Because I'm willing to bet that MvC3 most definitely is in production, and Capcom is just hoping to make sure they're the next to GET the license.

But until that license no longer belongs to Activision, we can forget about it.

So tell me. Does anybody know when the license ends?

I'm pretty sure it is already gone. Since Marvel was bought by Disney, and THQ released a Marvel game at the end of last year

I believe you're right. I believe there was something about this last year, due to Capcom being allowed to release MVC2.

No, the re-release of MvC2 had to do with the license allowing for digital release of the game beyond expiration of their contract.

What was the THQ game?

Marvel's licenses are specific by brand, and it doesn't preclude characters from appearing in other games. While Activision holds rights over all X-Men games (at the moment), Capcom could still make a MVC3 and include X-Men characters. They couldn't make a "X-Men Vs. Street Fighter 2" though for example, since Activision licensed the brand exclusively. Make sense?

Going forward, I also don't think you'll see Marvel doing or renewing exclusive licenses either (like Activision with X-Men/Wolverine/Spider-man/Ultimate, Sega with Iron Man/Hulk/Thor, TT with FF/Ghost Rider, THQ with SHSquad, etc), but rather they'll do licenses for specific projects. I also think you'll see Disney doing a lot of Marvel games themselves.

Where did MUA/MUA2 fit in though? And Spidey? Both are non-X-men.

They're (loosely) based on the Ultimate line.  Which Activision holds rights over.

Capcom should definitely do another X-Men Mutant Apocalypse. That was one of the most fun I had with a Super Hero game back then.

Ah, gotcha. I never caught that. I was thinking it was referring to a top-tier alliance, not an alliance of The Ultimates. Makes better sense now.