While Goichi “Suda 51” Suda previously teased that No More Heroes 3 won’t be happening for a decade or more, a recent interview suggests the latest entry in the series, Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes, could lead to the game finally being greenlit.

Suda noted (via an interview with Fandom) that the success of Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes will directly affect the development kicking off for the long-demanded sequel.

“Nothing is set in stone yet, and of course it’ll depend on the success of Travis Strikes Again, but I am working on an outline for No More Heroes 3 – a proper direct sequel for the series – and it’s going to be connected to Travis Strikes Again in a big way,” Suda said. “Because, in No More Heroes 3, Travis is going to go up against crazier adversaries than he ever has before it’s going to be bloodier, more intense battles between assassins it’s going to be kind of like The Avengers – Thanos levels of crazy villains.”

Suda added, “In order for Travis to stand a chance [against these powerful new foes] I wanted to give Travis the chance to enter these different game worlds [in Travis Strikes Again] and power up to learn some new skills and gain some more strength so that ultimately I can work to make Travis a more prominent character in video game history overall. The skill chips that you saw Travis collecting in Travis Strikes Again’s game world, I want Travis to take those with him to the next game, the next numbered installment.”

In case you missed it, you can find my thorough and direct-feed video preview for Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes here. I also did a thorough interview with creator Goichi ‘Suda51’ Suda, which you can read here.

Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes is launching for Switch on January 18th, 2019.