Black Panther: Wakanda Forever antagonist Namor will not be getting a solo movie within the Marvel Cinematic Universe anytime soon for one reason.
Warning: Spoilers For Black Panther: Wakanda Forever AheadBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever producer Nate Moore says Namor will not be featured in a solo movie. The Marvel character Namor made his highly anticipated Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which was released in theaters this month. The mutant sub-mariner served as the antagonist of the movie, going head-to-head with the nation of Wakanda due to their conflicting diplomatic approaches to other countries attempting to steal vibranium. While Namor stood against Wakanda and killed Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) in the movie, Shuri (Letitia Wright) spared him by the end of the film due to their shared goals to protect their people, leaving the possibility for his return to the MCU open.
During a sit-down with The Wrap, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever producer Nate Moore revealed that while Namor “can return,” but not in a standalone film. According to Marvel Studios’ deal with Universal Pictures, Namor can only appear alone in marketing materials as long as it’s within a series of posters, and the character cannot appear in a solo MCU movie. Moore compared the situation to the Hulk’s, saying that the Black Panther: Wakanda Forever antagonist is “borrowed.” See what Moore had to say about the rights issue below:
“It honestly affects us more, and not to talk too much out of school, but in how we market the film than it does how we use him in the film. There weren’t really things we couldn’t do from a character perspective for him, which is good because clearly, we took a ton of inspiration from the source material, but we also made some big changes to really anchor him in that world in a truth that publishing never really landed on, I would argue, in a big way.”
Marvel’s Complicated Rights Histories Explained
After the success of Namor’s MCU debut, with a large following developing around the ruthless yet sympathetic character, it may be disappointing for some to learn that Namor will not be able to have a film centered around him. However, Moore’s comments indicate that there is plenty that the MCU can do with the character despite Namor belonging to Universal Pictures, meaning that Namor’s future within the MCU is far from over. There are plenty of characters from the comics that Marvel Studios doesn’t own exclusive rights to, which has created similar issues in the past when it comes to bringing those characters into the MCU.
The complicated rights issues that have somewhat plagued Marvel Studios since the beginning of the MCU in 2008 are mainly due to the company’s former policy of selling the rights to Marvel characters to other studios, which stemmed from the company facing issues with bankruptcy in the ’90s. That previous arrangement is the reason that Fox was able to create an X-Men franchise and that no Hulk movies beyond The Incredible Hulk exist in the MCU. Spider-Man was one of the most publicized instances of a character having a long and thorny road into the MCU, with two Spider-Man franchises created by Sony before Tom Holland stepped into the role and interacted with other MCU heroes in Captain America: Civil War.
Sony still owns the rights to several Spider-Man adjacent characters, including Venom, and still retains film rights over Spider-Man, which is why the Tom Holland-led trilogy is not on Disney+. However, the MCU’s ability to create plenty of content around the character of Spider-Man despite not exclusively owning the rights bodes well for Namor’s future in the franchise. Though the Marvel Studios/Universal Pictures deal differs from the Sony deal, Moore’s statement, the Hulk (who is also owned by Universal Pictures)’s long-standing inclusion in MCU projects, and Namor’s survival after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever mean that the MCU should be able to include Namor in plenty of projects moving forward.
Source: The Wrap
