Back in 2021, while the fighting game community was still digesting the end of Mortal Kombat 11 support, a rumor surfaced that felt like it came from another dimension entirely. A supposed leaker using a burner account claimed that NetherRealm Studios—the developer behind the brutal, gory Mortal Kombat and the cinematic Injustice series—was secretly working on a tag-based platform fighter dubbed Multiversus. The twist? It would supposedly throw together an unthinkable roster spanning everything from The Lord of the Rings to The Flintstones. I remember staring at my screen, unsure whether to laugh or start analyzing the "evidence." Now, in 2026, I can finally look back and ask: Did this absurd crossover dream ever become reality?
The Rumor That Defied All Logic
The initial leak dropped like a bombshell on a quiet news day. According to the mysterious poster, hugeleakeractually, Multiversus would blend the platform-fighter mechanics popularized by Super Smash Bros. with the tag-team chaos of Marvel vs. Capcom. Instead of just DC superheroes or a few horror movie guests, the roster was a baffling grab-bag of Warner Bros. properties and beyond. The list of allegedly confirmed characters left my jaw on the floor:
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Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings
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Fred Flintstone from The Flintstones
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Shaggy from Scooby-Doo
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Batman (because of course)
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Johnny Bravo
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Tom and Jerry
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Harry Potter and Ron Weasley (though the leaker admitted this might have been a joke or blocked by licensing)
Can you imagine the absurdity? A match where Shaggy—fueled by years of Internet memes about his hidden power—launches a falcon-punch on Gandalf while Fred Flintstone calls in a tag-team assist from Batman? It sounded like a fanfiction fever dream, and yet the leaker doubled down on its authenticity, citing concerns for source safety as the reason for anonymity.
Where Did This Idea Even Come From?
What gave the rumor a shred of credibility was its bizarre origin story. The leaker claimed that the entire Multiversus concept grew out of the meme campaign to add Shaggy as a guest character in Mortal Kombat. NetherRealm apparently entertained the idea, but the logistics of licensing a beloved children’s cartoon character for a game famous for spine-ripping fatalities proved impossible. Instead, Warner Bros. started exploring other ways to smash its properties together. After all, the company had just gone all-in on the multiverse concept with Space Jam: A New Legacy, so a crossover fighting game didn’t seem that far-fetched.
A supposed trademark filing for "Multiversus" under Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. was even waved around as proof, though the leaker themselves couldn’t confirm it was for the same project. Still, the idea was tantalizing: a single game that could act as a permanent celebration of Warner-owned franchises, complete with classic cartoon slapstick and deep-cut references.
So, Five Years Later—Did It Happen?
The short answer? As I write this in 2026, Multiversus remains a phantom. NetherRealm never officially confirmed the project, and no reputable source ever corroborated the burner account’s claims. Instead, the studio moved on to announce Injustice 3 in late 2022, followed by the long-anticipated Mortal Kombat 12 in 2024. Both titles doubled down on the gritty, photo-realistic style NetherRealm is known for, with no hint of tag-team platforming or cartoon crossovers.
Does that mean the leak was pure fabrication? Not necessarily. The gaming industry is littered with canceled prototypes and rejected pitches. It’s entirely possible that a small team at NetherRealm experimented with a Smash-like concept during pre-production before Warner Bros. decided to play it safe with established IPs. The trademark filing, if genuine, might have been a defensive move or a remnant of that exploration.
However, the absence of any concrete evidence over five years forces me to treat Multiversus as one of the most entertaining "what ifs" in fighting game history. The 2021 rumor mill certainly gave us plenty to debate—would Shaggy’s move set revolve around sandwich eating? Could Tom and Jerry function as a duo character like the Ice Climbers? But without an official trailer, a gameplay leak, or even a hint from Ed Boon’s notoriously teasing Twitter account, the dream stays in the realm of speculation.
Why We Still Talk About It
What fascinates me about the Multiversus rumor is how perfectly it captured the community’s appetite for the unexpected. NetherRealm had already proven it could handle guest characters masterfully, but the leap from Freddy Krueger to Fred Flintstone was immense. The leak reminded us that behind closed doors, developers often toy with ideas that challenge their identity. And who knows? Perhaps another studio took inspiration from this very rumor. The platform-fighter genre has seen a resurgence, and warner properties continue to pop up in unlikely places.
For now, though, I’ll file Multiversus alongside other legendary gaming leaks that never panned out. If there’s one lesson to take from this, it’s that even the wildest rumors deserve a moment of our imagination—because in an industry driven by creativity, sometimes the line between a meme and a masterpiece is thinner than we think. ✨