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This article is about the series. For the game, see Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes.

Marvel vs. Capcom is a series of fighting games created by Capcom in which characters created by Marvel Comics and Capcom's own characters appear together. The "vs. series" originates from the fact that every game in this series is a fighting game, and although it was the first vs. series involving Capcom, the name Marvel exists to distinguish it from Capcom's other vs. series with SNK (Capcom vs. SNK
) and Namco's crossover RPG with Capcom (Namco x Capcom).

The Marvel vs. Capcom series is perhaps considered to be the most popular among American fans of the Street Fighter series, in part because it allows their comic book heroes and villains to fight alongside or against their favorite Capcom characters.

The Marvel characters depicted in these games were often based on their incarnations in various early 1990s animated series (particularly X-Men), and were often voiced by the same voice actors.

Many of the characters and fighting mechanics used in these games were first developed and refined in two other fighting games Capcom had developed earlier, serving as precursors to the series: X-Men: Children of the Atom, which featured characters strictly from the X-Men universe, and Marvel Super Heroes, which gleaned characters from Marvel's entire roster (X-Men included).

Many of Capcom's characters, as they starred in non-fighting games (mainly games that were made for Capcom's CPS-1 hardware) were purposely made for the series, with only the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers cast being imported (from Street Fighter Alpha 2, and later, Alpha 3, as well as Darkstalkers 3). As such, many often see the Street Fighter and Darkstalkers characters as being inferior due to them having to be artificially "powered up" for their appearance in this series.

Although the tag-team fighting concept was not new, it was refined with this series (although fans would argue whether this was for better or for worse). New fighting game terminology, such as "Aerial Rave" (the act of performing a combo on an opponent while the opponent remains airborne) and "Variable Combination" (the act of having two or more characters on the same team to perform their super combos at the same time) were added to the fighting game vernacular with this series.

Although Capcom has stated that the series is finished, with new versions of various Marvel (and Capcom) characters replacing the versions depicted in the games, there are persistent, if unsupported, rumors that the series would continue (fueled by jokes and outright lies from many Capcom of America representatives and PR personnel), but future games in the series would involve other game and comic book companies such as DC Comics (Marvel vs. DC) and possibly SNK (Marvel vs. DC vs. Capcom vs. SNK). However, the Marvel fighting game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects was initially named Marvel vs. EA
, spawning lots of jokes from people about various EA licenses (such as John Madden) appearing in the game.

X-Men vs. Street Fighter
Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter
Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes

Story

There does not appear to be a concrete story behind each game in the series (drawing many criticisms from longtime Marvel fans that had hoped that Marvel's writers would cover for Capcom's apparent weakness in storytelling), although several plot points run across the various games of the series. However, various pairs of characters - typically one Marvel and one Capcom, were often partnered with each other during gameplay (although later games randomized the partnerships so that it was possible to complete the game facing all-Marvel or all-Capcom teams).

However, several interesting (but noncanonical to both Marvel and Capcom continuities) sideplots did emerge throughout the series, some of which contradict the others:

Psylocke
is the one who rescues the amnesiac Cammy
, who lost her memory after the battle with Apocalypse
in X-Men vs. Street Fighter.
Zangief
and Colossus
defend Russia against Omega Red
. In one ending, Omega Red kills Ryu
, prompting Ken
to also seek revenge.
Wolverine
seeks Akuma
as he believes Akuma has information about his own past. However, in order to get the information from Akuma, he must win a fight to the death.
Chun-Li
was made an honorary member of the X-Men, despite the lack of mutant powers on her part. Ryu is also offered membership in both the X-Men and Avengers, but turns it down both times.
When Onslaught
emerges, Charles Xavier subconsiously calls the Capcom heroes to help stop himself. Jin Saotome
eventually sacrifices his own life in order to defeat Onslaught, with Ryu vowing to continue his legacy. In another ending, Captain America
makes the sacrifice. Meanwhile, Zangief battles Jin's Cyberbot, Blodia.
Magneto
and M. Bison
team up, intending on betraying each other at a later time. Magneto eventually manages to get the upper hand when Bison's Shadoloo
henchmen (Balrog
, Vega
, and Sagat
) join him.
Apocalypse captures Akuma and turns him into Cyber Akuma.
Charlie
is kidnapped by Bison, who uses Apocalypse's technology to transform him to a super-soldier henchman known as Shadow. However, Shadow turns on Bison, who then tries to subject Chun-Li and Jin Saotome to the same fate.
Akuma is hinted to be the father of Dan
. However, this ending, much like Dan himself, is a parody of the Art of Fighting series. In this case, the ending to the first game.
In Ken's endings, the events of the games never actually happened. In X-Men vs. Street Fighter, he was playing the game itself with his son Mel, while the events of Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter appear to be a dream. He wakes up and continues his training with Ryu.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Marvel vs. Capcom series ]

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