Marvel: Cosmic Invasion is a Retraux 2D Beat 'em Up developed by Tribute Games and published by Dotemu in collaboration with Marvel Games. It was released on December 1st, 2025 for PC (via Steam), PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch.

When the wicked Annihilus launches an attack of unprecedented proportions across the entire galaxy, heroes from across the Marvel universe will come together to repel the extraterrestrial menace. Players have a choice of up to fifteen Marvel heroes to play as on launch, forming tag teams of two heroes each to halt the Annihilation Wave and save the cosmos!

Tropes:

• Adaptational Attractiveness: Annihilus' queens Extirpia, Eradica, and Extermina are all depicted as slender, attractive humanoids rather than grotesque insect creatures as they were in the comics.
• Adaptational Villainy: In Annihilation, while he started out as an ally to Annihilus, Thanos became the lesser of two evils in comparison and turned on his ally when he realized he was planning to destroy all life in the universe. In the game, not only does Thanos never turn on him, he admits he was the one who helped spur the Annihilation Wave into invading just so he could perform a "grand experiment" to see if the universe could survive Annihilus.
• Amazonian Beauty: She-Hulk as per tradition; her design placing particular emphasis on her physique and abs.
• Arbitrary Mission Restriction: Each campaign mission has three optional challenges that require you to do specific things, like hitting enemies with certain attacks or avoiding damage in specific areas; two of which are specific to the level's recommended characters. While not required to beat the level, completing them rewards the player with cosmic cubes that can be used to unlock things in the Cosmic Matrix.
• Backported Development: Despite generally being a throwback to early-90s Marvel in terms of designs and status quo, plenty of characters appear in the game who didn't exist at the time, such as Phylla-Vel (first appeared in 2004), Shuri (2005), Nick Fury Jr. (2011), Lady Hellbender (2015), Knull and Cosmic Ghost Rider (both 2018^note Knull technically had an Early-Bird Cameo in 2013) and Jeff the Landshark (2019). Certain characters such as Rocket Raccoon and Norman Osborn appear who, while having been introduced already by that period, were not that prominent in the decade (Rocket was in Comic-Book Limbo from the late 80s until 2006 and Norman Osborn was believed to be dead until the end of The Clone Saga). The plot itself is based on Annihilation, a storyline from 2006.
• Better to Die than Be Killed: Once defeated by Nova and Phyla-Vall, Extermina decides to activate Heteropteron's reactor and die in the explosion rather than face defeat, also trying to take out the heroes in the process.
• Big Bad: Annihilus is the main threat of the game, invading the universe from the Negative Zone in order to conquer it and wipe out all life.
• Bittersweet Ending: More sweet than bitter, honestly: Annihilus is defeated and made a prisoner of Galactus, but the damage caused by the Annihilation Wave is vast, leading to the heroes to help rebuild. Cap, Iron Man and She-Hulk have taken the lead in that; Nova, Silver Surfer and Beta Ray Bill have replanted the World Tree, making a new Asgard; Rocket leads a team comprised of Jeff the Landshark and Brute Force; and Wolverine, Phoenix, Storm, Spider-Man, Phyla-Vel and Black Panther relax.
• BFG:
  • Rocket's moveset employs guns, many bigger than he is — and some, at least as big as his humanoid peers!
  • Iron Man summons his Proton Cannon—a massive shoulder-mounted energy cannon—from the Marvel vs. Capcom series as his Special Attack, though he calls it the "Iron Cannon" and it's referred to as the "Beam Cannon" in his move list.
• Bond One-Liner: Each playable character has their own quip after beating Annihilus at the end of the game, with many of them also qualifying as "The Reason You Suck" Speeches.
  Captain America: Despots like you don't understand true strength.
  Iron Man: The universe is one big system. You? You're just a bug.
  Wolverine: Big shots like you never see the end coming.
  Spider-Man: Spiders usually trap bugs. It's just nature!
  Nova: You're just weak. And you thought the whole galaxy would be as feeble as you.
  Cosmic Ghost Rider: Scum like you always think you're too big to fail. It's why you always do...
  She-Hulk: You're a final boss. That's how it always ends up for you jerks!
  Phyla-Vell: The universe was always too big to conquer. Tyrants like you never see it.
  Beta Ray Bill: There is no valor in your heart. You were always going to fail.
  Black Panther: You are a poor excuse for a king and a leader. Your defeat was inevitable.
  Storm: You have meddled with elemental forces, Annihilus, now they have fought back!
  Phoenix: You are a parasite, burned by your own hunger for power.
  Rocket: You're just a bully with too much power. No big deal.
  Venom: You are just a big bully. You could never defeat a champion of justice like US!
  Silver Surfer: You have trespassed against the very cosmos I cherish. Downfall has always been your destination.
• Bookends:
  • The game's first level and final level both take place in New York City.
  • To a lesser extent, the training level focuses on Nova and he's one of the two heroes who have achievements tied to the first level in New York. The final level, also in NYC, also has an achievement tied to beating the Final Boss as Nova, bookending the story. Although the player doesn't actually have to do this.
  • The Watcher narrates the opening cutscene detailing the Annihilation Wave's attack on the cosmos, then narrates the final cutscene detailing how the heroes are rebuilding after Annihilus' defeat.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Throughout the game, the Annihilation Wave uses Control Bugs to brainwash victims into servants of Annihilus. Beetle, Phyla-Vall and Silver Surfer all fall victim to them in their respective levels. Phoenix is almost taken over by one, but taps into the Phoenix Force to shake it off. M.O.D.O.K. also uses his psychic powers to resist their mind control.
• Bug War: As in the comic that inspired the game, the Annihilation Wave wages war with the entire universe.
• The Cameo:
  • Professor X guides Wolverine and Storm to Genosha and subsequently the Savage Lands. In the same level, Forge and Boom-Boom can be found in Genosha's containment cells; liberating them is one of the stage's challenges in Campaign mode.
  • On the Helicarrier, a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are being led by Nick Fury Jr. against the A.I.M. soldiers in the background.
  • Ka-Zar naturally appears in the Savage Land.
  • Lockjaw makes a brief appearance, aiding the heroes by teleporting them off-world.
  • Lady Hellbender's ship shows that not only is Jeff The Land Shark stuck in a tube, but so is the strange animal fighting force Brute Force and Man-Thing. A lower floor has a large terrarium containing a furious Gargantos, Fin Fang Foom, and the Hypno-Creature.
  • The Supreme Intelligence makes a brief appearance on Hala once it is reactivated by the heroes to help fend off the Annihilation Wave.
  • Mary Jane is seen kissing Peter in the ending sequence.
• Captured Super-Entity: Like in the Annihilation comic that inspired the game, Galactus is taken captive and used as a weapon by the Annihilation Wave, appearing in the Asgard and Fort Galactus levels as an obstacle.
• Challenge Run: Arcade mode has a few modifiers that players can use to challenge themselves during a run, like making enemies hit harder and faster, and making focus moves cost health instead.
• Damage Over Time: Phyla-Vell can inflict this on enemies using her Quantum Sword. It's also inflicted on the player by some enemies and stage hazards, such as Galactus' attacks.
• Defeat Means Playable: Phoenix, Venom, Phyla-Vall and Silver Surfer must all be defeated in the story before the player is able to use them.
• Double Entendre: After being defeated and freed from Annihilus' control, Beetle weakly remarks "I need to change my costume." This can be taken literally, since dressing like a bug is what made the Annihilation Wave think he was one of their agents who went rogue. Though given the terrifying encounter he just had, it's easy to assume there's another reason he needs to change.
• Dueling Player Characters: Some of the playable heroes need to be unlocked first, which is accomplished by finding them in Campaign mode and besting them in battle:
  • Phoenix is under the thrall of the Phoenix Force and transformed into Dark Phoenix in the Blue Area of the Moon.
  • Venom was captured as a pet by Lady Hellbender. They've since broken out, and they are pissed.
  • Phyla-Vell was under control of an Arthrosian parasite in Hala which was under attack by the Arthrosians.
  • Silver Surfer was also under control of the Arthrosian parasites, both as a powerful ally and to make sure Galactus was on Annihilus' leash.
• Enemy Mine: Several villainous characters like Lady Hellbender and the Supreme Intelligence put aside their differences with the heroes of the Marvel Universe to help them fight off the Annihilation Wave.
• Evil Is Petty: As his plans start to fall apart, Annihilus teleports himself to Earth, planning to personally destroy it as revenge for the heroes interfering.
• Excuse Plot: The plot doesn't get much more complex than "Annihilus is invading the universe and the Marvel heroes have to stop him".
• Fate Worse than Death: Nova states outright that being taken over by one of Annihilus' control bugs is this.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: The storyline of every level focuses on a specific pair of heroes tackling the problems that occur in each location (Spider-Man and Nova fighting the invasion in New York, Wolverine and Storm pursuing kidnapped mutants to Genosha, etc), with the dialogue and cutscenes referencing this. However, the player is still given the option to play the level as any character they want; the only downside being that they might not get the achievements tied to using each level's designated characters.
• Generic Doomsday Villain: With the more simplified story compared to Annihilation, Annihilus' motivation for destroying the cosmos—namely his absolute paranoia that if any being is allowed to live it will threaten his existence—doesn't get much focus. Apart from his minions occasionally spouting rhetoric like "Life threatens", it appears that the Annihilation Wave started laying siege to the universe just because.
• The Ghost: Thor is mentioned but never appears, said to be dealing with the Annihilation Wave elsewhere. He also appears on a mural on Klyntar, depicted fighting Knull sometime in the past.
• Hulking Out: She-Hulk usually remains in her big green form, but unlike her cousin, she's also typically more in control of her temper and powers. One move in her announcement trailer, however, shows her briefly going full-Hulk and unleashing Ground Waves with the force of her thunderous fist-slams.
• Hyperactive Metabolism: Much like in many other beat 'em ups. This game goes the extra mile by having different lines for each playable hero.
  Spider-Man: "Free food? Sweet!"
  Iron Man: "Ugh, street food."
  Captain America: "It's better than rations."
  Wolverine: "It don't taste bad."
  Nova: "Blue Blazes!"
  Venom: "We prefer brains."
• It Amused Me: Thanos' involvement with the Annihilation Wave amounts to this: he supplies Annihilus and his forces with advanced weaponry and aids them in their schemes—including helping them capture Silver Surfer and Galactus—merely because he's curious to see whether or not the universe can survive the Annihilation Wave. The grin perpetually on his face makes clear that he's enjoying what he's doing very, very much.
• Joker Immunity: Lampshaded by Storm, who remarks that she's sick and tired of Master Mold always coming back.
• Lighter and Softer: Compared the the comic that inspired it, Cosmic Invasion features far less wanton death and destruction, and has a far lighter tone overall with a fairly straightforward story about the heroes fighting off the Annihilation Wave across the universe, plenty of humor, colorful visuals and an optimistic ending.
• Luck-Based Mission: One of the challenges in the Negative Zone is to defeat a total of three enemies with Rocket's Nuclear Grenade. The problem is that Rocket's grenade always has a random effect and the chance of getting the Nuclear Grenade is extremely low, so you're stuck just using his grenades as often as they're available and hoping that it triggers.
• Mad Scientist: Contrary to most depictions of him as a Galactic Conqueror and/or Omnicidal Maniac, Thanos fills this role in the game, supplying Annihilus with high-tech weaponry to further his plans—all so that he can complete his "great experiment" of seeing whether or not the universe can survive the Annihilation Wave. There's also A.I.M., an entire organization of mad scientists out to conquer the Earth For Science!.
• Meaningless Villain Victory: Hela and the Annihilatiorn Wave succeed in destroying Asgard, although all of the Asgardians are able to successfully evacuate while taking a seed of the World Tree to ensure that a new Asgard can be created elsewhere. The ending shows Beta Ray Bill, Cosmic Ghost Rider and Silver Surfer doing just that.
• Mecha-Mooks: Master Mold and his Sentinels are taken over by the Annihilation Wave, reprogramming them to attack all life, not just mutants.
• Mook Maker: Certain levels feature pods which will indefinitely spawn Annihilation Wave soldiers until they are destroyed.
• Mother of a Thousand Young: Implied rather than outright stated. The Queens of Annihilation (Extirpia, Eradica, and Exermina) are responsible for controlling the Annihilation Wave's breeding facilities on Heteropteron, generating new forces for the Annihilation Wave. The process seems to be based on cloning rather than sexual reproduction, although astute players will notice that the various swarms of bugs that appear throughout the level and ones previous match the colors of the Queens (green, red and yellow).
• Mythology Gag:
  • Venom's special move has them undergo a monstrous transformation with mouths on the side of their head, resembling Agent Venom (Flash Thompson)'s berserk form from Venom (Vol. 2) #12.
  • Several of Venom's attacks resemble some of his more iconic moves from the Marvel vs. Capcom series and Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order—including variants of "Venom Predate" and "Venom Fang".
  • Nova is given back his long flowing red ponytail that he had in the 90s.
  • As shown on her gameplay trailer, She-Hulk sports her outfit from The Incredible Hulk (1996).
  • She-Hulk's Limit Break has her briefly transform into an extra-bulky form resembling her stint as the Hulk in the wake of the Final Host's invasion.
    • Across the game's many levels She-Hulk casually breaks the fourth wall plenty of times with her dialogue, just as she did in The Sensational She-Hulk.
  • During Silver Surfer and Beta Ray Bill's segment in the animated intro, the cosmic backgrounds have Jack Kirby's famed "Kirby Krackle" design aesthetic.
  • When selected, Venom calls themself the "Lethal Protector", a sobriquet first given to them in Venom: Lethal Protector.
  • Venom's pose on the character select screen has the symbiote extend its head from Eddie's back—something it frequently does in the SSU Venom movies, as well as one of his victory animations from Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes —while he argues with it.
  • The pose that Venom strikes when chosen is a reference to the cover of Venom (Vol. 4) #1.
  • Spidey's victory quote, "Action is my reward!", is based on the lyrics from the iconic Theme Tune from the 1967 animated series.
  • Iron Man is shown using the Proton Cannon from the Marvel vs. Capcom series.
  • The New York level has adverts for the in-universe soap opera Secret Hospital, starring Mary Jane Watson and features Daily Bugle articles mentioning that Norman Osborn has gone missing (possibly in reference to his first "death"). Billboards for Fisk and Damage Control also appear in the background of Beetle's boss arena.
  • As first showcased in the opening level, the Annihilation Wave has Control Bugs that they use to enslave unwitting victims; these same bugs were also used by the Annihilation Wave to control victims in the Annihilation comic.
  • In the Destromundo level, Venom is captured by Lady Hellbender with the intent of being added to her menagerie of monsters, like in Venom Annual (Vol. 2).
    • In that same level, She-Hulk will also mention that she was there for Lady Hellbender's first appearance. Which would be The Totally Awesome Hulk #1.
  • The Hala level is described on the map as "The Kree/Bug War".
  • Iron Man and Phyla-Vell are the featured heroes who fight Thanos on the Sanctuary II stage. Iron Man being the one to fight against Thanos seems intended as a call back to Thanos' debut as one of Shellhead's rogues (something referenced in his character bio in-game); while Phyla-Vell dealing with Thanos is possibly meant to be her belatedly getting revenge on him for causing her death.
  • When questioning Thanos about why he's helping Annihilus destroy the universe, Iron Man asks if Death has finally started returning his calls.
  • Just like his MCU counterpart, Thanos is very interested in the balance of the universe.
  • The final level has an achievement for defeating Annihilus as Nova, paying homage to the end of Annihilation.
• Offscreen Villainy: Early on, it's revealed that Genosha's Control Bug-possessed Sentinels have been trafficking mutants for Sauron's experiments in the Savage Land. Players only have the opportunity to save two of the captured mutants who are noteworthy characters, while the rest are unknown, so very little of this subplot is visible.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Annihilus' primary goal is to eradicate all life just to ensure his own safety.
• Palette Swap: Players can unlock up to eight alternate palettes for the playable characters. Some examples include Iron Man sporting a sleek grey suit of armor evocative of War Machine, Phoenix dressing in Red and Black and Evil All Over to evoke Dark Phoenix, Spider-Man sporting a red-and-gold suit like the Iron Spider, and Wolverine dressing in his iconic yellow-and-blue costume from the 1990s.
• Plot-Irrelevant Villain: While most of the game's various villains and bosses are directly tied to the story, Knull has absolutely no relevance in the grand scheme of things, merely emerging from his prison thanks to the Annihilation Wave's actions and trying to pursue his own agenda to destroy the universe. Venom, Black Panther and the other heroes prevent him from realizing these plans, then go back to fighting the Annihilation Wave.
• Power Creep, Power Seep: As is standard for video games, the powerful characters like Phoenix, Beta Ray Bill, and Silver Surfer are all just as easy to knock out as Rocket Racoon or Storm in order to keep the game balanced and can't defeat bosses like Taskmaster (who's far below them on the power tier scale) with a simple wave of the hand.
• Pragmatic Adaptation:
  • According to this Mobile Syrup article, the game's story is basically one for the Annihilation event. That storyline was entirely focused on the cosmic side of the Marvel universe, as it was running concurrently with the Earth-centric Civil War event, whereas Cosmic Invasion features heroes from both corners of the universe. The game also keeps its character depictions rooted in how they were in the 90s to match the old-school aesthetic, while the two storylines mentioned released in the mid-2000s. It can also count as a Recursive Adaptation to What If? Annihilation #1, by virtue of being a setting were the Annihilation Wave reaches Earth (as confirmed in this behind-the-scenes video).
  • While largely faithful, Cosmic Ghost Rider's design changes several details, such as simplifying the skull logo on the torso and removing the ringlets on his arms (albeit they appear during his block animation), to make him better fit the 90s art style the game is going for.
• Prehistoria: The Savage Land qualifies as this as a jungle that is home to many dinosaurs. It helps that the boss of the Savage Land is a mutate who looks like a humanoid pterodactyl, Sauron.
• Production Throwback: There are plenty of references to Tribute Games' previous beat-em up title, 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge''. Most notably, both games start out with the heroes fighting across the streets of New York and conclude with Bookends where the villains lay siege to the city.
• The Quisling: Plenty of villains sell out to the Annihilation Wave and aid them in battling the heroes throughout the game in exchange for power, money, revenge, etc. Most notable of all are A.I.M., who serve as recurring enemies, and Thanos, who facilitated Annihilus' rampage merely because he wanted to see what would happen.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The quips that each character delivers to Annihilus after defeating him tend to take on this form.
• Retraux: Similarly to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge, the game adopts a classic 16-bit pixelated aesthetic that would look at home in arcades of the era. It also emulates the Marvel vs. Capcom series, which had its Marvel characters drawn in highly detailed sprites with flashy special effects, and many of the songs emulate CP System 2 instruments.
• Retro Universe: Earth appears to be in the 1990s, with many of the characters sporting their designs from that time period, though the game still features characters introduced later, such as Jeff the Land Shark, Cosmic Ghost Rider, and Knull, with the latter two having their designs simplified to better fit the art direction the game is going for.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: The Klyntar level introduces Knullified Symbiotes, which are black with a red spiral in place of their eyespots. Many of these Symbiotes are captured by A.I.M. and the Annihilation Wave and serve as recurring Mooks for later levels.
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: As always, Annihilus is motivated by a desire to protect his own life by destroying all other lives in the universe, bringing him into conflict with the heroes of the Marvel Universe—the people with the highest chance of killing him. Although this ends up being subverted. Whereas in Annihilation the prophecy was fulfilled by Annihilus being killed by Nova, here he doesn't die, but is instead taken prison by Galactus. Which is arguably worse.
• Sequel Hook: While the game ends with the Annihilation Wave being defeated and Annihilus being taken prisoner by Galactus, Thanos is still at-large to continue his own schemes and Knull vowed to break free from his prison and take revenge on the heroes for thwarting his escape.
• Shoulder Teammate: Rocket Raccoon rides on She-Hulk's shoulder in the opening cutscene.
• Shout-Out:
  • On the character select screen, She-Hulk declares "It's easy being green."
  • The Hoppasack enemies are the insectoid equivalent of the the Thieves from Golden Axe.
• Superhuman Trafficking: The focus of the Genosha and Savage Land levels. Wolverine and Storm follow the trail of a group of kidnapped mutants to Genosha's Sentinel factory, freeing some of them before learning that the rest have been moved to the Savage Lands. Storm and She-Hulk pursue, and discover that the Annihilation Wave has been kidnapping the mutants for Sauron; giving him mutant lifeforce to feed off of in exchange for continued access to the Savage Lands.
• Tag Team: Each player can select two characters, and swap between them. Players could, for instance, slash at enemies with Wolverine before having Spidey swing in to mop up the mooks.
• This Is Gonna Suck: Spider-Man expresses incredible unease the moment he comes across Symbiotes running amuck across the Destromundo. His worries are proven correct when he comes face to face with Venom at the end of the level.
• Unwanted Rescue: A villain-centered case. At the start of the Helicarrier level, Taskmaster rescues M.O.D.O.K. from SHIELD custody by shrinking him with Pym Particles, but M.O.D.O.K. is indignant about being shrunken and demands Taskmaster to unhand him.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Halfway through the game, A.I.M. goes to Klyntar to steal some Symbiotes to beef up the Annihilation Wave's forces. In doing so, they accidentally reawaken Knull, who attempts to enact his own campaign of cosmic destruction unrelated to the Annihilation Wave.
• Villain Team-Up: Plenty of other villains from around the Marvel Universe join up with the Annihilation Wave's invasion for various reasons.
  • A.I.M. joins forces with Annihilus early on into their invasion of Earth, and their forces serve as recurring enemies throughout the entire game.
  • Taskmaster is hired by A.I.M. and the Annihilation Wave to free M.O.D.O.K. from SHIELD custody; although he has no love for either party and bails out of the conflict as soon as his contract is up.
  • Sauron gives the Annihilation Wave access to the Savage Lands in exchange for a supply of mutants to feed off of.
  • Klaw helps the Annihilation Wave lay siege to Wakanda to settle his personal vendetta against Black Panther.
  • Hela aids the Annihilation Wave in destroying Asgard since the increased death toll will swell the ranks of her army.
  • Thanos facilitated Annihilus' rampage just because he was interested in finding out if the universe would survive it.
• Villains Want Mercy: After his defeat, Annihilus is reduced to pathetically begging for mercy as he is taken into Galactus' captivity. Galactus, of course, has none.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: When She-Hulk decries Lady Hellbender for imprisoning dozens of innocent creatures, she defends her menagerie by claiming she rescued them from worlds ravaged by the Annihilation Wave. Though considering she has captured plenty of Earth creatures and is holding Venom against their will, the authenticity of her claims is dubious.
• Wolverine Publicity:
  • As always, Wolverine is prominently featured as one of the first playable characters to be revealed when the game was first announced and the first of the X-Men to appear alongside Storm.
  • Jeff the Land Shark is prominently revealed in one of the stages thanks to his massive popularity (and infamy) with players of Marvel Rivals.
• Written-In Absence: Lady Sif mentions that Thor is busy dealing with the Annihilation Wave elsewhere in the universe, justifying his absence and why Beta Ray Bill has to take his place.