It appears as if a seemingly credible leak has been debunked following the arrival of Joker in Smash Bros. Ultimate, leaving gamers to once again begin speculating on who will make the final cut as DLC. Super Smash Bros. is the ultimate gaming crossover, and its scope seems to grow every other month as more characters are added via downloadable content. The latest fighter to join the battle is none other than Persona 5's Joker, but fight aficionados have been preparing for his arrival since December 2018—lessening the impact as a whole.
The other four fighters joining Smash Bros. Ultimate as part of the game's Fighters Pass are still unknown, although a few rumors and reports have ousted Erdrick from Dragon Quest as a likely Smash newcomer. Despite this, the arrival of Joker has appeared to have cast doubt upon and possibly even debunked another widely circulated "leak" in Smash Bros. Ultimate. Are fans finally able to begin hoping for the inclusion of their favorite characters to join the fray again?
The DLC characters previously mentioned in the Smash Bros. Ultimate leak included the aforementioned Edrick from Dragon Quest, Steve from Minecraft, Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden, and Doomguy from DOOM. The thing that made this leak unravel, however, was earlier details associated with Joker that never materialized in the final content for the game – namely, the appearance of Jack Frost appearing on screen with a skill. Source Gaming's PushDustin highlighted the leak and its current status on Twitter.
So where does this leave fans of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate? Well, it opens up a lot of possibilities when it comes to characters that could make the cut. Characters like Banjo and Kazooie could appear in Smash Bros. now, while other highly-requested characters once again have the opportunity to join the fray. Even just recently, the official Halo Twitter account suggested that Master Chief would be a great addition to Smash Bros. Ultimate, which would turn all kinds of heads for fans—however unlikely it may be as of this writing.
It's important to keep in mind that just because Erdrick was part of this leak doesn't mean that he's completely off the table. The character has been hinted at by some credible leakers in the past and one of the developers working on Super Smash Bros. posted Erdrick's shield from Dragon Quest on his Instragram account as a teaser of sorts. As much as the arrival of Joker in Smash Bros. has seemingly debunked this major rumor, it's important to note that development plans change often and the lack of Jack Frost could be a result of just that. Nothing is quite so concrete as it would seem, but this has cast a lot of doubt on the legitimacy of the original claims.
Source: @PushDustin - Twitter