Comic book and fighting game fans will be feasting in 2026 with the upcoming release ofInvincible VsandMarvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. First announced at the Xbox Games Showcase 2025 and Sony’s June State of Play presentations, respectively,Invincible VsandMarvel Tokon: Fighting Soulswill adapt the popularInvincibleand Marvel universes intoStreet Fighter-like fighting games, but with a twist. Instead of featuring traditional 1v1 or 2v2 setups from other fighting game franchises,Invinciblewill feature a 3v3 setup, whileMarvel Tokonwill feature a 4v4 setup. However, with the two titles being 2026 fighting games adapting popular comic book franchises, the two games may face harsh competition against one another.
Invincible Vs and Marvel Tokon’s Mechanics Compared
Developed by Quarter Up, a newly created Skybound Games studio,Invincible Vswas developed as a merger of common 3v3 fighting mechanics with those ofKiller Instinct. In fact, many of Quarter Up’s employees are former developers of 2013’sKiller Instinct, such asInvincible Vs’ Executive Producer Mike Willette and Game Director David Hall. RegardingInvincible Vs’ combat, the game features a variety of character-specific signature moves, Special abilities, and Ultimate finishers, with real-time blood and bruises appearing on fighters throughout battles to mirror the bloody fights ofInvincible’s comics and show. Players can further use Heroic Boosts to amplify fighters’ Special abilities and movement speed.
Invincible Vsadditionally features the Omni-Tagcombo system, allowing players to seamlessly swap between a set of three fighters mid-combo to counter enemy attacks or extend their own attack combos. With only pre-alpha footage ofInvincible Vsshown to the public so far, only a few fighters have been revealed, including:
Each character can further equip alternate costumes from their base appearance, such as Invincible donning a red, white, and black variant of his traditional blue, yellow, and black suit. In comparison,Marvel Tokonhasn’t shown alternate costume variationsof its fighters yet, so that feature remains to be seen. However,Marvel Tokondoes currently feature more fighters thanInvincible Vs, including:
Marvel Tokon’s Fighting Mechanics Explained
Developed by the Japan-based Arc System Works,Marvel Tokon: Fighting Soulswill break the fighting game mold by being the first to feature 4v4 tag team combat. Similar toInvincible Vs, eachMarvel Tokoncharacter will feature a distinct set of Normal, Special, and Unique attacks on top of powerful, cinematic Ultimate Skills. However, according to Game Director Kazuto Sekine, players will only need to master one fighter to properly play the game, suggesting that all four fighters in a team may share one health bar. This was designed to makeMarvel Tokonaccessible to a wide variety of players by seamlessly allowing multiple characters to appear to counter attacks or extend combos with only having to press a few buttons.
Potential Competition Between Invincible Vs and Marvel Tokon
WithInvincible VsandMarvel Tokonboth being tag team fighting games based on highly popular comic book properties, they may face direct competition with each other to attract and retain players. Millions of people are fans of both theInvincibleand Marvel universes, but not every gamer is fond of the fighting game genre, forcing both games to potentially fight over the small overlap of players that enjoyInvincible, Marvel, and fighting games. Additionally, with game prices expected to increase substantially by 2026, several players may only be able to afford eitherInvincible VsorMarvel Tokon, depending on their prices and whether they’re free to play, though the latter option is unlikely.
BothInvincible VsandMarvel Tokon:Fighting Soulsmay further face direct competition from each other if they release within the same window of time. It’s currently unknown when exactly either game will debut, but both are expected to release sometime in 2026. If both games debut within the same window, one may effectively steal players away from the other based on how similar both games are, mechanically speaking. Similarly, if either game is released a good distance from the other, it could allow mostInvincible, Marvel, and fighting game fansto try out one game for a good while before they move on to the other. Either games’ post-launch content may further determine which games will last for a while, such as an intriguing roster of DLC fighters or alluring cosmetics.
WhileInvincible VsisInvincible’s first dedicated fighting game, Omni-Man previously appeared as aDLC fighter in NetherRealm Studios’Mortal Kombat 1.
