Mortal Kombat developer NetherRealm Studios is owned by Warner Bros. Interactive, allowing it to work on games like Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and the critically-acclaimed Injustice series of games. The general assumption has been that NetherRealm's next game will be Injustice 3, but a new rumor suggests that the studio's next game may be something else entirely. If the rumors are to be believed, NetherRealm's next game could be a Marvel fighting game.
This rumor stems from leaker Daniel Richtman, as discovered by Stealth Optional. According to the rumor, NetherRealm is making a Marvel fighting game for next-generation consoles. Unfortunately, no further details about this supposed Marvel fighting game have been revealed at the time of this writing beyond that it is in active development at NetherRealm. Regardless, fans should take this news with a grain of salt, as it's entirely possible that there is no truth to this rumor. As always, it's better to wait for an official reveal from NetherRealm.
If NetherRealm is making a Marvel fighting game, it wouldn't be a total surprise. Back in 2019 in a video interview with Game Informer, Mortal Kombat game director Ed Boon confirmed that there had been discussions with Marvel, but stopped himself from leaking too much information.
Marvel fighting games have been made for decades, with some of the best known being the Marvel vs. Capcom games from Capcom. Unfortunately, the latest game in that series, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, was not well-received by fans. Putting NetherRealm studios at the helm could be the breath of fresh air that Marvel fighting games need, though, and so it would definitely be interesting to see such a project materialize.
In the meantime, there are rumors that a new Marvel vs. Capcom game is in development as well. According to that rumor, Capcom's actively developing Marvel vs. Capcom 4 and Street Fighter 6 as the upcoming games on its fighting game slate. If that rumor is true, it would be a bit odd to have two Marvel fighting games on the market at once, but the two titles would likely be very different from one another.
If NetherRealm is working on a Marvel fighting game, perhaps fans will learn more about it sooner rather than later. Warner Bros. Interactive is confirmed to be at E3 2021, and with NetherRealm being one of its top studios, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the company will have something to show at the event. Then again, Mortal Kombat 11 just launched in 2019 and still receives support, so it may be too early to see NetherRealm's next game. Fans will just have to tune in to the E3 festivities to find out for sure.
Source: Daniel Richtman (via Stealth Optional)