The Rebooted "Keep Hope Alive" (that the rights can revert back to Marvel) Thread - Part 4

[DawnWarrior]

If Marvel gets the FF, you'll be close enough in Denver to hear me shouting with joy from New Jersey.

Oh hey, I forgot it still says Denver. Brb, gotta update that...

 

[ernesth100]

I completely agree with all of that down to the last detail.

 

[DawnWarrior]

Btw, what's the word on Namor the Submariner? Sony and Fox all have to keep making their movies to hang onto the rights to those guys. Universal is supposed to own Namor I think, but they haven't done squat with him, not even a casting announcement. How does that work, and is there a ghost of a chance of him joining the party in time for Phase 4?

 

[Zarex]

Btw, what's the word on Namor the Submariner? Sony and Fox all have to keep making their movies to hang onto the rights to those guys. Universal is supposed to own Namor I think, but they haven't done squat with him, not even a casting announcement. How does that work, and is there a ghost of a chance of him joining the party in time for Phase 4?

Kevin Feige confirmed that Namor's rights were at Marvel, but that the situation was complicated. My guess is, like the Hulk, Marvel can incorporate Namor in their films but Universal holds the distribution rights for solo features.

 

[Endeavor]

Kevin Feige confirmed that Namor's rights were at Marvel, but that the situation was complicated. My guess is, like the Hulk, Marvel can incorporate Namor in their films but Universal holds the distribution rights for solo features.

That is exactly right.
Like Hulk, Namor has to be in an ensemble movie.
A solo movie poses problems because of Universal's distribution rights.

How Universal is able to keep these rights even though they've never done anything with the IP is something you'll have to ask Arad, Perlmutter and the other geniuses that were around when the rights were being sold off for chump change.

 

[ernesth100]

Does Attuma come with Namor? I'd like to see an underwater Avengers film where they team up with Namor to fighr Attuma and his army.

 

[Endeavor]

Does Attuma come with Namor? I'd like to see an underwater Avengers film where they team up with Namor to fighr Attuma and his army.

It would make sense that he is tied up with the Namor IP.

 

[Dark Raven]

Namor could be in an FF movie or an Avengers movie. That would be the best place to introduce him. I think I'd prefer him to show up fighting the FF though. That would be so classic having those characters meet.

It's just a shame they haven't set him up as a WWII character yet. It brings just that much more weight if he's from the golden age than if he's just a new character who has shown up only recently.

 

[Fincher]

That is exactly right.
Like Hulk, Namor has to be in an ensemble movie.
A solo movie poses problems because of Universal's distribution rights.

How Universal is able to keep these rights even though they've never done anything with the IP is something you'll have to ask Arad, Perlmutter and the other geniuses that were around when the rights were being sold off for chump change.

Since they only have the distribution rights and Marvel has to make the actual movies, the only way Universal would have made that deal was if the rights were permanent. Otherwise, all Marvel would have to do to get Namor back is to not make any movies about him for a while.

 

[Zarex]

That is exactly right.
Like Hulk, Namor has to be in an ensemble movie.
A solo movie poses problems because of Universal's distribution rights.

How Universal is able to keep these rights even though they've never done anything with the IP is something you'll have to ask Arad, Perlmutter and the other geniuses that were around when the rights were being sold off for chump change.

In order to get the rights back early from Universal, Marvel allowed the studio to retain distribution rights to Hulk and presumably Namor as well. Disney paid hundreds of millions to Paramount for early release from that distribution deal, so I doubt Universal would be a major stumbling block if The Mouse were sufficiently motivated.

 

[ernesth100]

I'm guessing Marvel won't use Namor until either they run out of steam with the current metric f**ton of characters they've introduced or get the rights to the F4 back. Because tbh, while a flexible character, Namor fits better with the F4.

 

[Spiderine]

My guess is that they are not in a big hurry to use Namor. They are exploiting properties they have unlimited access to without any restraints or royalties to other studios unless your name is Spiderman king of merchandising.

Hulk is a different story. The 2008 film was made before the Disney takeover and it was critical to launching its Avengers film. They will basically use Hulk in other films not being his own now. Marvel made Antman a hit and already announced a sequel. They feel invincible and have other properties coming. I can't imagine Universal having a distribution deal in perpetuity.

 

[Web-Head]

^ Yeah, like others said I wouldn't be surprised if he shows up in another film but I don't expect him to get his own solo film.

 

[Quasar]

I can't believe the Namor distribution deal would an impediment in the least. Why would you do a Namor solo movie? 99% of his appearances are in other characters' comics.

 

[Endeavor]

Since they only have the distribution rights and Marvel has to make the actual movies, the only way Universal would have made that deal was if the rights were permanent. Otherwise, all Marvel would have to do to get Namor back is to not make any movies about him for a while.

No, that's not it.
When the rights were sold to Universal there was no Marvel studios.
It wasn't even a dream on the horizon.
Universal was sold the whole thing.
The current status of them retaining distribution rights is a relatively recent development, but it stems from whatever the terms of the original rights deal were, because it allowed them to retain the IPs for so long without even doing active development with them.

 

[ADollarADay]

I don't think Marvel can use Namor, even in an ensemble movie. I believe Marvel, Universal, and Fox all have some claims to him.

 

[Endeavor]

I don't think Marvel can use Namor, even in an ensemble movie. I believe Marvel, Universal, and Fox all have some claims to him.

Not true.
Feige himself already mentioned Namor is back at Marvel, only he's "complicated" which is what several of us have gone into detail explaining.
FOX never even had him to begin with.
He was not sold with the F4 IP, he was sold separately, to Universal, back in the 90's.

 

[jaymes_e06]

They can't mention Mutants is definitely one of the reasons why he's "complicated" I feel he does loose a lot without FF and even The X-Men in the long run.

 

[Angryfantasyfan]

Doubt it has anything to do with being a mutant, since they worked around that with Scarlet Witch. Besides, the first mention of him possibly being a mutant happened decades after his creation.

In X-Men #6 (July 1964), X-Men leader Professor Xavier and antagonist Magneto each suspect Namor is a mutant and make efforts to recruit him. Later writers in the 1960s and 1970s described him as a hybrid, not a mutant, in order to distinguish him from the mutant X-Men.[58] When the series was revived in 1990, the series title logo carried the subtitle "Marvel's first and mightiest mutant!".

 

[ADollarADay]

Not true.
Feige himself already mentioned Namor is back at Marvel, only he's "complicated" which is what several of us have gone into detail explaining.
FOX never even had him to begin with.
He was not sold with the F4 IP, he was sold separately, to Universal, back in the 90's.

Fox might have some claims to him due to him being the "first mutant"

 

[ernesth100]

Even if Fox did have claims I doubt they're in a rush to use Namor either.

 

[DawnWarrior]

I guess that makes sense...while being very complicated. I guess I just have to wait patiently for Marvel's First Hero to make a comeback.

 

[fixxxer]

If Namor's rights are "complicated" in the exact same way Hulk's are, all I have to say is...

Black Panther: War On Atlantis (2021)

 

[Angryfantasyfan]

IGN: Finally, there were rumours circulating awhile back that Universal and Legendary Pictures were developing a Sub-Mariner movie, but there was also some confusion about who holds the rights to the character. So could Legendary make that movie at this point?

Feige: No.


IGN: So if a film were to happen it would be you guys making it?

Feige: Yes, but it’s slightly more complicated than that. Let’s put it this way – there are entanglements that make it less easy. There are older contracts that still involve other parties that mean we need to work things out before we move forward on it. As opposed to an Iron Man or any of the Avengers or any of the other Marvel characters where we could just put them in.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07...ns-of-the-galaxy-the-avengers-the-sub-mariner

 

[Dark Raven]

http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/07...ns-of-the-galaxy-the-avengers-the-sub-mariner

When that article was written back in 2014, Feige had this to say (in that same article):

...when I started at Marvel 14 years ago the notion of us becoming our own studio, becoming more successful than other studios doing this, and bringing The Avengers to the screen, would have seemed like the pipe dream of all pipe dreams. And because we are sitting here talking because this has all happened, I’m not going to rule out anything. It has been unbelievable – the Marvel experience for me in particular over the years, so anything’s possible. But I would say for the immediate future, Fox is very busy building their X-Men universe and redoing the Fantastic Four universe. Sony is well underway with their Spider-Man plans. And we clearly have a long-term vision for the cinematic universe. And thankfully have so many characters and so many possibilities that we don’t find ourselves in a position going ‘Will we ever get these other characters in here because we don’t know what to do.’ There’s lots to do.

How things have changed since then.