Mattson Tomlin Says Hollywood’s Next Franchise Bet Is Video Games
The Batman 2 co-writer says he is receiving five times more video-game adaptation offers than comic-book ones, as recent box-office results push studios toward Mario, Minecraft and Sonic.
Mattson Tomlin, co-writer of The Batman 2, said on July 3, 2026, that Hollywood is moving its franchise attention from comic books to video games. Speaking on social media and reported by IGN, Tomlin said he is receiving “at least 5x more offers” for video-game adaptations than comic-book adaptations this year. For film readers, that is a useful glimpse of how studios are placing their next bets: less faith in obscure superheroes, more in characters whose audiences already span games, families and online communities.
Mattson Tomlin’s Five-to-One Signal
Tomlin was responding to a question about the long-discussed Mega Man movie. He said the project is no longer on his schedule, though he had written several drafts and believed another writer joined later. He still hopes the film gets made, pointing to an emotional and surprising route into the material.
His larger point was about the market around him. “Hollywood is sort of making a shift from being comic book obsessed to video game obsessed,” Tomlin wrote, adding that Mega Man could still reach cinemas in some form. Because so much time has passed, he does not expect to be involved if it moves ahead.
That is one writer’s view, not a studio forecast. It is also a revealing one. Tomlin works on a major superhero property with The Batman 2, yet says the assignments arriving at his door now lean heavily toward games. The change is showing up in the work available before it appears on a release calendar.
Photo: PetrohsW · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Superhero Reliability Has Cracked
The superhero movie has not vanished. Recent releases have shown, however, that the old promise of automatic success is gone. IGN pointed to struggles for Marvel and DC films including Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts and Supergirl. The article also noted that occasional hits such as Deadpool & Wolverine and Spider-Man films can still break past $1 billion.
The distinction matters. Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and the Avengers remain powerful names, but a lesser-known comic-book character no longer arrives with the same built-in guarantee. Outside the biggest tentpoles, studios have had to work harder for attention.
