Yeah, this is going to be weird, but it's not all that unexpected. I mean, Marvel sued Cryptic (makers of City of Heroes) because it was apparently 'too close' to what they wanted to do with Marvel Online. Marvel Online is mostly dead by this point, but DC had a similar incarnation that has made it to this point of the drawing board.
Ever since stories of EverCrack addicts ruining thier lives and credit to play the game nonstop, everyone has been trying to get into the MMORPGs, because, honestly, that's where the money is. You make people buy your game ($50-$70 bucks) and then charge them monthly to play it. You make money hand over fist, and as long as they already have established characters, they'll continue to play.
I don't see how DC would be much different than City of Heroes, other than the fact that you could use DC locations (Gotham, Metropolis, Coast City... and any number of cool other locations- Oa and Apokalips, for example.) Of course fanbase will demand that Superman and Batman will show up (but you probably won't see Aquaman until the exansions), but it does have the potential to be a good game.
Of course, it'll draw comparisons to City of Heroes, and it should, because City of Heroes is a generic version of the DC universe. (Marvel only got mad because they gave characters Wolverine claws- there wasn't really much else there that was derivative of thier properties... no Things or Reeve Richards or Daredevils.)
I think the way that I would be excited to see Marvel Online go would be to see it based in the Age of Apocalypse, where everything was upside down. That would be cool.
Just like I was excited about early rumors of D&D online, I think that I'll want to see this in action before I make a decision.
-kv
