10 years ago, Metroid Prime series producer Kensuke Tanabe sat down with me at E3 2015 and said he'd like to make a new game in the franchise with a time travel mechanic.

This was, obviously, a long time ago — so long ago that the Nintendo Switch was still only known by its codename NX — but the chat remains one of Tanabe's most forthcoming interviews on the Metroid Prime series' future, discussing the stories of Dark Samus and Phazon, bounty hunter Sylux, and an idea for a new Metroid Prime game that focused on a single planet across multiple points in its timeline.

"Instead of broadening it to more planets I would have one and would focus on the timeline, and being able to change that," Tanabe said to me, at Eurogamer at the time. "That's one interesting idea I have in mind... but I understand many people thought that [Echoes] was too difficult."

By evoking Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, Tanabe is referring to its dual-world gameplay that saw players shift between light and dark versions of the same space — a concept that prompted a mix of reactions from players. Still, the idea of time travel appears to have stuck with Tanabe, who has once again returned as the producer of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond — a game which contains other similarities to the concept he discussed back then.

Take the bounty hunter Sylux, for example, a character that even fans of the Metroid Prime trilogy might struggle to remember. A rival of Samus, Sylux was introduced in the Nintendo DS spin-off game Metroid Prime Hunters (for which Tanabe was also a producer). As part of the same interview a decade ago, Tanabe confirmed the spaceship seen during the cliffhanger tease at the end of Metroid Prime 3 belonged to Sylux, potentially setting up a rivalry in a future game.

"It was Sylux, another hunter from Metroid Prime Hunters at the end of Metroid Prime 3," Tanabe said to me at the time. "Personally I'd like to create a story centring around Sylux and Samus."

Well, roll forward a decade and Sylux is indeed a major presence in Metroid Prime 4 — and last week the character was even announced as getting an amiibo figurine, too.

As for the idea of a game featuring time travel, fans have long held onto Tanabe's suggestion — and even pointed to the black hole shape seen in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond's logo in the hope that it might mean Samus can create some kind of time-dilating space hole to travel into the past or future.

Now, supposedly leaked box art for the game posted on reddit appears to mention Samus as being stuck on the game's planet of Viewros after being transported across space and time — prompting more chatter that time travel, just like Sylux, has remained part of Tanabe's plans.

"I'm assuming it'll work exactly like how Dark Aether works in Prime 2," wrote Metroid fan Spinjitsuninja on reddit, before the supposed box art leaked. "We see several portals in the recent trailer anyways, so unless those are awkward warp points, I think it shows similar world design. They could always have the game take you to different eras, with more than two 'worlds' to go between? But that might be ambitious."

"Calling it now: you have to hit a certain speed on the bike to time travel, back to the future style," added another fan, Gleethor on ResetEra. "Could even see it near instantly changing the landscape around you when you time travel, which could certainly explain why it's relatively sparse."

Last week's Metroid Prime 4: Beyond trailer finally revealed the game's release date and also showcased a new open-world motorbike for Samus, though the video felt something of a low-key showing within the wider Nintendo Direct. Here's hoping we get to see more of the game before its December 7, 2025 release date — if only we could time travel to that.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social