14 DAY TRIAL // Over the past years, much of Activision's fame and financial success came from developing games based on Marvel comic franchises, with classics like X-Men, Spider-Man, Fantastic 4, and Iron Man. In January 2003, the Marvel agreement was extended, providing Activision the opportunity to take advantage of the said intellectual rights up till 2009. It also allowed the publisher to make direct connections to the movies based on the said comics.
The first Iron Man teaser poster surfaced this week, announcing the film adaptation to hit the theaters on May 2, 2008. Director Jon Favreau is reported working on the project. Movies were already released for three of the four comics, and Activision translated the recent makeovers into Spider-Man 2 (2004), Fantastic 4 (2005), and X-Men: The Official Game (2006) accordingly. Due to its pole position on the summer blockbuster calendar, it would be only natural for game developers to do the same for Iron Man. Yet Activision reps presented disturbing news via Gamespot: "We did have the rights to make an Iron Man game, but no longer retain said rights. So I cannot comment on the status of any game project related to the film."
It's still unknown why would Activision forfeit the intellectual property rights for the video game, since the multi-million budget movie featuring the Iron Man is definitely good business. Till further notice, Marvel Entertainment is expected to reveal the publisher's name this fall.