History VideoGame / MarvelUltimateAlliance3TheBlackOrder

* CreatorsThumbprint: Due to being developed by Team Ninja, some their influence is noticeable in this game, particularly from VideoGame/HyruleWarriors.

*** One of Wolverine's abilities is called "Berserker Barrage" after his iconic ''MVC'' special move. His "Adamantium Assault" ability is a dead-ringer for his "Tornado Claw" special, his Primal Rage buff functions similarly to his "Berserker Charge" Hyper Combo, and his Extreme Attack is his "Berserker Barrage X" Hyper Combo.
*** Likewise, Venom literally has his "Venom Fang" attack and his heavy attack resembles his "Venom Rush" attack.
*** The Hulk also has an attack clearly modeled after his "Gamma Wave" special, and his "Unstoppable Charge" skill is his "Gamma Charge" special in all but name.
*** One of Deadpool's special abilities is his "Katanarama!" attack from ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', whilst his gun skills reference his "Trigger Happy" special and his "Happy Happy Trigger" Hyper Combo.

*** Captain America's "Shield Dash" is quirky - it's practically his "Charging Star" dash move in the fighting games, but he says it as though he's performing "Shield Slash", a projectile move where he throws his shield, which does show up here as the "Shield Strike" ability.
*** Spider-Man's regular combo finisher resembles the "Spider-Cannon" special given to him in his ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcomInfinite'' incarnation, while his heavy attack takes after his traditional "Web Swing" special.
*** One of Dormammu's attacks is summoning a homing ball of fire, much like his "Stalking Flare" Hyper Combo in ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''. He also summons large pillars of darkness resembling his "Purification" special, and being able to summon meteors is similar to one of the variants of his "Liberation" special.

** Spider-Man is non-plussed by the fact that the Green Goblin is waiting for the heroes at the top of the raft's control tower.
-->'''Spider-Man:''' Oh, man. How come I always have to fight him in high places? [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfGwenStacy It never ends well...]]

* ActionGirl: Among MUA vets, ComicBook/CarolDanvers has graduated to Captain Marvel since the second game, and {{ComicBook/Storm}}, {{ComicBook/Psylocke}}, {{ComicBook/Elektra}}, [[ComicBook/JeanGrey Phoenix]], and ComicBook/InvisibleWoman[[note]]the latter two via DLC[[/note]] also return for this one. In addition, this game introduces ComicBook/BlackWidow[[note]]Unless you played the PSP version of the first game, in which she was playable[[/note]], ComicBook/ElsaBloodstone, [[ComicBook/{{Avengers}} Wasp]], [[ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Gamora]], ComicBook/SpiderGwen, ComicBook/ScarletWitch, the current [[ComicBook/MsMarvel2014 Ms. Marvel]], and [[ComicBook/{{Inhumans}} Crystal]] to the MUA series.

* ''Midnight Sons:'' ComicBook/DoctorStrange, Comicbook/GhostRider, ComicBook/ElsaBloodstone

* ''Guardians of the Galaxy'': ComicBook/{{Nebula|MarvelComics}}, Ronan the Accuser

* ''Daredevil'': ComicBook/TheKingpin, ComicBook/{{Bullseye}}

*** Drax has his 90s design with the purple cape.

** In chapter 9 [[spoiler:the heroes handily beat the destroyer, but in the following cutscene they are utterly incapable of harming it, requiring Odin to defeat it.]]

** According to a line from Drax in the opening cutscene, Star-Lord has a passion for playing Earth music aboard the ship, much like [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy his movie counterpart]] and [[AwesomeMusic/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy his fondness for classic rock]].

* AdaptationAmalgamation: The game pulls from multiple sources from across the entire Marvel franchise (including the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, different eras of the comics and even other video games) to create a grand tour of the Marvel Universe. Even characterization is pulled from different sources, for instance you can have 90s era Venom teaming up with more recent heroes like Ms. Marvel and Miles, while the X-Men are depicted closer to their beloved 90s incarnation - Cyclops is even portrayed more as a confident leader rather than the WellIntentionedExtremist he became post-''ComicBook/HouseOfM''. He even wears a modernized version of his Jim Lee costume. Additionally, Valkyrie resembles her traditional comics incarnation as opposed to the [[RaceLift raceswapped]] MCU depiction, and Thanos' Black Order has Supergiant as one of their members and the Black Dwarf being referred to as Cull Obsidian.

* AdaptationAmalgamation: The game pulls from multiple sources from across the entire Marvel franchise (including the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, different eras of the comics and even other video games) to create a grand tour of the Marvel Universe. Even characterization is pulled from different sources, for instance you can have 90s era Venom teaming up with more recent heroes like Ms. Marvel and Miles, while the X-Men are depicted closer to their beloved 90s incarnation - Cyclops is even portrayed more as a confident leader rather than the WellIntentionedExtremist he became post-''House of M''. He even wears a modernized version of his Jim Lee costume. Additionally, Valkyrie resembles her tradition comics incarnation as opposed to the [[RaceLift raceswapped]] MCU depiction, and Thanos' minions are referred to as the Black Order complete with Supergiant as one of their members and the Black Dwarf being known as Cull Obsidian.

** There are several characters you meet in the story (Elektra, Magneto, and Loki) who agree to join your alliance, but can not be used until you complete the appropriate Infinity Trial. What makes this especially jarring is that the aforementioned trials are set at 20 or 30 levels above the point where you meet them in-story (Elektra is met in an area with level 10 enemies for example, but her trial is level 30), so without a lot of grinding you won't unlock these characters until far after they've "joined" you in story. Though there is at least some justification, as these are all villains (or at least anti-heroes) so it makes ''some'' sense that it would take more work to get them to join an alliance of heroes. And then there are Cyclops, Colossus, and [[spoiler:Thanos]]; who can be unlocked even though they never joined the alliance in the story at all.

* GameplayAndStorySegregation: There are several characters you meet in the story who agree to join your alliance, but can not be used until you complete the appropriate Infinity Trial. What makes this especially jarring is that the aforementioned trials are set at 20 or 30 levels above the point where you meet them in-story (Elektra is met in an area with level 10 enemies for example, but her trial is level 30), so without a lot of grinding you won't unlock these characters until far after they've "joined" you in story.

*** Black Widow's alternate DLC costume is the other Black Widow, Yelena Belanova.

* DevelopersForesight: Beast will have alternate lines if you play the Danger Room mode as a team of villains.

* AdaptationAmalgamation: The game pulls from multiple sources from across the entire Marvel franchise (including the MCU, different eras of the comics and even other video games) to create a grand tour of the Marvel Universe. Even characterization is pulled from different sources, for instance you can have 90's era Venom teaming up with more recent heroes like Ms. Marvel and Miles, while the X-Men are depicted closer to their beloved 90's incarnation - Cyclops is even portrayed more as a confident leader rather than the WellIntentionedExtremist he became post-''House of M''. He even wears a modernized version of his Jim Lee costume.
* AdaptationDistillation: [[https://www.gameinformer.com/2019/05/20/your-marvel-comics-reading-list-ahead-of-ultimate-alliance-3 According to creative director Bill Rosemann]], there are a large number of comics that influenced the game. This ranges from classic storylines to more recent events, big titles and deep cuts, to create a unique mythos. Influences include the 2008 ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', ''ComicBook/SpiderVerse'', ''ComicBook/TheDefenders2017'', ''ComicBook/{{Shadowland}}'', ''ComicBook/UncannyXForce'', ''Doctor Strange: Damnation'', ''ComicBook/{{Inhumans}}'' by Paul Jenkins, ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'' by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the classic ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet'' storyline, ''Avengers Assemble'' by Brian Michael Bendis, ''ComicBook/JonathanHickmansAvengers'' (including ''ComicBook/{{Infinity}}''), and ''[[ComicBook/BlackOrder The Black Order]]'' by Derek Landy.

** An international ad used the fact that there are over 30 characters playable as a selling point -- in-game, there are 36 playable characters at launch, which is more than the rosters of the original games '''after''' DLC.[[note]]''Ultimate Alliance 1'' had 33 (23 characters in the base game, 2 characters exclusive to seventh-generation consoles, and 8 characters as DLC), while ''Ultimate Alliance 2'' had 30 (23 characters in the base game and 7 characters as DLC). ''Ultimate Alliance 3'', with the DLC characters, tops out at ''52''.[[/note]]

*** Nightcrawler, Colossus, Iceman and Punisher all have their ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' outfits.

** From an in-series standpoint, this marks the return of Vision, Hawkeye, Doctor Strange, Venom (Eddie Brock), Elektra, Ghost Rider, Loki, Ultimo, Ultron, Odin, MODOK, the Destroyer armor, Mysterio, Professor X, and the Inhumans, who appeared in the first game but then were dropped come the second game.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'' (Base Roster): ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}, ComicBook/{{Storm}}, ComicBook/{{Nightcrawler}}, ComicBook/{{Psylocke}}, ComicBook/{{Magneto}}, SelfDemonstrating/{{Deadpool}}, ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}, ComicBook/{{Colossus}}[[note]]Cyclops and Colossus were made playable in a free update after the game's launch.[[/note]]

** The Fantastic Four take center stage in the Negative Zone portion of the epilogue with the Marvel Knights and some of the X-Men having a spotlight in some portions of it.

** Ms. Marvel claims that the Raft holds "six hundred and sixteen" (616) prisoners, a nod to Earth-616, the official designation of the Marvel Universe in the comics.

*** Likewise, Venom literally has his "Venom Fang" attack and his heavy attack resembles their "Venom Rush" attack.

*** One of Deadpool's special abilities is his "Katanarama!" attack from ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3''.

* SlipperyMacGuffin: The Infinity Stones end up switching hands multiple times throughout the game. For instance, the Power Stone ends up being in the hands of the X-Men, the Sentinels, Magneto, and Cull Obsidian over the course of the game's story.
* SpotlightStealingCrossover: Downplayed. The game takes a lot of obvious inspiration from the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, from the selection of most of the playable characters, to the default appearances of said characters resembling their MCU counterparts, and the basic plot involving Thanos and the Infinity Stones. However, there’s also a decent chunk of characters not connected to the MCU at all, including all the X-Men characters, Venom, Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, and Ms. Marvel, and the original comics have been cited as just as much of an influence as the MCU.