The estate of legendary MultiVersus seemingly removing a reference to the great wizard Gandalf as a possible playable character. Earlier this year, Warner Bros. Games announced its own take on the 2D platforming brawler genre made popular by titles like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl with MultiVersus, a crossover fighter featuring famous characters from Looney Tunes, DC Comics, Cartoon Network, and other Warner-owned properties.
Despite its mostly colorful cartoon-like aesthetic and the presence of family-friendly characters like Shaggy and Jake the Dog from Adventure Time, MultiVersus isn’t shying away from Warner’s darker and more mature franchises - as shown with Game Of Throne’s Arya Stark being among the game’s current roster. MultiVersus’s game data even included sound files referencing future additions like Elven from Stranger Things and Gandalf of Lord of the Rings, but a recent data mine revealed these lines have been removed from MultiVersus’s ongoing beta.
According to Mortal Kombat and Injustice studio NetherRealm.
Gandalf Might Not Be In MultiVersus Due To Copyright Issues
Gandalf might not appear in MultiVersus, but there will still be plenty of famous characters from across Warner Bros.’ extensive library of intellectual properties, with MultiVersus’s Founding Pack adding no less than 19 additional characters to the game’s roster following its free-to-play soft launch last month. Some of these new MultiVersus characters have already been confirmed, with NBA superstar and Space Jam: A New Legacy lead LeBron James being added during MultiVersus’s beta launch a few weeks ago and the duo of Rick and Morty slated to be brought into the game as part of its Season 1 DLC.
If hugeleakeractually is correct in their claims that J.R.R. Tolkien’s estate ordered Gandalf’s removal from MultiVersus due to copyright issues, it isn’t clear what the reasoning would be. After all, Gandalf has made several appearances in Lord of the Rings-based video games and other media in the past without much legal difficulty - leaving some to wonder if his erasure from MultiVersus was due to some kind of royalty dispute between the estate and Warner Bros. Whether this is simply a matter of the estate wanting more money for Gandalf’s supposed appearance in MultiVersus or something deeper, it doesn’t seem like players will be able to fight as Middle Earth’s legendary wizard in MultiVersus anytime soon.
Source: SodiumChloride1721/Reddit (via The Gamer)
