NetherRealm, the studio behind Mortal Kombat and DC fighting game series Injustice, is reportedly working on a Marvel fighting game that will pit the Avengers against the X-Men.
Reports of a Marvel-based brawler first surfaced last month, when notable leaker and industry insider Daniel Richtman claimed that the game was already in production. They couldn't share anything more, but Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon took to Twitter soon after to hint that the studio was indeed cooking up something Marvel related.
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Speculation immediately turned to a Marvel VS. DC fighting game. NetherRealm has developed two Injustice games that feature the likes of Batman and Superman, and parent company Warner Bros. owns the DC IP, so it wasn't entirely out of the question for the two universes to finally collide. According to a new rumour, however, it looks like the upcoming game will be a purely Marvel-based affair.
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An anonymous 4Chan user has claimed NetherRealm's Marvel game will be loosely based on the Avengers VS. X-Men event comic book saga of 2012. For those that aren't entirely clued up on their Marvel comics, this epic storyline spanned multiple books and saw the two teams go to war over how best to handle a potentially world-ending threat with mutant origins. The main event itself was kind of naff, but a loose adaptation could prove entertaining enough.
It's worth pointing out that we'd usually completely disregard anonymous 4Chan posts, given they're rarely accurate. But based on what we've already heard from one genuinely reliable inside source, paired with an actual tease from Ed Boon himself, this could well be one of those mythical 4Chan leaks with a shred of truth to it. Even so, do approach this with caution and the usual pinch of salt for right now.
The leaker alleges that the game - which is not actually called Avengers VS. X-Men, for some reason - will use an updated version of Injustice 2's impressive engine. They also say that while this game will contain a roster of exclusively Marvel characters, a Marvel VS. DC game is no longer out of the question.
They add that there are "limitations" on the characters that can be used due to the existence of the Marvel VS. Capcom series. Some of this, they claim, is due to legal issues. Some of it is simply down to NetherRealm not wanting to go over old ground. Hopefully we'll still see iconic characters like Wolverine and Spider-Man, but the leaker thinks there'll be a focus on more "recently prominent" characters like Ms. Marvel and Shang-Chi.
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Finally, they say that the game is not connected to either the Square Enix Avengers game or the Insomniac Spider-Man universe. That's not a huge surprise, especially if Warner Bros. is set to publish. The game will apparently be multiplatform (presumably PlayStation 5, Xbox Series consoles, and PC), and will release in late 2021.
Featured Image Credit: MarvelTopics: GAMING, News, Mortal Kombat, Marvel, DC