Yesterday, a new trailer for the upcoming Earthworm Jim 4 was shared by Intellivision. To those that may have forgotten, somehow Intellivision acquired the rights last year to an exclusive sequel for its seemingly ill-fated Amico console. Reuniting most of the dev team behind the original titles, it should be a slam dunk for fans that grew up in the '90s. There's just one problem.

Earthworm Jim creator Doug TenNapel is involved.

For one reason or another, Tommy Tallarico (president of Intellivision Entertainment) felt the need to get input from TenNapel despite the man being a general piece of garbage over the last few decades. What should be a joyous occasion to reminisce about the old days and experience a brand new Earthworm Jim title is now marred by the inclusion of a transphobic, homophobic, racist, sexist pig of a person.

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I won't repost anything TenNapel has said over the years because a lot of it is troubling. It's hard to tell when his ugly trend of disgusting thoughts started, but it seems to have sprung up after the success of the original Earthworm Jim. Maybe all of the fame and fortune that came from the brand sent him off the rails, but it's not like his behavior is in the distant past.

As recent as June 14, 2020, TenNapel was featured on the Audio Mullet podcast and was not only defending Hitler but writing off black culture as "the fallout victim of their own ignorance." He also stated that he believes the coronavirus pandemic is fake and tried to spin some excuse for using sexist and homophobic slurs.

GamesIndustry.biz had reached out to Tallarico about TenNapel's current involvement with the project, but he has failed to see what the problem is. He informed the publication that the creator is "open for unpaid consulting" and that his team would "be asking his opinion from time to time," but that's not good enough.

Earthworm Jim and TenNapel are so intertwined at this point that you can't have one without the other. Regardless of comments that Tallarico has made, supporting this game is like throwing cash directly at a bigot and telling him his views are okay. Interplay may own the rights to the Earthworm Jim IP, but Intellivision's decision to not entirely remove TenNapel is saddening.

I hate to be dismissive of a character that many have fond memories of, but it's time we admit that Earthworm Jim and his terrible creator should stay in the '90s where they belong.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz, YouTube

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