Ed Boon Tease Adds Fuel to the Rumor That NetherRealm is Working on a Marvel Fighting Game

Either he’s an insufferable tease or he’s an S-tier troll, but one of the Ed Boon’s latest tweets is adding fuel to the fire that NetherRealm is working on a Marvel fighting game. An insider claimed last week, along with quite a bit of evidence gathered over the past few years, that NetherRealm is developing a Marvel fighting game. Part of that evidence is some curiously worded tweets from Boon that discuss Marvel in interesting ways. Ed Boon has either seen how people analyze his tweets and is playing along, or he’s genuinely teasing a partnership with Marvel. Or he’s just a fan of James Gunn and we’re all reading into this way too deep.

In a quote tweet to director James Gunn confirming a date for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Boon notes that Gunn has worked on both DC and Marvel movies, saying that it’s “impressive,” along with the thinking face emoji.

Now is Boon just noting that its interesting that a director has worked on films for competing franchises, or is he casually referencing himself, who has worked on DC fighting games and is now reportedly working on a Marvel fighting game? Will we soon be quote tweeting Boon with “Wow. Ed Boon has managed to work on DC and MARVEL games. That’s impressive”?

With the rumors formalizing recently about the NetherRealm Marvel fighting game, Boon could simply be trolling fans with tweets he expects them to overanalyze. After all, this is a very casual and innocent tweet with absolutely no confirmation or teases about NetherRealm itself. Boon could just be a big fan of James Gunn and his work across comic franchises. Or it could be a not-so-subtle confirmation that Boon and the team at NetherRealm will soon join the pantheon of people who have worked on both Marvel and DC properties. Or it could be all three: An intentional troll from a fan of James Gunn that is teasing what will eventually be revealed to be the NetherRealm Marvel fighting game.

NetherRealm is owned by DC owner Warner Bros., however, that wouldn’t necessarily stop Marvel from partnering with one of the premiere fighting game developers to make a Marvel fighting game. Disney and Marvel have been licensing out development on Marvel games to assorted publishers and developers for a broad variety of experiences rather than putting all their eggs in one basket. If Marvel wants a great fighting game, it would make sense that conversations between NetherRealm and the franchise owner would occur.

Either way, this is still firmly in rumor territory for now. Boon’s tweet isn’t confirmation, and may in fact just be an enormous red herring. The studio usually launches a new game after two years, however, and with Mortal Kombat 11 coming out back in 2019, we’re due for another NetherRealm title soon. Whether or not that’s this rumored Marvel project is anyone’s guess.