Could Marvel be building to an interconnected video game universe? While no such thing has been officially announced, there is some circumstantial evidence mounting, or perhaps it's just hope, that Marvel's Avengers, which arrives next year, will be connected to 2018's Spider-Man, which is available exclusively on the PlayStation 4. There are no definitive answers yet, but let's look at why some fans think this may be the case.

Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics took to E3 to reveal the first trailer for next year's Marvel's Avengers video game earlier this week. Much of the gameplay looked thrilling, yet the character design left a lot to be desired. In any event, a lot was revealed. We got a great sense for the animation style, we know that the plot will center on The Avengers opening a West Coast headquarters and that Taskmaster is a villain. Each one of these elements could, and we stress could, help link it to Spider-Man.

For one, the animation style in Insomniac's heralded Spider-Man game is surprisingly similar to what's being used in Marvel's Avengers. If these games are going to share a universe, wouldn't Marvel want the look to be similar? As for the headquarters bit, the East Coast Avengers HQ was a major fixture in Spider-Man. Now a West Coast Avengers HQ will be a major fixture of this new game. Lastly, and simply, Taskmaster is a villian in both games. Granted, he's got a different look, but still, he's there.

None of this, on its own, is too terribly compelling. But looking at it all together, a picture starts to come into focus, if we squint just a little bit. To add fuel to the fire, Crystal Dynamics clearly doesn't want to rule out this possibility. During E3 Marvel's Bill Rosemann was asked about these games sharing a universe and his response wasn't remotely definitive in either way. Here's what he had to say.

"Last time we were here, a year ago, discussing that certain character, the roof caught on fire. And if I was to comment on that character now, I think the roof would fall on my head! So I will just say, right now we're just focused on creating the best Avengers game."

Given the success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the last decade or so, to the tune of more than $20 billion at the box office, it would make sense, in some ways, for Marvel to try and connect their upcoming video games in similar fashion. But there are complications. Sony still owns the rights to Spider-Man, even though they allow the character to appear in the MCU. That's why the game is PS4 exclusive. It could also be tricky, given the lengthy development process for video games, to pull this off. But still, it would be one heck of a gimmick that could lead to big sales. Marvel's Avengers is set to arrive for Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC on May 15, 2020. This news was previously reported by IGN.