Under the multi-year agreement, SEGA has been granted the exclusive interactive rights to develop and distribute games based on both Marvel‘s Iron Man feature films and the classic comic book iterations of the character. The Iron Man agreement represents the first step in a strategic partnership between Marvel and SEGA to bring at least one additional Marvel Super Hero property to next-gen platforms.

“Marvel is recognised as one of the world’s leaders in the entertainment industry and SEGA is excited to be publishing the next-gen interactive entertainment based on Iron Man, the first Marvel Studios project being brought to the widescreen,” said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. “The Iron Man history is filled with compelling and intriguing characters and stories, and with the power of the next-gen systems, SEGA will be bringing these characters to life like never before.”

David Maisel, Executive Vice President, Office of the Chief Executive of Marvel Entertainment, added, “SEGA is an excellent partner to bring our Iron Man franchise to the next generation consoles. SEGA is a powerful force in the video game space and has always been on the cutting edge of the industry. We are very excited to be bringing Iron Man to theaters in 2008 and to team with a great partner to simultaneously introduce Iron Man to the video game world.”

The Iron Man movie will blast into theaters May 2, 2008, the game itself is currently set for release Spring 2008.