It seems that the long talked about Marvel MMO recently announced as being in development will not be released until 2012. The reasons might be linked to getting the developer enough time to create a good game but also to the release schedule for Marvel movies, which are set to create high expectations for the game.

In 2010, comic book fans will get to watch Iron Man 2, Spider Man 4 is set to arrive in 2011, while Captain America and the Avengers movies will be launched close to the estimated release date of the Marvel MMO.

Simon Philips, who is the president of consumer products at Marvel, told MTV Multiplayer that the date was not as far off as it might sound. He believes that “We've got to create, together with Gazillion, that environment that is going to be a totally immersive experience and a perpetual storytelling experience as well.”

One of the toughest decisions that must be made until 2012 is which of the iconic characters from the extended Marvel universe to include in the MMO. Philips said that “We're looking at lots of different scenarios... We're still working on the different variations that are potentially possible.”

The MMO is set to allow players to take on the role of a super hero that will exist in the same universe as the well-known heroes that Marvel has created through its many comic books.

Marvel was said to be working with Microsoft on a super hero-oriented MMO a few years back, but that project was canceled without any clear explanation.

At the moment, Sony and DC Comics are collaborating on DC Universe Online, a MMO that is set to arrive later this year on both the PlayStation 3 gaming console and the PC. If you are interested in playing a MMO, you should know that you need to look no further than City of Heroes/City of Villains, which was created by Cryptic and is now run by NCsoft.