Madhouse to Animate Marvel Super Heroes

Marvel Comics has formally announced a partnership with Tokyo based anime production studio Madhouse to develop four 12 episode anime television series featuring Marvel super hero characters. The first series, which will feature Iron Man and Wolverine, among other characters, will premier on the Animax network in early 2010.

Marvel International president Simon Philips has explained that Marvel intends for these super heroes to be redesigned to become “part of the fabric of [Japanese] society.” While Madhouse president Jungo Maruta agrees, “Marvel today is so open-minded. Marvel gives creators freedom to fly.” Madhouse chief operating officer Alex Yeh says of Marvel, “Although they say, ‘I want Japanese anime,’ it’s not what they actually want. They want a hybrid between Japanese and Western animation.”

The Marvel/Madhouse productions will also be developed into Japanese manga while the anime will be distributed via multiple outlets including cellphones.

Source: New York Times