“I, SHUTARO, also known as Curry Boy and Curry Sage, have been diagnosed with cancer and have begun my battle with the disease. I have already started talking about the sequel to Bloodstained, and have ideas for the game and such. From now on, the responsibility [for game direction] will be shared. Thank you for your support," Ida wrote in a post translated by X and verified by IGN.

Ida has been instrumental in the Bloodstained universe and had planned on continuing it with a sequel. Bloodstained 2 was originally announced back in 2021, though no additional details about its progress have arrived since then. At the time, publisher 505 Games touted the action RPG as a success that managed to reach “generally favorable” reviews from both critics and fans on Metacritic.

これまで、DSシリーズやブラッドステインドは実質的にSHUTAROディレクターを中心に制作を行ってきました。
正に彼の作品と言えるでしょう。
そんな彼がプロジェクトから遠ざかるのは大変な痛手ですが、それに負けぬよう頑張ります。
また一緒に仕事ができるまで回復することを期待します。 https://t.co/YirZi5fYYD

— IGA (@KojiIGA) October 1, 2024

Longtime Castlevania producer and ArtPlay president Koji Igarashi re-posted Iida’s remarks. While acknowledging Iida’s contributions to the series and gaming as a whole, he assures fans that the rest of the team will push through until Ida is able to work with them again.

“Up until now, the DS [Castlevania] series and Bloodstained have essentially been produced primarily by Director SHUTARO. It can truly be called his work. It is a great blow to have him step away from the project, but we will do our best not to be defeated by it. I hope that you will recover quickly enough to work with us again.”

Ida led the charge on Bloodstained and made a game that we ranked as the fourth best Metroidvania of all-time. In our 8.8/10 review, we said, “The wait was worth it. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a whole new castle to crash full of unexpected monsters and mysteries in the vein of classic Castlevania.”

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.

Orton also aided as a writer for Marvel’s Moon Knight series and, more recently, served as creator on the Hilton Pelser-led Devil’s Peak series. It’s unclear when the Bane and Deathstroke movie will be released and whether it will take place within DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran’s revamped DCU, but there is plenty of material to pull from.

Bane may soon be back

Bane, in particular, has a long history in live-action, with his first film appearance arriving all the way back in 1997’s Batman & Robin. Since then, Batman’s Venom-infused nemesis has shown up in the Gotham series and, most famously, as the primary antagonist of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Night Rises. Deathstroke a.k.a. Slade Wilson has dropped in for his fair share of live-action projects, too, including the 2018 Titans show. Fans may also remember that the character made a cameo appearance in 2017’s Justice League, where he was played by actor Joe Manganiello.

Should the Bane and Deathstroke team-up come to be, it’ll only be the latest villain-led film in DC’s portfolio. The most infamous in the lineup is Joker, which starred Joaquin Phoenix and was released in 2019. That series is continuing with a sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, which is set to premiere one week from today, though it’s unclear if a third film will follow. The live-action comic book movie universe also includes a Black Adam film, Birds of Prey, and multiple Suicide Squad entries.

Meanwhile, DC’s slate is filled with superhero projects with a lot of room for more. The Gunn-directed Superman is primed to swoop into theaters in July 2025, with a Green Lantern-focused show also in the works. Comic book fans can also look forward to movies like Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, The Batman Part 2, Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and more. You can see a full list of every DC movie in the works here.

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.