Marvel looking for Avengers game partner

The Avengers movie-based game that was in the works at THQ may have fallen, but Marvel Comics isn't ready to disassemble the superhero group's gaming aspirations just yet.

"The rights for a video game based on Marvel's Avengers IP have reverted back to Marvel," a Marvel spokesperson today confirmed to GameSpot, adding, "The company is in early stages of exploring potential publishing and licensing opportunities."

If such a partnership comes to fruition, it would mark the Avengers' first gaming project since 1996's rarely seen Data East arcade fighter Avengers: Galactic Storm. Data East also handled the supergroup's best-known gaming excursion, the 1991 arcade beat-'em-up Captain America and the Avengers, which received a number of console ports in the following years.

Individually, the Avengers are no strangers to games. The main characters of the upcoming Avengers film--Captain America, Thor, Hulk, and Iron Man--have all starred in their own feature films and accompanying game adaptations in recent years.

The Avengers is set for a theatrical release next summer and will feature a star-studded cast including Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, and Samuel L. Jackson.