Marvel's Midnight Suns Ending Explained
"Marvel's Midnight Suns" takes advantage of the expanded cast of the Marvel universe to create a unique superhero-fueled squad tactics game. It combines the mechanics of the modern "X-COM" titles with superhero abilities, beloved heroes, and a story with earth-shattering stakes to create a distinct experience within the genre.
"Midnight Suns" tasks players with leading the titular group as their own custom character known as the Hunter. With their team eventually assembled with the likes of Iron Man, Blade, Captain America, and a handful of other iconic figures, players have to try and put an end to the machinations of Lilith, the Mother of Demons. Lilith, a demon goddess raised from an eternal slumber by Hydra, aims to bring an ancient god named Chthon back to life for unknown reasons. According to prophecy, only the Hunter has a chance of defeating her.
"Midnight Suns" boasts a linear narrative, but players can still miss a lot if they don't pay close attention, explore when possible, or experience all of the side content. So, here is the game's entire ending explained, from the fate of Lilith and the Hunter to the themes and possibilities for a sequel.
Coming together to take on Lilith
Late in the main campaign, the Midnight Suns formulate a plan to finish off Lilith once and for all. At this point, the team is almost assembled in full, with only Scarlet Witch absent due to her imprisonment by Lilith following her kidnapping at the start of the game.
The first part of the team's plan centers on building the Hunter a new suit that will enable them to infiltrate the defenses Lilith has erected around her base. The defenses derive from the symbiote at the center of Venom's abilities. This sees Spider-Man going to capture Venom to steal a sample of the symbiote, allowing the team to put Venom out of commission for awhile and derive a suit for the Hunter with immunity to the symbiote from the sample.
The second part of the plan revolves around obtaining a relic known as the Parchment of Power. Johnny Blaze holds the artifact, which is the final page of a magic grimoire known as the Darkhold. Chthon created the Darkhold and Lilith needs it to summon him back to the world. Blaze sought to protect the parchment himself, but after Wolverine intervenes to save him from Sabretooth, he agrees to give the page to the Midnight Suns so that they can complete the Darkhold and destroy it.
Saving Scarlet Witch
After finalizing their plan, the Midnight Suns need to rescue Scarlet Witch from Lilith's clutches. The Hunter and part of the team tried to save her earlier in the story, but ultimately failed without the concentrated efforts of the entire group. To free Scarlet Witch from the influence of Lilith this time, they must attack a well-guarded Hydra base siphoning power from her.
The team pulls off the recovery mission thanks to the Hunter's new suit. However, they struggle in the final stretch, nearly losing everything at the last moment. Thankfully, the Hunter saves the group by drawing on the bonds that they have formed with the others throughout their time together. Deriving inspiration and power from these friendships, the Hunter severs Scarlet Witch from Lilith's control for good. With her help, they escape the Hydra base and begin preparations for the next part of their strategy.
Facing Lilith and Chthon
With the full group together at last, the Midnight Suns make their move to put an end to Lilith once and for all. To do so, they head to the tomb where her resurrection took place to confront her. There, they aim to take the rest of the Darkhold from her and destroy it with a magic dagger, preventing Chthon from ever being summoned.
When they confront Lilith, she reveals that she wanted to summon Chthon to kill him. This would allow her to protect the Hunter, who is also her child, from him. The Midnight Suns still try to prevent her from summoning Chthon, but they ultimately fail and she awakens the ancient god.
Lilith and the Midnight Suns fight Chthon as a team, but can't overcome his immense power. In the end, Lilith accepts that they can only kill Chthon by destroying the Darkhold. Before doing so, she sends the Midnight Suns, except for the Hunter, to safety. Then, the Hunter and Lilith destroy the Darkhold together, causing a massive explosion that consumes both of them.
Doctor Doom and the Darkhold
After Chthon's defeat, the story concludes with a series of cutscenes that center on the members of the Midnight Suns returning to their normal lives. However, the final sequence reveals that the Darkhold somehow survived the explosion meant to destroy it. The book appears sitting in the rubble of Lilith's tomb, but there is no sign of Chthon, Lilith, or the Hunter anywhere in the vicinity.
Then, none other than Doctor Doom approaches the Darkhold. Doom's foot appears on camera before he comments on how "amateurs" had used the tome, which he presumably takes for himself. With just how intelligent and sinister Doctor Doom has proven himself to be throughout the Marvel universe, he could achieve untold horrors with the Darkhold at his disposal. While the Darkhold can summon Chthon, it also holds pages of other dark magic, granting incredible power to anyone who possesses it.
The fate of Lilith and the Hunter
During the final mission of "Midnight Suns," it seemed almost certain that Lilith and the Hunter died. They both had to stay behind when they destroyed the Darkhold because their involvement with it left them infected by some of its power. This meant that the only way to eliminate the Darkhold was for them to be destroyed as well, and the magical explosion shown seems more than capable of doing the job. However, the existence of the Darkhold at the end of the game raises one or two questions.
If the explosions weren't enough to destroy the grimoire, then Lilith and the Hunter may have survived as well, especially if they were infused with some of the Darkhold's power. The possibility that they are still alive is even pointed out by a character known as the Caretaker. The Caretaker is actually Lilith's sister and works with the Midnight Suns throughout the campaign. She is intimately familiar with Lilith's power and if she believes that they could have made it even without knowing that the Darkhold survived, it seems very likely that they did.
Heroes forever changed
Though the Midnight Suns defeated Lilith and Chthon, they come away from the experience with lasting scars. Hulk and Scarlet Witch, the heroes controlled by Lilith, bear the greatest impact from their interactions with the antagonist. Both heroes must contend with guilt over carrying out evil deeds in Lilith's name. Even if they weren't in complete control of their power, their failure to resist allowed Lilith to use their abilities for the opposite purpose of what they dedicated their lives to. It is almost impossible to not harbor some level of guilt after such an experience.
The Hulk was controlled by Lilith after being unable to use his powers for good at all due to gamma waves that were being used to disable them. Then, once Lillith controlled him, he was forced to transform and used to fight in her name and defend her and Hydra's pivotal resources. Scarlet Witch, on the other hand, was used for her magical abilities, allowing Lilith to spy on her enemies, track down important targets, and carry out her plans without interruption.
The theme of teamwork
One of the core themes present throughout all of "Midnight Suns" is the importance of teamwork and how it allows a group to be better than the sum of its parts. This theme is established right at the start of the campaign when Hydra raises Lilith. Hydra can only complete the process by combining the powers of science and the magical arts in a way that allows them to work together, achieving what they couldn't on their own.
The failures and successes of the Midnight Suns further reinforce the theme, with the rescue of Scarlet Witch serving as a prime example. The first attempt was carried out by the Hunter and a small force of just three of their group members. Their gambit failed, however, and Scarlet Witch was only saved when the entire team put their efforts toward it and the Hunter focused on the bonds between all of them.
The team's reliance on the expertise of individual members also drives home the importance of teamwork. When the group aims to make the Hunter a new suit they take advantage of Spider-Man's experience fighting Venom to a get a sample of the symbiote when no other team member likely could. Then, Iron Man is able to make the suit from technology derived from that sample.
The power of friendship
Another theme present throughout "Midnight Suns" is how powerful friendship and the bonds formed from it can be. This is primarily illustrated through the in-game mechanic of raising friendship levels between the Hunter and other members of the team, accomplished by spending time with them and going through certain interactions.
To show the impact the system has on the team, characters receive passive buffs and new cards to use as their friendship level increases. Increasing individual friendship levels also raises the team's total friendship value, which unlocks passive bonuses for everyone deployed on missions. Both of these mechanics allow players to see and feel the team growing stronger with their bonds of friendship, making the theme tangible in a really interesting way.
Going through these interactions also gives the player access to personal moments and character arcs for the game's cast of characters. The standout of these is the budding romance between Blade and Captain Marvel. Through this, players can see more of the story, further encouraging players to spend time with characters if they want to uncover everything there is regarding them.
What villains are waiting in the wings?
When it comes to predicting where a possible sequel to "Midnight Suns" could head it is difficult to downplay the likelihood of Doctor Doom's role as the antagonist. His scene at the end of the game already set up this possibility, and the Midnight Suns would make the perfect team to stop his plans if he takes control of the Darkhold. He could even assemble his own group in the Masters of Evil to fully exploit the power of the Darkhold, possibly bringing other villains with him, like Loki.
Beyond Doctor Doom, two villains from the first game could make an appearance in the follow-up. The first of these is Venom. While Spider-Man defeated Venom in "Midnight Suns," he was only temporarily taken out of the fold. It would be relatively easy for him to escape captivity or regain his strength and re-enter the world as an annoyance for the Midnight Suns to contend with.
A second villain that could return is Sabretooth. Sabretooth played a key role in counteracting the goals of the Midnight Suns throughout the game until he was sent into limbo but not entirely defeated. With that in mind, the sequel could have him find a way to return to the normal world, possibly even strengthened by his time in limbo and seeking revenge.
What heroes could arrive in a Midnight Suns sequel?
If "Midnight Suns" receives a sequel, it will likely also add new heroes to the fold for players to control and interact with. There is a massive stable of options in Marvel that the follow-up could draw from, but some make more sense than others. The list includes those that have some sort of connection to the likely villains in the sequel, such as Spider-Man helping counter Venom in the first game.
With Doctor Doom's likely appearance, it would make sense for the Fantastic Four to show up in the next entry to try and stop his evil plans. Assuming Doctor Doom puts together his own team of villains, this would expand the possible roster of fresh heroes even further. If Doom creates the Masters of Evil and brings along previous members in the canon like Loki, it would make a lot of sense for Thor to appear in the game.