black and red suits, a blue and white suit with orange eyes, as well as Iron Spider, Symbiote, Negative Zone, and Prowler-inspired outfits.
Beta Ray Bill
Another less familiar Marvel hero on the roster is Beta Ray Bill, an alien warrior worthy of wielding Thor's hammer, Mjolnir. Beta Ray Bill's ability is Retaliation, which infuses his next attack with shock when recalling the hammer after a hit. Beta Ray Bill offers some unique costumes with a range of different colors for his gauntlets and cape.
Black Panther
Black Panther's solo game may have been canceled, but the character is getting plenty of attention in other game projects, including Marvel Cosmic Invasion. In the side-scroller, Black Panther's passive is a Sonic Counter, which means when the character is hurt, his next attack is stronger and is infused with sonic damage.
Black Panther's outfit options include blue, purple, green, black-and-gold, black-and-red, and white recolors.
Cosmic Ghost Rider
Rather than the traditional Ghost Rider, Marvel Cosmic Invasion offers players Cosmic Ghost Rider, a character whose passive is Penance, which allows defeated enemies from a Charged Attack to provide 4 extra ammo, and his Ultimate utilizes the character's famous motorcycle. Cosmic Ghost Rider's costume options include a variety of different recolors, including purple, blue, red and green, grey and red, and white and black.
Iron Man
Another classic Avengers hero whom players can unlock from the start is Iron Man. The ironclad hero's passive ability allows for parried enemy projectiles to grant him unlimited ammo for a short duration. Iron Man has a variety of great costume options that refresh his classic red and gold look. Some of the available options include a Superior Iron Man look and a gold and silver appearance inspired by the comics.
Rocket Raccoon
The only Guardians of the Galaxy member represented on the initial roster is Rocket Raccoon, whose Tinkerer passive ability allows defeated enemies from combo attacks to increase the chances of a nuke grenade appearing. Apart from a variety of color options for his suit, Rocket has several costume options that change the color of his fur and face, including a few red-eyed, evil-looking designs that stand out.
She-Hulk
She-Hulk represents the Hulks on the Marvel Cosmic Invasion lineup, offering a unique ground smash ultimate ability and a passive that provides bonus damage after throwing an enemy. Costume options for She-Hulk include red, grey, and teal-skinned designs.
Dark Phoenix
Another classic X-Men hero joining the Marvel Cosmic Invasion roster is Dark Phoenix, whose passive ability is none other than the Phoenix Force, allowing for her Air and Sprinting attack to be infused with fire when the Focus bar is full. Phoenix's costume options include a variety of colors, including an elegant white and gold look and a blue and gold redesign. Dark Phoenix is one of the four playable heroes who are unlocked throughout the story.
Silver Surfer
The final character that players can unlock in Marvel Cosmic Invasion's story is Silver Surfer, an overpowered hero whose passive allows for parries to deal cosmic damage. Silver Surfer's costume options are limited strictly to his color hue, which can be shifted from silver to tinted metallic blue, green, gold, bronze, red, and onyx colors.
Phyla-Vell
Phyla-Vell is a character fans might not be as familiar with from Marvel Comics, but she is known as the daughter of Mar-Vell (the original Captain Marvel) and has been reimagined several different ways over the decades. In Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Phyla-Vell's powers allow her Cosmic Counter move to recover extra focus. She is a character who can only be unlocked in Marvel Cosmic Invasion after completing the Hala mission.
Venom
Following a popular appearance in Marvel's Spider-Man 2, Venom is one of the characters players can unlock by doing story missions in Marvel Cosmic Invasion. Venom's unique passive is Lethal Protector, which allows for the character's assist abilities to slow down enemies. Venom also has some of the most unique outfit choices. Colorwise, Venom can also be altered with blue, green, purple, white and black (anti-Venom), black and red, and a red Carnage-inspired look.
