Mega Man isn't the shining video game mascot he was once. With almost no new games in recent years, Capcom currently seems to be content on re-releasing older entries in the franchise and letting the blue bomber have guest appearances in games like Nintendo's Super Smash Brothers.
However, that doesn't mean that no efforts have been made to reinvent the iconic video game character. The most famous came in the form of a Metroid Prime-style first-person reboot for the franchise, called "Maverick Hunter." Now, concept art from a canceled Mega Man project in 2010 have surfaced, though it looks like this idea didn't make it very far into production, either.
Artist Gonzalo Ordoñez revealed the concept art below during Game Dev Santiago, where he spoke on what he knew about the project before it got the axe.
"Our initial plan was to introduce some kind of project similar to the 'Pixar' style, but that opinion was not very well received and then it became more of an 'Iron Man' concept," Ordoñez says, via a translation by Rockman-corner.com. "You know, it was the time in which the superhero theme was quite popular, thus from the 'Pixar' version, it became the "Iron Man" version."
Ordoñez says he was commissioned to do the character redesigns by Capcom, but the project never went anywhere. You can see what Ordoñez means by the Pixar and Iron Man ideas below, as the Mega Man drawing on the right appears much more armored in comparison to the one on the left.
It's disappointing to see Capcom squandering one of the greatest gaming franchises of all time, but a recent survey may spell hope for Mega Man's future. Capcom seems to be testing the waters for a new entry in original Mega Man series, while also asking fans how they would feel about the release of various Mega Man collections. It's not much, but perhaps if fans are outspoken enough, Capcom will listen.
In the meantime, blue bomber fans will likely flock to Mighty No. 9, the Kickstarted Mega Man successor from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune himself. That game is expected to arrive this summer.
