Mortal Kombat creator admits he’s dying to make a Marvel vs. DC fighter

Ahead of the release of Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm Studio’s Ed Boon speaks about the possibility of a Marvel vs. DC Comics fighting game.

Mortal Kombat 1 is releasing soon, much to the delight of fans. The game was rumored for months before its eventual May 2023 reveal trailer, with players speculating about what NetherRealm’s next game would be.

Fans expected Injustice 3, given the past decade of NetherRealm Studios releases. However, another rumor gained prominence during that time, with many believing the next game would not be a sequel. Rather, they believed it would be a brand new, NRS-developed Marvel vs. DC fighting game. 

The rumor bounced around but never gained any legs as it seemed like a pipe dream. Now, in the lead-up to MK1’s release, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon has admitted it’s a game NetherRealm would love to make. 

Mortal Kombat’s Ed Boon wants to make a Marvel vs. DC Comics fighting game

Speaking exclusively with Comic Book, Boon talked frankly about his desire to create a Marvel vs. DC fighting game. 

“I mean, we did a number of games with DC characters. When you’re kids and you’re like, ‘Who would win in a fight, Mighty Mouse or Superman?’ Just these dumb different universe things. There’s part of us that still [has those] immature conversations,” Boon said. “To me, Spider-Man and Batman would be the coolest thing in the world. So of course we’d love to do that. But it’s probably very difficult to jump that hurdle.”

Thanks to licensing agreements, Marvel and DC crossovers do happen in gaming; it’s perfectly feasible for Batman and Spider-Man to hang out in Fortnite, for instance. But the idea of the two in a dedicated fighter has long been a pipe dream for fans. Nonetheless, the two franchises have had massive success in the fighting game realm. 

NetherRealm’s previous duality of superhero fighters, Injustice: Gods Among Us and Injustice 2, were a huge hit with fans. The games took place in an alternate timeline where Superman killed the Joker and led a terrifying dictatorship called The Regime. Injustice branched out to become popular in comics, as well, most recently culminating in the Regime’s Superman fighting the son of DC Comics’ Superman, Jon Kent. 

Marvel has had its slew of popular fighters, but perhaps none more popular than the Marvel vs. Capcom series. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is still hailed as the pinnacle of fighters, the gold standard against which all other fighting games are measured.

While the MvC franchise fell dormant after the mediocre reception of 2017’s Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite when it comes to new releases, the series is still incredibly popular. UMvC3, for instance, managed to pull in hundreds of thousands of viewers at EVO 2023 during the Grand Finals.

There is a precedent for the two crossing over, too. 1994’s Marvel vs. DC (or DC vs. Marvel, depending on which issues you bought) pitted the two universes against each other in massive brawls, some of which were even determined by fan votes. Though the two companies seldom crossover today, the impact of Marvel vs. DC is still felt even today with characters like Spider-Kid almost making it into Across the Spider-Verse. 

Mortal Kombat 1 releases September 19 for PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch.