Highlights
- Hackers have discovered evidence of a playable version of Doctor Octopus in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, a game that previously did not include the iconic Spider-Man villain.
- Technical issues and the 2011 Tsunami were the reasons why Doctor Octopus was cut from the game, but hackers have recently found remnants of his character.
- Along with Doctor Octopus, other cut content such as Frank West and unfinished stages were also discovered in an early build of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 by modders, thrilling longtime fans of the game.
Hackers have managed to find evidence regarding a playable version of the classic Spider-Man villain Doctor Octopus in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Doctor Octopus is one of the most iconic Spider-Man villains of all time. One of the few times that Spider-Man has appeared in a game that didn’t contain Doc Ock would be Capcom’s crossover fighting game franchise, Marvel vs. Capcom.
While Spider-Man has appeared in every single Marvel vs. Capcom game to date, the villainous doctor has not. The third game was originally going to feature the iconic antagonist as a playable character, but was cut, according to the game’s producer, Ryota Niitsuma. Many believed that technical issues regarding the character’s robotic tentacles proved to be a challenge to incorporate, along with the 2011 Tsunami that caused a major loss of data. Rumors spread about how some components of Doc Ock were still on the disc for Marvel vs. Capcom 3, with hackers recently corroborating these rumors thanks to the discovery of an early build of the game.
RELATED: Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Mod Adds Spider-Gwen and More
These discoveries were posted by Xeno on Twitter, where modders managed to find an early Xbox 360 build of Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and extract its content. This revealed a lot of cut content, but also proved various theories that were floating around about the game. This includes a character portrait and UI elements for Doc Ock. Based on his portrait, his MvC3 appearance would have been based on his classic comic book look, complete with bowl cut, yellow jumpsuit, and blue sunglasses.
This is corroborated further with early elements of Frank West, a character who was also considered for the game before he made the cut in the game’s Ultimate re-release. Other elements found in this early build of the game include a stage that was in the works, some unfinished music, and some unused lines. Many longtime fans were ecstatic to see the rumors were true and that there was evidence of Doctor Octopus being considered as a playable character.
In the build’s current state, there isn’t much that could be done to restore the character other than the aforementioned character portrait and UI. However, the crossover fighter has a very active modding community these days, where characters like the iconic Venom and Carnage have been modded into UMvC3, so he could still be added in through fan efforts. For the time being, many fans were glad to find Doc Ock’s assets in the game at all, as later releases had scrubbed them from the files.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is available now on PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
MORE: 10 Delisted Games That Should Come Back
