I'll be damned if I'm going to spend five bucks to unlock Jill Valentine in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Actually, let me rephrase that: There's no way I'm paying money to fight as Resident Evil 5's boring version of Jill.
This isn't the Jill we know from past Resident Evil games or even Marvel vs. Capcom 2. Her signature beret, grenade launcher, and ability to summon the undead are gone. Now, she's blonde, wears a skin-tight bodysuit, and fights like Neo from The Matrix. Instead of giving us an Advent Children-esque remake of a classic character, Capcom should have delivered a faithful fan favorite, like one of the many options found in the series' mercenaries mode.
Admittedly, Chris and Wesker don't leave much room for originality in a third Resident Evil fighter. The former wields nearly every iconic weapon from the series, including oddities like a stun rod, landmines, and a satellite laser beam. Wesker has his trusty pistol but focuses primarily upon stylishly kicking ass with his supernatural powers. From what we've seen of next month's DLC, Jill seems to lean toward Wesker's approach as a speedy acrobat equipped with a submachine gun — hardly the girl we knew from past games.
Unlike Jill's makeover, the new image Capcom gave Leon in Resident Evil 4 far outshines his original appearance. Naturally, his graceful kicks and skills with a blade would make him an excellent counterpart to Chris' less-than-elegant fighting style and itchy trigger finger. Of course, Leon's rival, Krauser, would be a much more dynamic knife fighter. His bow and arrow and mutated arm made him a blast to play in RE4's mercenaries mode, a quality I'm sure would translate to Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
Another RE4 standout that has more going for her than the new Jill is Ada. She can already fly around like Spider-Man and Spencer thanks to her grappling hook, and she has some really stylish kicks. Her most fitting quality, however, is probably her attitude. She wouldn't be out of place alongside larger-than-life personalities like Dante and Deadpool and would probably pump her opponents full of lead with a little help from her Chicago Typewriter.
The Capcom side of MvC3's cast is in dire need of some monstrous villains. Resident Evil's surplus of diabolical bosses could easily fill that void. Nemesis is a no-brainer. The creature is hideous, has a bone to pick with Chris, and is the proud owner of an arm-mounted rocket launcher. Mr. X plays a similar role and has a well-suited name for a game featuring Marvel heroes and villains.
Cult leaders Salazar and Saddler would make for interesting evildoers also, especially if they took on the fighting style of MvC2's Jill. Recent Resident Evil games have introduced a plethora of new zombie and creature types to the series. Summoning chainsaw-wielding ganados, clawed garradors, and lumbering el gigantes would be a nice improvement over zombified humans, dogs, and crows.
Hell, I'd probably be more willing to buy a joke character like Tofu (the giant hunk of Japanese-speaking bean curd from Resident Evil 2) over a bland-looking fighter like Jill. I imagine his victory quotes alone would be more than worth the price.