Marvel vs Capcom to return

The success of Street Fighter IV has proved that 2D (or 2.5D) fighters very much have a place in the modern marketplace, so claims that Capcom is to revive its Marvel vs Capcom franchise come as little surprise.

Planet Xbox 360, as spotted by VG247, reports that Marvel vs Capcom 3 is being lined up for a disc-based retail release on Xbox 360 and PS3.

The decision is all the more interesting at a time when the industry is seeing an increasing number of franchises turn their attentions toward digital retail. MvC is heading in the other direction, however, as MvC2 was released digitally on PSN and Xbox Live Arcade last year.

Confirmed characters, according to the site, include Spider-Man, The Hulk, Wolverine and Magneto, with a very high number of total playable characters promised. The release date is said to be either late 2010 or early 2011.

The first cross-over between the two brands came in 1996 arcade release X-Men vs Street Fighter, though the first proper release in the series as we know it, Marvel vs Capcom, arrived two years later on Dreamcast and PlayStation.