A Warner Bros. crossover platform fighter similar to Super Smash Bros. is rumored to be in development
Get ready to brush up on your Gandalf tech-skill.
Jon Yelenic 
Image via Warner Bros.
A Reddit user on the subreddit r/GamingLeaksAndRumors claimed on October 22 that Netherrealm Studios — the developer known for both the Mortal Kombat and Injustice game series — was working on a new game similar to Super Smash Bros. that would see Warner Bros. largest properties duke it out in a platform fighter. Yesterday, GamesBeat reporter and industry insider Jeff Grubb stated on Twitter that the project is real, but Netherrealm Studios is not developing it.
The leaker, who posted under a burner account named “hugeleakeractually,” admitted they had not provided proof of this leak to mods ahead of posting. As with any rumor in the highly secretive game industry, it’s worth taking this one with a grain of salt.
The leaker claimed that the rumored project would include characters like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, Batman, Fred Flinstone, and even Shaggy from Scooby-Doo — who the leaker claims was the catalyst for the game’s development.
“I was told that the origin of this game was actually due to the memes based around Shaggy getting into Mortal Kombat in his “Ultra Instinct” form,” the leaker said. “Obviously [Netherrealm] wasn’t going to put him in a game like Mortal Kombat, so ideas were tossed around and Warner Bros. loved the idea of combining their properties and establishing more Warner crossovers. As you obviously saw in Space Jam 2.”
Shaggy’s “Ultra Instinct” form refers to a meme that depicts the Scooby-Doo character with superhuman strength and power, similar to Goku’s Ultra Instinct mode from the anime/manga series Dragon Ball Super. Warner Bros. previously poked fun at the meme by giving Shaggy a cameo during the Warner Bros. Animation title card in Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms, in which Shaggy was depicted manhandling Mortal Kombat fan-favorite Scorpion while donning an otherworldly aura.
Since their initial claim, the leaker has updated their post to further claim that multiple people have privately messaged them corroborating their leak, and also that more platform fighters from other unnamed studios are in development. The leaker also provided a link to a newly registered trademark by Warner Bros. for the term “Multiversus,” which could be a potential title for the game.
Nickelodeon previously threw their hat into the platform fighting arena with Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, which pits many of the network’s fan-favorite characters, such as Spongebob, Invader Zim, and Patrick Star against each other in a fighter heavily inspired by Super Smash Bros. Melee. It remains to be seen if Warner Bros. will follow suit.
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