The original Marvel vs. Capcom had a stacked roster, especially in 1998. It featured fan-favourites like Hulk, Spider-Man, and Wolverine (the then most famous trio in Marvel), as well as relatively new icons like Venom.
But there are a few other notable picks that didn't make the cut.
YouTuber SeventhForce has been digging through the Producer's Essay over on Twitter, a five part dev diary written by Kenji Kataoka. It's chock full of interesting details, such as his narrowed down proposal list for the roster which included the likes of Iron Man, Thor, Psylocke, Jubilee, Mr. Fantastic, and bizzarely, Howard the Duck.
Long live the handshake!
Marvel rejected Iron Man because of an exclusivity contract and suggested using War Machine in his place. The Fantastic Four were likewise "legally off the table", to the point where Kataoka couldn't even get a background cameo approved.
Marvel would have allowed Deathlok, Beast, Iron Fist, Quasar, Namor, Sasquatch, Machine Man, Elektra, Speedball, Spider-Woman, and Medusa.
As for Howard the Duck, several devs at Capcom were "really passionate about him", even putting together a petition to add him to the game, but Marvel still said no.
Another interesting tid-bit revealed in...
