LikeMarvel’s Spider-Man, it is exciting to see what EA Motive’sIron Mancan achieve with an original narrative. Iron Man has been a prominent part of Marvel iconography for the last decade, but that is actually why the character has the most to offer a fresh take in order to break that mold and separate itself from the MCU. That will only be possible if Tony Stark’s character is starkly different from Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal, andIron Manwill also need to avoid critical MCU charactersat all costs, even when it comes to villains who have made appearances.
The MCU arguably didIron Man’s villainsthe most disservice of any adapted antagonists. The Mandarin was sorely misused as an actor imitating the Mandarin, for example, and Justin Hammer was reduced to a comedic role. These antagonists could be introduced inIron Manand made truly great in a new interpretation, but one MCU could likely be left out entirely. Indeed, the MCU’s Whiplash fromIron Man 2was an unmemorable character, and EA Motive needs to either abandon Anton Vanko or find a creative way to feature him as a petty criminal.
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EA Motive’s Whiplash Can Be Iron Man’s Shocker from Marvel’s Spider-Man
The only role that would seem serviceable for Whiplash in EA Motive’sIron Mangame would be in the same capacity asMarvel’s Spider-Man’s Shocker. Spider-Man has no shortage of antagonists who pose absolutely no threat to the wall-crawler, and Shocker is one of the villains most outclassed by Spider-Man’s prowess. Like Shocker, Whiplash is not incredibly interesting or entertaining. Whiplash’s weapon is a pair of electrically charged whips, hence his moniker. Whiplash has a genius-level intellect, but that is so common in the Marvel universe at this point that it rarely matters, especially when it comes to how substantial Whiplash could be in gameplay.
Therefore, if all he has is a pair of whips, he is obviously going to be an underwhelming villain for a fully equipped and prepared Tony Stark to battle. The only reason why Whiplash gets the upper hand in the beginning ofthe MCU’sIron Man 2is because he attacks Tony in broad daylight during a race at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique.
However, Tony has a suitcase-armor he dons and although it gets fairly beaten up, Whiplash is taken out fairly quickly. This is likely how a fight inIron Manwould have to play out, too, making Whiplash a decent enough tutorial boss. Otherwise, EA Motive would probably be best to avoid the villain and stick to ones that would be more exciting in gameplay.
Because Iron Man can fly around and keep a distance between himself and enemies, Whiplash would pose little threat unless Tony was underequipped. This would be a fun way to make gameplay dynamic, such as if players only have pieces of armor in some instances. However,the fantasy of being Iron Manincludes a wealth of diverse suits of armor, and there are far better villains that could test players’ mettle in these suits, such as Crimson Dynamo, Ultimo, and even Norman Osborn in an Iron Patriot suit.
Iron Man does not have as many notable villains as Spider-Man might, but this is EA Motive’s opportunity to change that and represent antagonists whose names may not already be known, let alone villains who have been neglected or shamed in previous iterations. In that sense, EA Motive has a tough choice to make regarding Whiplash.
AnIron Mangame from EA Motive is currently in development.
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