

A Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 comic book mini-series is under discussion at both companies, the makers of the Street Fighter comic book series tells Kotaku.

While Marvel declined to confirm that they were discussing the creation of a limited run comic book based on the upcoming game, Marvel's Chris Baker told Kotaku that Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 is going to be a huge game "so there is definitely a lot of opportunities out there to explore."

Udon Entertainment, the license holders for Street Fighter comics, were at last week's Capcom event meeting with the company to "discuss opportunities." Among them, perhaps, work on a cross-over comic.

Udon project manager Jim Zubkavich said a comic based on the game would be a "natural progression."

"The comic medium is such an influence on both companies, both franchises," he said. "You look at the game, the style, it's built off of a comic book aesthetic. It's such a natural fit. It's easy to build off of. The reality is, we are a generation of people who love these fan crossovers, it's almost like fan fiction come to life."

Zubkavich said the idea of a Marvel Vs. Capcom cross-over comic is something that Udon has discussed with Marvel in the past.

"Now that (the popularity of Street Fighter) has come full circle it's a natural thing," he said.

While Zubkavich couldn't say if the deal has been signed off on yet, he did say that there are "serious talks about it in both companies."

And Udon's potential involvement in any such mini-series would make sense.

The company, formed ten years ago, has a long history of working with both Capcom and Marvel.

"We started out as an art studio, a group of artists working together to provide creative services for other companies," Zubkavich said. "One of our major clients back then was Marvel. We did Deadpool and Agent X for them. We did Sentinel. We did a mini-series called the Marvel Manga Universe."

The company also worked with other comic publishers, like DC's Wildstorm imprint where they worked on the Thundercat series and a bunch of other licensed comics.

"Most of our artists came from the animation background so they were used to switching up styles on production," he said. "They would mold themselves to whatever was going on with a particular project, in the background was that anime style a lot of us were into."

In 2003, Udon got the comic rights to Street Fighter from Capcom. And the first thing they did was go to Marvel to see if the publisher was interested.

"At that point in time they weren't doing any licensed books, so they said no, we're not going to do that," Zubkavich said. "So we went to Image for awhile, then we started self-publishing the comics."

The comics continued to grow in popularity. Eventually Capcom started having them reprinted for the Japanese market. And the developers liked the style so much they asked Udon to work on some of their games, including Fighting Evolution, Puzzle Fighter HD, Street Fighter HD Remix and, most recently, Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom.

"We are now involved on the production level of games," Zubkavich said. "And now it's all come around again with Marvel Vs. Capcom 3.

"When we got the license back in 2003 there were no Street Fighter games in development, the franchise was, you know, kinda dormant and everyone was like, 'Really, you guys are doing Street Fighter?' But all of the characters are really rich and there is a great story we can play with. And now watching it come back in the last two years and explode has been super gratifying."

Zubkavich says that if the comic does happen it will most likely be a mini-seiries, running four issues to a dozen.

"You want to make a good impression," he said, "but you don't want to wear out your welcome."

Update: A Udon spokesman contacted us this point out that they are not in a position to officially confirm anything about a possible comic based on the game.