Back in October 2018, Capcom confirmed that the Blue Bomber himself would be coming to fans in the form of a live-action movie from Chernin Entertainment. At the time, no concrete plan was in place with regards to a production schedule or just who would be playing Mega Man, or even when Capcom anticipated the movie would be released. While answers to these questions still aren’t crystal clear, it is now being heavily rumored that the Mega Man film will be coming to audiences via Netflix.
A story over on site Rockman Corner describes people over at Chernin Entertainment are hard at work on a live-action Mega Man film for Netflix in addition to adaptations of Nemesis based on the comic by Mark Millar, The Monkey Wrench Gang based on the novel by Edward Abbey, and a family adventure comedy called Runaway. As far as Mega Man’s current credits go, the film is being directed and written by duo Henry Joost and Ariel “Rel” Schulman, produced by Masi Oka and is also being co-written by The Batman’s Mattson Tomlin who was brought on back in 2020.
Aside from the movie seemingly still being in very early stages, the most interesting tidbit here is the fact that one of the writers of The Batman is penning the script for Mega Man. Both trailers for The Batman paint a very dark and noir-ish take on the Batman mythos, even darker than The Christopher Nolan films. A dark and gritty take on the franchise is certainly intriguing but can simultaneously be the film’s downfall if Mega Man himself is not compelling enough as a protagonist. Mega Man is essentially mute in most of his titles, so there won’t be much of a personality for the production staff to go off of.
If the rumor is true, and the live-action Mega Man film sees the light of day, it will be another notch in the cap of Netflix and its current crusade for the best collection of video game adaptations. Between the Castlevania, Resident Evil, and Dragon’s Dogma animes, and live-action pursuits like The Witcher and the planned Assassin’s Creed series, Netflix is on a specific hunt for video game fans; this will only solidify it as the place to find quality shows based on gaming. Odds are even Mega Man will find his place among the crop.
However, video game adaptations have a tendency to be hit-or-miss, so if Mega Man can prove itself to become a mainstream hit on the service it will only mean great things for the franchise’s success in the future. As one of gaming’s premier icons, hopefully Chernin Entertainment and Netflix can do the Blue Bomber the justice he deserves.
Source: Rockman Corner
