Metroid: Enemies Within Needs To Be Made.August 12, 2013 by

Update!: The Kickstater Campaign has been temporarily shut down, it has not been cancelled, it is just in dispute. I will update this blog again when the project comes back up.

I come to you today as a fanboy, one who believes in dreams, and one who believes that dreams come true.

I was born and raised on Nintendo. I dream of working for Nintendo. Half of my blogs (I count Avatar: Spirit of Earth as one) are about Nintendo. And when I hear things about Nintendo, good or bad, I react to them. I defend the company when it comes under fire, and I praise it when it makes awesome games and decisions.

Long ago, they made a decision to make a game called Metroid. It was different from other games as it had elements of both shooters and platformers and parts of RPG's (weapon upgrades), but most of all it had Samus Aran.

The concept of a female protagonist, let alone an awesome, totally BA, fully capable female protagonist was unheard of at the time. And we all loved it. To this day the reveal of Samus Aran is regarded as one of the biggest shocks in gaming history.

Fast forward to today and Metroid is known the world around. Samus Aran is an instantly recognizable character and proudly part of the Nintendo Trinity alongside Mario and Link.

Samus has taken many forms and fought many enemies, but today she faces a greater enemy than ever before: a lack of faith from fans.

This is not meant to be an insult, it's just fact.

Recently on Kickstarter a project called Metroid: Enemies Within was launched.


It instantly got recognition, but it also got a lot of fan hate. If you go to the IGN article about Metroid: Enemies Within you'll see comment after comment stating one of two things.

1. Nintendo will shut this down quickly.

I understand why you say this. Fan films have been taken down before, most recently the FFVII series done by fans was threatened with legal action.

Though true that this could hasn't happened yet. In fact it's still going right now. It has over 225 backers and  over $17,000 already donated. It could still happen, but it hasn't yet.

We cannot live in fear of what Nintendo MIGHT do, there have been big companies like DC Comics who have let fan films stay on Kickstarter and get funded. A Nightwing project under similar circumstances (Hollywood professionals just wanting to bring a character they love to a new level) got funded and a web series is being made right now.

Fear blinds us to what we want. We should want this.

The other comment you'll see is this:

2. This is a fan film, my gosh it'll be awful!

I toned it down for the censor but you get the idea. Fans truly believe that because this is "fan film" it'll be awful and won't be done with the care and class that we expect. The Mario movie still haunts us.

This needs to stop. Anyone who actually read the article and read the Kickstarter know that this isn't done by just fans. The people who are heading this up are industry professionals: writers, directors, actors, stunt choreographers, etc.

The movie, done by Massive State, is comprised of veterans:

Christian Cardona has been doing films, tv shows, both supervising and doing the VFX for a long time.

Kent King is an actress turned producer and has worked on several projects.

Rebecca Marshall has been in movies and tv shows with many more coming out. She's also doing all her own stunts for this to be truer to the character. She's done fight movies before and has worked with the choreographer of this film before.

James Young is a fight choreographer and martial artist who's company Thousand Pounds Action Company has over 26 million views on Youtube. Oh and he is the fight choreographer and stunt double for Sebastian Stan on Captain America 2.

But do you know what makes them all special? They all love Metroid.

Recently they did an interview for a website (I was a part of this and took the lead in questioning) in which they talk in great detail about Metroid: Enemies Within. If you listen to the interview you'll hear their passion, you'll hear their love of the franchise and the character, but most of all you'll hear the respect they have for Nintendo and the fans.

Christian + Kent + Rebecca + James = Epic Metroid Movie!

Christian + Kent + Rebecca + James = Epic Metroid Movie!

In fact the story of Enemies Within actually takes place within continuity. Christian talks about the ending scene in Metroid: Hunters and talks about how the main villain Sylux apparently escaped and that set up the idea that he would come after Samus. So already they're showing how much they love this series by creating an original story but keeping it in the continuity of the series.

But not just that, they talk at length about the effects and how they want to show off the many unique abilities of Samus. They talk about her cannon and how it'll fire at least two different kinds of shots. Then of course there is the Morph Ball which will apparently be prominently displayed in the film.

What about Samus? Well Rebecca Marshall raves about how awesome it is that she will (hopefully) be playing Samus, stating that this is kind of a dream role for her. And as part of action movies in the past I believe she'll be able to deliver on the skills that Samus has.

These four have worked together on projects in the past, including other fan films. They did a prequel movie called: Y: The Last Man Rising based off of the graphic novel, and not too long after it was released and praised by many including IGN the movie for the book was greenlit. Coincidence? I don't think so.

All in all this is a complete effort to do this. Christian and his crew have been working for four months on getting this set up BEFORE they even put it on Kickstarter. Christian himself has been doing this for ten months working on the script, design, getting the people together, etc. This isn't like other Kickstarter's (mine come to mind) where they woke up one day and said "I want to make a Metroid film!" This has been dreamed about, desired, planned, and is just waiting to be executed.

Now you're probably asking questions that I haven't mentioned yet. Honestly listen to the interview they did it will answer most questions, but if you wish to keep reading I'll answer what I can:

They're asking $90,000 for this, why so much?

This is best explained in the interview but I'll sum it up here. The set is going to be massive and will be custom built to help make it easier to film this. That's the bulk of it right there. Add a full crew, cameras, lighting, VFX, renting the space to put the set, compositing, editing, etc. and you have a fully fledged movie that needs to be paid for. It is a lot, but it's justified.

What about look and effects?

This is important no doubt. Let me start off with the fact that both Samus and Sylux will have REAL suits. Both will be custom made for the actors and are being made with detail and care to respect both the characters and the fans. Cause as we all know if they screw it up we'll chew them out.

This is a test of the Samus suit, don't freak out, this is only a test!


The whole movie (more or less) takes part on a ship, they're going to build the ship's interior and have it able to break apart so that they can get awesome shots.

As for the effects they're sparing no expense. They're actual going to be (if the project is funded) the inaugural movie to be shot in a new state-of-the-art facility that specializes in effects. Christian goes into great detail on the interview so check it out.


I swear that ship looks familiar.....

Also his crew is comprised of many veterans in effects for movies and shows. All, again, are fans of this and want to make an epic Metroid movie.

Will it go Other M?


Yes Samus will talk, BUT there won't be long-winded monologues or anything of the kind. But she will talk and interact with at least one character. Breathe Metroid fans, breathe.

What suits will appear?

Samus will have her Power Suit and she will also appear in human form in the Zero Suit. Your welcome.

Ok, ok, I've heard you out, what do you want us to do?

Simple. Believe.

Cheesy? Maybe, but it's true. This will not get funded if we don't have faith and believe in the skills and experience in this team at Massive State. I believe they can do this, many others believe they can do this because they've donated already. Now it's our turn. Oh, and I've already donated, I'll reveal how much later.

So how much should I donate? You know, if I was to donate.

First it's important to note that if you donate and the project doesn't get funded you'll get your money back. You'll only truly pay if it gets funded.

That being said I think if you donate you should pretty much want this succeed.

How much though? Well that's mostly up to you. Every donation on a Kickstarter gets a reward. Full Stop. Yes, even a $1 donation.

The rewards grow in epicness the more the donation. For example you can get to go to the movie set and meet the cast and crew. Get posters, a Metroid T-Shirt, autographed swag, and the granddaddy of them can have the Power Suit. Either Samus's suit or Sylux's suit. Your choice. Just a warning it's $10,000 though.

I don't have that kind of money!

I'm not saying you do. If you want to help but don't think you can donate much then do this:

Donate $25 dollars. That's it. The reward? A digital copy of the film when released, and special shout outs on Twitter and Facebook and be added to a list of "Supporting Sponsors" and thus have the world know you helped make a movie. And just announced you'll receive a free digital copy of the soundtrack. All songs in the movie will be original tracks from both professional composers and fans like us!

If you do that and then spread the word, it'll help.


We see projects like this and think "It'll take a miracle to get funded." But that's not true. It just will take some willpower and the ability to spread the word.

For example if everyone gave $25 dollars it would take only 3600 people to fund this project.

That sounds like a lot I know, but think of it like this. How many people in your hometown? My is 5,000. The city next to me is over 100,000, the biggest city in my state is over 3 million. See how small 3600 is now?

But this is IGN.

What's your point? Greggy-IGN has over 60,000 followers. We need only a fraction of that. A bunch of other editors have similar numbers. I see blogs that have had 2000 comments, 5000 comments, let's have that here and get it funded.

And then of course there are people OUTSIDE IGN who can help. Tell other sites. Tell your friends. Tell your coworkers. Tell other Nintendo Fanboys. Tell other gamers. Tell movie fans. Everyone can do this and make a difference!

Also remember there are already donations made, so we technically don't need 3600 people now. And if you were to donate more you'd basically cover for other people. I donated $100 for this project, that's four peoples donations right there.

Will I get ripped off if this does or doesn't work?

This has been popping up a lot. People don't understand that Kickstarter works a little different than you might think but also is very strict on their legal policies.

If you donate to a project they make a note on your credit card, you're not charged at all, if the project succeeds you will be charged the amount you donated and only that. Then when the project is "done" the people in charge are required to give you the prize you earned. No exceptions.

If the project fails, nothing happens. You weren't charged in the first place so you won't be charged now.

You are protected by Kickstarter, have no fear of fraud.

Have faith, believe, and donate.

We are a nation of gamers. We live and breathe games. We love talking about them, exploring the mysteries of them when we don't know everything and revel in their majesty. But also we dream about them and what they could become.

Everyone thinks this will fail, but what if it didn't? What if we came together and made it succeed? What if it succeeded and then Massive State made an excellent fan film? One that blows the minds of everyone? Exceeds expectations? Then the question would become: What's next?

Would it get a sequel? A full film endorsed by Nintendo? A take on another franchise? Would others follow suit? Who knows?

But none of that will happen if we don't put aside our feelings in regards to what might happen with Nintendo and the fears that a "fan film" will be horrible. These aren't just fans, they're professionals, they don't hate Nintendo or Metroid and Samus, they want to show the world that this can be done and done right and will do all they can to show Nintendo that they aren't ripping them off but showing an iconic character in a different light.

And if you really think about it, we don't have ANY Metroid games to look forward to in the near future. This 10-minute film may be all we get for a while. And if it rocks? Maybe Nintendo will bring back the series we all love.

Why does it need to be made?

Because these are Metroid fans who want to see one of their favorite characters brought to life. To be known as the ones who dared to dream and make this a reality. Because this will be cool, it will be epic, and it will unite a community much like Mortal Kombat got resurrected in the same vein.

In Conclusion

Have faith. It's what I told fans when they said the 3DS was doomed (it's not anymore), it's what I tell people when they say the Wii U is doomed (it won't be for long), and it's what I will tell people when they say that they're not sure about this film.

I believe a Metroid movie can be done right, I believe this team can do it right, I believe this should happen, I believe that it will happen if we come together.

Have faith.


Samus wants you! To have faith.

To show what needs to be done I will have a counter featuring how much is left to be raised on how many people (donating $25) it would take to fund this. I will update this every night.

$69550 left to be raised.

2782 people needed to donate $25 dollars

Stay tuned for more updates on my part, please keep spreading the word!

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