The team behind Invincible VS made their appetite for major collaborations crystal clear at Evo 2026, with Game Director Dave Hall and Lead Combat Designer Bau Bautista openly embracing the prospect of bringing Mortal Kombat characters into their violent, comic-book fighting game.
When asked about guest character possibilities, both developers lit up at the mention of NetherRealm's signature franchise. "NetherRealm, they're the best. That would be incredible," Hall said. Bautista went further, name-dropping one fighter in particular: "If there's an opportunity, I'm not going to say no to Scorpion."
The pitch makes intuitive sense. Invincible's ultraviolent universe mirrors the brutality that defines Mortal Kombat, a franchise already famous for jamming in wild guest stars from across pop culture: the Xenomorph from Alien, The Boys' Homelander, and even Omni-Man himself. Hall underscored the thematic fit, noting that any crossover would need to land within the franchise's brutal tone. "I wouldn't want to put Mario or Luigi in there," he joked. "I don't want to rip his head off."
The developers also pointed out that crossovers aren't foreign territory for Invincible. The comic books have a long history of guest appearances and team-ups, making a video game adaptation feel like a natural extension of that DNA.
Guest characters have become the hottest trend in fighting games lately. Tekken 8 just rolled out Yujiro Hanma for Season Three, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves added Kenshiro this summer, and Final Fantasy VII's Tifa Lockhart is hitting Street Fighter 6 early next year. Invincible VS appears eager to ride that wave if the pieces fall into place.
Atom Eve's Revive Mechanic That Never Was
Beyond potential crossovers, Hall and Bautista shared details on the game's evolution, including plans for expanded single-player content and fresh mechanics for existing characters. One particularly interesting revelation involved Atom Eve, who was originally slated to receive a revive ability similar to what Immortal now possesses in the final game.
"There was too much to work through," Bautista explained about the scrapped mechanic. "I didn't know if we could do this to the level and the quality that we needed to in time." The team made a conscious choice to ship Eve in a more polished baseline state rather than rush an experimental feature to launch.
That doesn't mean the revive is permanently off the table. Bautista left the door open for future implementation once the game's competitive landscape stabilizes. "There's always potential, especially once our meta starts to get more established," he said. With characters like Universa and Immortal already pushing new mechanics, the foundation exists to experiment further down the line.
The developers emphasized they're moving deliberately rather than frantically. "We're a tiny team," Hall noted. "We're 50 people, so there's only so much we can do, but at the same time, we're trying to prioritize getting the most bang for our buck."
Hall and Bautista stressed that community feedback drives their roadmap. Both insisted they're monitoring Discord, social media, and direct messages constantly, treating player input as essential fuel for development. "We're very quick. We're kind of a real-time developer," Hall said. "If we see something's wrong, we're going to fix it as soon as we can."
Single-player content remains a focus, though Hall acknowledged they can't commit to continuing the story mode's cinematic arc, which ended on a cliffhanger. "We are definitely working on things to get more single-player experience," he said. "We're not done."
Author Emily Chen: "A Mortal Kombat crossover feels inevitable at this point, but the real story is how a 50-person studio is staying nimble enough to listen, iterate, and dream about franchise-level collaborations without losing sight of core gameplay quality."
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