Now that they have conquered the comic store and the movie multiplex, Marvel have decided to move onto a whole new market: Anime. America’s biggest superhero publisher is teaming with one of Japan’s most famous animation houses in the hope that this will help them break the Japanese market once and for all.Marvel’s new deal with Madhouse – a studio that has worked on Barefoot Gen, Death Note, Vampire Hunter D and even the recent Batman: Gotham Knight animated movie here in the US – will see the production of four TV series based on reimaginings of their characters (including Wolverine and Iron Man) to debut in the spring of 2010 on the Animax channel. Although there may already be creative differences in the offing:
Rather than simply importing American characters and concepts, said Simon Philips, president of Marvel International, the goal is to create “something that is part of the fabric of society.” This means reimagining the back stories and redesigning the look of Marvel’s stable of characters to reflect Japanese culture. “It will create an entire parallel universe for Marvel,” he said… [Madhouse COO Alex] Yeh said working on the Marvel characters is different from his past experiences. “Although they say, ‘I want Japanese anime,’ it’s not what they actually want. They want a hybrid between Japanese and Western animation.”
The anime won’t just be seen on television – there are already plans to adapt them into manga and cellphone episodes. Superheroes to Be Recast for Japan [New York Times]
