Ridley (Metroid)
Often considered one of the most memorable Nintendo villains, Ridley has been a mainstay of the series, having appeared (through various incarnations) in almost every "Metroid" game to date (all but "", "Metroid Prime Hunters" and ""). He has also appeared in the "Super Smash Bros." series, however, he had not been made a playable character until "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" in 2018, making it also the first game overall to have Ridley as a playable character.
Metroid
In December 2012, Peer Schneider of IGN published an article explaining the fate and some production details of the proposed John Woo-directed "Metroid" movie with an exclusive interview with one of the former producers of the "Metroid" movie, Brad Foxhoven. The movie with John Woo as director was first pitched in 2004 and initially had Nintendo's full support. Foxhoven stated in the IGN interview, "Nintendo was quite supportive of the idea, as they were all fans of John's previous films" and that production studio Tiger Hill was "in it for the long haul" and had started a three-year development period. The "Metroid" movie was originally set for a 2006 release but slipped because Tiger Hill was spending most of the development time attempting to cope with Nintendo's restrictions on the "Metroid" franchise. The reason for Nintendo's restrictions was the past critical and commercial failure of the "Super Mario Bros." movie which, according to IGN, "had left an indelible impression on Nintendo and how it would approach future licensing deals with Hollywood." One writer that was brought in to write a script for the "Metroid" movie, among "several writers", was David Greenwalt of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Angel" and "Grimm" fame, the furthest that the production process reached was "a treatment for a live action film that John would possibly direct."