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 Avengers in their first appearance in 1963. "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.