Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Dr. Wily Seemingly MIA in Disney's "Wreck-It Ralph"


A little while back we caught a sneak-peek of a scene from Disney's animated film Wreck-It Ralph showing Dr. Wily (among other iconic villains) attending a video game villain support group with lead character Ralph.

The first trailer for the film debuted online today (above), featuring a brief glimpse of the support group.  The scene plays out exactly how we imagine it, but it's missing one crucial element: Dr. Wily.

For one reason or another, Wily's cameo has been omitted. Of course, he could show up somewhere else in the film; for all we know, this could be one of many villainous congregations. And, hey, that old image we saw did look work-in-progress-ish. Perhaps Wily was only a placeholder? I suppose we'll know for sure when Wreck-It Ralph hits theaters on November 2.

Wily or no Wily, the film looks incredibly promising. I'm detecting a big Who Framed Roger Rabbit vibe, and that's just awesome. I, for one, can't wait.

52 comments:

  1. Dr Wily's cameo isn't exactly "crucial"

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  2. So they take out Dr. Wily, but keep Zangief as a bad guy? What the hell?

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  3. @Anon: Crucial to us, the fans :(

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  4. Well... not too happy Wily was removed, it just seems to imply that Mega Man has no relevance anymore. Of course, Capcom has done a pretty good job making that glaringly obvious.

    Regardless, the movie looks really good anyway, definitely gonna see it anyway. And... who knows? Maybe Wily isn't in that scene because he is in another scene with a better role?

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  5. I always thought Dr. Wily looked really dorky in the pre-release screenshot - I couldn't even tell it was Wily. Maybe the model they had just wasn't working for them since they didn't have good 3D artwork to work off of. Since they have Capcom licensing, hopefully there will be another Mega Man cameo.

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  6. Or Capcom barked up their tree and demanded him to be removed... (Which I think is more likely.)

    Capcom is trying to bury their mascot.. If people keep bringing shit up, they can't do that.

    I mean, look at Lucas Gilbertson.. He was getting very involved in the fandom... now he's practically disappeared off the face of the earth, and they replaced him with Johnny Young Bosch. =\ Sounds like Capcom is demanding people shut up about MM, to me.

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  7. Edit: Upon viewing it again.. M Bison AND Zangeif? ...I mean, hell, WE HAVE Dr. ROBOTNIK.

    Yeah, I'd say Capcom's burying MM for good and wants no MM relevance in this thing... Only Street Fighter.

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  8. Indeed, Capcom's doing everything they can to kill the franchise. I wouldn't be surprised if the top brass pulled all their strings to get Wily's cameo removed. I too find it odd how Lucas Gilbertson vanished and I suspect rendition. The next step is obviously predator drones targeting suspected fangame developers. Clearly they will stop at nothing to silence dissent.

    Or, you know... maybe the producers of the film made the omission. Did we ever consider THAT as a possibility before making up ridiculous conspiracy theories?

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  9. Maybe Capcom of Japan hasn't been very supportive of the brand lately, but Capcom of America--the branch of the company that is most likely to be involved with Ralph--has stated over and over again that it supports MM. The screenshot with Dr Wily looked very early production-ish; for all we know, he was a place holder of sorts. He might be elsewhere in the movie. tl;dr, I highly doubt there is a conspiracy theory at work here, so let's all enjoy the damn movie.

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  10. It's highly possible that's not even the final version of that scene. They change things around all the time in trailers from what it actually looks like in the final version, from switching around characters, lines, it's all for marketing purposes and just to get you to see the film; that's the purpose of a trailer, not to show the final version.

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  11. Well, I was going to say a few things, but I think Wolfshadow said pretty much everything I was going to say. Though I have to say, in response to Anonymous 2, that lack of 3D model is no excuse to me. Look at what they did with Zangief. That's all-original work right there, based off what looks like the Zero series artwork. Bowser, on the other hand, looks like a carbon copy from Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

    That aside, other than Dr. Wily's mysterious absence, this still looks like it could be the best video game movie since Press Start. Kudos to Disney for making something like this interesting! It's almost a shame it's going to have some incredibly sappy ending.

    Off-topic: Why is the Recaptcha screwing with me now? You want me to type random letters as well as... a picture of a light switch?!

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  12. Crapcom is trying to spit on fans faces again.

    Well, guess what? You'll never shut us up.

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  13. Dr. Wily was axed due to lacking, according to Capcom, vaguely described "criteria".

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  14. "Dr. Wily was axed due to lacking, according to Capcom, vaguely described "criteria"."

    Actually, it is the fault of the fans for not participating enough in the production of the movie, obviously.

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  15. Just a thought, but Mega Man still belongs to Capcom Japan, while Street Fighter belongs to Capcom USA. Maybe Disney had better luck negotiating with the US Branch and didn't want to jump through hoops for the Japanese Branch.

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  16. Crapcom strikes again!

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  17. @Joseph Collins: Get your facts right and your eyes checked. That Bowser model isn't anywhere close to anything Nintendo has given us. It's no where near the realistic Smash Bros Brawl one, and the texture design on his head isn't the same as Galaxy nor Sunshine. This is new. The only reason it possibly looks similar is because the CGI style of the movies, which also applies to Eggman here. Mario and Sonic have very similar artstyles that match this movie for their 3D games.

    @Rest: I feel he may have been withdrawn to prevent any debates within the Megaman fanbase who may have prefered his BN version, Wiel, or Sigma. Capcom's possibly trying to do crowd control, especially after the retarded petitions that began to pop up after Legends 3, asking Capcom to do games/collections for the other iterations, which was sickening. Has Wily actually ever had a proper, non-deformed 3D model to use as a base or modify unlike the others? I think not.

    Eggman is definitely more recognizable that Wily though. After all, he is in every Sonic game, where as Wily only pops up in the Classic and some X series. We can whole heartedly say about Eggman "He can represent the entire Sonic franchise." We can't say the same about Wily though because we know it's crap.

    Oh btw you think it's bad? Just think about the Nintendo fans who are pissed only Bowser will appear and not Ridley, Ganondorf or King DeDeDe.

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  18. "When did video games become so violent all of a sudden?!"

    Oh my God, I loved that. xD

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  19. They keep zangief AND bison wow but not wily? Capcom you can officially suck it. I wonder what BS excuse sven and all those other guys at capcom are gonna make up when this eventually hits the forms

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  20. I'd like to see ProtoMan in the villain help group, vehemently trying to deny he's not a villain, while everyone else keeps reminding him about the time he kidnapped Dr. Light, not to mention all the duels he's had with MegaMan.

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  21. @Torchman
    You have an aspiring career in diplomacy in your future. Truly.

    I said it looked like a carbon copy, not that it was. Obviously, neither Bowser nor Robotnik's Disney CGI models differed enough from what I've seen in other video games to really alert me. Meanwhile, Zangief, M. Bison, not-quite-Kano, and maybe-Smoke all look like they've been (re-)done from the ground up to fit the style better.

    Simply put, Bowser and Robotnik look like texture-swaps of existing models while the others were done from scratch.

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  22. "Dr. Wily was pulled because nobody participated. Maybe if more fans had gotten involved, things would have been different." (Eye roll)

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  23. Also I just remembered. Because Wily doesn't have a 3D model, this movie would potentially decide how he looks for 3D games. Notice how almost all the villains look exactly like their 3D models for their own games. This would be monumental to Wily and our ability to recognize Wily as a 3D model.

    Wily has only been a sprite, a cartoon, or a deformed 3D model. Capcom would pretty much be all over Disney's back to get the model exactly the way they wanted because of it's significance, and possibly may not have liked the early model, so they withdrew him.

    There's more here than it seems. It may have been Disney's choice in order to loosen up pressure from Capcom, who is already providing 2 characters mind you.

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  24. I'm a little disappointed to see Wily disappear, sure, but he could still be somewhere else in the movie. Honestly, my bigger concern is that Disney seems to think Zangief's a bad guy. Not only that, but they pronounced his name wrong. I could understand these kind of misconceptions in 1995, but not in 2012.

    That aside, I am definitely looking forward to this movie, nonetheless.

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  25. Yeah, I noticed this earlier today too. Saw the recent trailer and noticed that Wily was missing. Needless to say, Capcom probably had something to do with it. A couple Street Fighter characters sure, but they can't even leave Wily in as a cameo to tribute Mega Man. C'mon...

    Now, it could have very well been Disney's choice to remove Wily. The earlier images were from what looked to be a prototype build of the film; That particular scene...so. Make of it what you will but I'd wager it was just another Shoryuken to the Mega Man franchise.

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  26. As for my take on the movie itself in my defense. It looks spectacular and I will be going to see it when it comes out. Without a doubt.

    As for Wily not having a 3D model yet. He kinda did for Powered Up, but all they would have to do is create a 3D model using the more menacing Mega Man 8 artwork and bam. I mean, this is Disney, they could do it. It's just somewhere down the line someone said fuck Wily, took their meds, brushed their teeth, and went to bed.

    It may only be me, but I think Wily is a pretty iconic character in the gaming universe which is what this movie obviously caters to.

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  27. @MegaMac: Let me put this in perspective using everyones favourite game, UMvC3.

    Marvel was on Capcom's backs 24/7 to make sure they got the characters right, and they themselves were responsible for how Dr. Strange turned out. If Marvel said no, Capcom had to either beg, Sentinel and Shuma, or they had to go with an alternative Marvel provided

    Wily has NEVER been done in a proper, NON DEFORMED, 3D model. Like I said, this is monumental for him. If Disney couldn't get him right, Capcom may have said no to maintain his image. At the same time, Disney may not have been a fan of the design and kicked him out.

    I mean look at the design in the prototype image. He's extremely skinny. Skinnier than I've even imagined him to be, skinnier than we see him in the comics. I barely recognize that Wily. If Capcom said no after seeing that, I whole heartedly agree with them. If Capcom said no because they felt he wouldn't be a proper representative of the entire franchise and would only cause an argument, I agree with them. If Capcom said no because they weren't given control over how the model looked, I agree with them.

    At the same time, Wily isn't a relevant villain in this day and age. The quiet nature of the Classic series for many years until 9 and 10, only to vanish again and never be heard from again, means he's not as known as Eggman, who is a more known Mad Scientist type character and has had constant exposure. The fact Sega has him in every game, Sonic X, the comics, Smash Bros trophy. You name something Sonic, he's involved in some way, He is THE Mad Scientist in the video game world, much like Bowser is THE princess kidnapping monster in video games. Wily isn't THE anything in the video game world.

    PS I think Zangief was inserted so they had the stereotypical Russian villain but from a character that is friendly for kids. He may not be bad but eh. Gotta make due with what they had. Can't spend the budget on getting those rights....

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  28. Oh god...don't tell me Crapcom did it again!! I mean, I still have a doubt why Zangief's a bad guy (of course he was in the cartoon but NOT in the games), but why add another Street Fighter villain, the M. Bison? Don't tell me Capcom decided to replace our favorite mad scientist with the psycho-using butt-chinned macho?

    Oh well, at least they kept Bowser and Eggman's alive. Mario and Sonic's crossover legacy still lives. And that zombie...I guess he's from the House of the Dead.

    But hey...if Wily's not gonna appear, maybe other MM villains? Like Sigma?

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  29. Some of the "conspiracy theories" here are pretty damn ridiculous. Honestly, I do not believe Capcom is at fault for this. Seriously, every time a single thing happens, Capcom is instantly blamed. I'm getting really annoyed at this fandom.

    Me, even though I really love Dr. Wily a whole lot and everything, I'm not bothered at all in the slightest that he's apparently absent now. The movie doesn't look that very interesting or 'correct' to me (Zangief being a villain in this...), and the model of Wily was well, crap. And as others pointed out, Wily is hardly recognizable to the general public, or even to the gamers of today. And that bad model of his didn't help with that at all. Bowser, Eggman, and heck even Zangief even though he isn't a villain, can instantly be recognized by many. But Wily, even his official appearances, just looks like an Einstein wannabe.

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  30. I doubt Capcom had anything to do with Wily disappearing from the scene. I don't think Wily is that obscure, but even so there are a TON of characters in the trailer that are way more obscure than Wily.

    I doubt the lack of a 3D model is a big deal either. Many of 80s and 90s era characters that appear didn't have 3D artwork, and Disney seems to be making their own 3D models of characters that have 3D models anyway. This makes sense considering the art style for existing models may not be high enough resolution or match the art style of the movie.

    I'm sure we'd all like to see Wily appear. Hopefully he will show up elsewhere or that isn't the final scene, but even if he's gone it doesn't automatically mean Capcom is at fault.

    The movie looks fantastic, and I'm sure I'll be seeing it opening day.

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  31. @Torchman: I doubt that Capcom said no to the Dr. Wily model and then said ok to Zangief being a villain.

    This is probably just Disney not wanting to use him for whatever reason, things like that change all the time in movies.

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  32. C'mon, Torchman, it's Disney we're talking about. If they wanted to make a model out of anything, they could. It was a prototype model after all. Zangief looks different too, a lot more bulky looking. If Wily was removed because they couldn't get it right, then fine. I agree that I wouldn't want him to look like someone he's not...but how hard is it to get Wily's rather human, mad scientist look down? They can do it. At this time, I'm just hoping he makes an appearance elsewhere in the film. Maybe some other Mega Man character even. It'd just do the Mega Man franchise good to get some mainstream exposure in what looks to be an awesome movie.

    Wily may not be as big as Eggman, but hell. They have what looks to be a lot of generic villains in there that could have easily been swapped for Wily.

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  33. Oh, and Dr. Jerk. I'm getting real annoyed at Capcom not seeming to give a rats ass about one of their biggest franchises, whether they think it is or not. Whether they thing the fans are to blame or not. So, all is fair when the disappointments continue to pile up. Whether they did it or not, it still sucks.

    Also quit it with the sick of the fandom mess. Hell, Sonic fans got worked up over an eye color, was it? They got worked up over the years until they did something swell with Generations. We're just still being given the once over...

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  34. Capcom is funny.

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  35. OH one more thing. You keep saying it has a Who Framed Roger Rabbit vibe. Guess what, it wasn't that easy for the companies involved.

    While Disney may have made it, they were pretty much at the whims of the other companies for how their characters were used. Warner Bros was allowed to demand how their characters would be in the film in exchange for... well... letting their characters be in the film. At the same time, Loony Toons and Disney cartoons had to have the exact same screen time and couldn't be superior in any way to each other(ie the Piano scene with Donald and Daffy).

    What could have happened here was someone wasn't allowed a second franchise and threatened to pull out if others were allowed 2, so Capcom had to decide between Megaman and Street Fighter.

    Since Street Fighter had more recognizable characters(Zangief, Bison and, in a clean cut capture from a scene not from the trailer, a cameo by Chun Li) and may have been more involved than Megamans poor Dr.Wily model and not much else, Disney and Capcom may have agreed it was in the best interest of both parties, and for the movie itself, for Megaman stuff to be removed. If Wily was that skinny, who knows how the rest of the cast would have turned out if they cameod.

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  36. I really hope this movie makes a small cameo with Captain N! That would be fantastic since this would be the perfect movie to do so!

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  37. Sigh... Whad'ya expect?

    Don't get me wrong, I'm still gonna watch the film, but Dr. Wiley is right up there with Bowser and Eggman for iconic villains. Removing him feels like a punch in the gut.

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  38. @MegaMac

    There are no generic characters in the Bad-Anon scene in the trailer. I've seen them all at least tentatively identified on other sites. Some are just very obscure, which makes me think Wily's recognizability is not an issue. For example, the rhino is the final boss from Altered Beast. Surely Wily is more recognizable than a boss character who appeared in one game from over 20 years ago.

    I doubt there will be any generic or captain erstaz characters in the movie. Disney's original characters will obviously be the most important in terms of the plot, and they've gone out of their way to license a bunch of real characters for cameos. If they couldn't get the rights to a specific character, there are tons of others they can use, so why would they use generics?

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  39. My sense is, Capcom had 2 reps in there with Zangief and Wily, creative wanted to add another character from another company in there, and Wily naturally got the axe since Zangief delivers a therapy line better. Wily WANTS to be evil.

    Consider it a compliment as to how truly evil Wily’s character is written.

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  40. @MegaMac: Of course people are getting annoyed at how Capcom is handling their franchises. I also annoyed at them all the same, and I was very much upset at the cancellation of Legends 3. But I also don't complain at the littlest of things that were most likely not faults of Capcom.

    Unfortunately, this is how game companies work. They have to go with what their big bosses say, and employees also cannot reveal stuff that they may otherwise want to tell us. I happen to believe that Sven does know that Capcom may have something good planned in store, and maybe not just for MM but for their other franchises as well, but legally he is unable to reveal stuff to us. So I genuinely feel bad for Sven for all of the needless bad rep he's getting when he's just doing his...

    What's that word again? Oh yes, his job.

    And whether YOU like it or not, I AM fed up with the fandom always complaining, and that's not really going to end anytime soon. It's like me telling every complainer to shut up, but things don't work like that. That said, there are also plenty of other people elsewhere on the net who agree with me. I'm probably just the only one who is vocal here, but I guess someone has to be just to even out the comments.

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  41. You are not alone, Dr. Jerk. In the TMMN article for the same news, Heat Man posted in the comments "I don’t wanna see any 'CAPCOM MADE THEM PULL WILY BECAUSE THEY’RE KILLING MEGA MAN RAAAUGHGHG!! I NEED MY PILLS!!!'"
    I too am a member of the grumpy old guy club :)
    -ud

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  42. @Dr. Jerk

    Hey now, I have nothing against Sven. I understand the higher ups have control over what gets made and what doesn't and that's why I have harsh feelings toward them for their foolish decisions and accusations saying Mega Man doesn't have an audience and that it was the fan's fault for Legends 3 and all that mumbo jumbo, etc etc. Of course now that's all water under the bridge. I've long since moved on from Legends 3, I've crossed said bridge. Still, doesn't mean I won't continue to be vocal and assertive to my feelings as a fan. I still want the game to get made. Others can get annoyed by it, but as the saying goes, "just sayin'". I'm not entirely saying Capcom had Wily removed either. It's just a possibility for reasons unknown.

    @kobun37

    Ah, I see. I've never beaten Altered Beast so that character would be obscure to me and probably others. Good to know they're actually based on something though but you're right...that makes Wily's case all the more stranger. Oh well, I just hope some little tidbit from Mega Man will be thrown in. I mean, it's cool they even thought about Wily and used him. They may very well have chosen a different route in which to tribute our blue boy. Here's hopen' =)

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  43. For a franchise they claim is sooo important to them, they've been doing the worse job in the world of showing it lately...

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  44. Wait a minute. I just thought of something. ... and then immediately rebutted my own thought.

    What was this thought? "Arcade characters only, so Wily had to go."
    But then wait! Dr. Wily was in two arcade games!
    But wait-wait!! Technically speaking, Dr. "Eggman" been in no arcade games! (To the best of my knowledge.)

    So... yeah. Theory formed, then squelched.

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  45. @Joseph Collins: Sonic the Fighters and SegaSonic the Hedgehog. Look them up. It really makes you look like your grasping at straws here.

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  46. True. Wily was in two arcade titles. What about that Playchoice-10 version of Mega Man 3 as well?

    And Torchman, he said his theory was squelched, as in, thrown out due to those very reasons. =P

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  47. Apparently someone asked about Wily not appearing in the trailer during the Ask Capcom E3 stream. Seth said they did not have anything to do with it and he wasn't sure why Disney removed him from the scene.

    So I think we can quit blaming Capcom for this.

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  48. @kobun37: Yeah, except the fans are just going to pass it off as an excuse.

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  49. I guess some people won't be happy no matter what they say. Those people are starting to get on my nerves as well.

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  50. Since we're not allowed to complain I guess I'll just overlook this one as well...

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