Can you imagine the head-exploding, chainsaw-wielding Doomguy squaring off against Mario, Princess Peach, and the like? According to some recent comments from Marty Stratton, Id Software executive producer and l Doom Eternal director, the idea isn’t completely, 100% off the table. That doesn’t exactly mean it’s on the table, either.
Do you know what is on the table, though? Salt, which you should take this with a grain of.
According to Stratton, who was asked about an existing rumor about Doomguy coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, discussions have indeed taken place between Id and Nintendo regarding the possibility.
“We’ve had… I don’t even know who talked to who, but we’ve bantered with them. We have a great relationship with them through bringing Doom 2016 to Switch and that kind of stuff. So we have great people over there but it’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool?’ But it’s never gone anywhere serious, so we’ll see.”
Stratton confirms that they’ve asked Nintendo, so it seems like Id is the one pushing for it, but it’s hard to decipher Stratton’s use of “banter” in this context. It almost suggests that it was being joked about rather than taken seriously. And if it was being joked about, that’s probably not a good sign.
The one thing we do know is that Nintendo hasn’t asked for the rights to the character, so as of right now, it’s not happening. That certainly doesn’t close the book on the matter. The Smash Bros. roster has grown by leaps and bounds, incorporating characters that some wouldn’t have imagined squaring off with Mario and friends in a million years.
It’s not that crazy of an idea. Some would say that once Solid Snake, of Metal Gear Solid fame, made his debut in the fighter, all bets were off. While Metal Gear Solid is nowhere near as violent as the Doom series, it still transplanted a character from a (semi) realistic game into a land of bright, vibrant cartoon characters.
The next addition to the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster will be Fire Emblem’s Byleth, who will start showing up on January 28. The addition after that hasn’t been announced yet, but the rumored candidate is Sony flagship character Crash Bandicoot. The marsupial would definitely be a good fit for the game, but he’s no Doomguy.
The thought of Doomguy in the Mushroom Kingdom just ripping and tearing is just, well, it’s disturbing, honestly. Maybe this isn’t such a great idea after all.
