Marvel Comics super-scribe Brian Michael Bendis joined a small group of reporters on a conference call earlier this afternoon to discuss the upcoming massive multiplayer online game Marvel Heroes, which will go live on Tuesday of next week.We’ll have to full Q&A session for you soon, but one interesting idea that Bendis touched on was the notion that, since the video game is taking great pains to have unprecedented interconnectivity between the Marvel Heroes universe and the Marvel Comics Universe, a story could be written in the comics to take advantage of that fact by unfolding in the world of the game at the same time as it unfolded in the publishing line.”I will say that I’m legitimately excited for the potential that there would be some crossover between publishing and the game–that we may be able to create a story that would be happening in both publishing and the game at the same time. That is something beyond an expansion pack that I would very much like to happen and is something I’m bringing to the next Marvel publishing retreat full-force,” Bendis said. “I think one of the next levels for this game to interact with the Marvel Universe proper is to have a story that happens in both places at the same time. Wouldn’t that be cool? But that’s only something you can do once the game has launched and people are geared up and they’re very familiar with the world around them. Once that’s happened I would very much like to have something like that.”Asked, though, what happens to the interconnected feeling of the game and the comics if a character should be killed off in the comic books, Bendis considered the question, then decided it would work out well for the fans.”Yeah…what happens? That’s a good one–does your character die?” Bendis said. “I don’t think we’d ever take the character away from you like that, but it is interesting. You know what? If–let’s say Luke Cage dies in the comics and then you’re furious–well, then you get to go play your Marvel Universe where Luke Cage is alive and well and I can go screw myself!”He added, “And by the way, Luke Cage is not dying. I’m not even writing him right now. Please don’t write that as the headline.”
