Not content with invading Hollywood and DVD stores with straight to DVD releases. Marvel Entertainment are now moving east in partnership with animation studio Madhouse to develop new versions of its characters for four anime series that will premiere in spring 2010 in Japan.The New York Times broke the news and talked with Simon Philips, president of Marvel International and Ungo Maruta, the president and chief executive of Madhouse on there thoughts if the collaboration:
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.
Marvel today is so open-minded, said Jungo Maruta, the president and chief executive of Madhouse, through his interpreter, Alex Yeh, the chief operating officer of the studio, during a recent meeting in New York. “Marvel gives creators freedom to fly.
We are very excited to be involved, Mr. Yeh said as he showed a handful of manga-influenced drawings of Iron Man. Mr. 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.Madhouse are no strangers with western heroes, recently bringing Batman to anime with Batman Gotham Knight, so this should prove to be a very interesting collaboration.
Japanese Spider-Man
