This Is Why Marvel Studios Can't Make A Standalone Movie About Namor
Image Source: GamerGen
You have probably seen the latest Marvel Studios blockbuster, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and have most likely found a compelling villain in Tenoch Huerta’s Namor. His portrayal of the character, alongside the performance of Letitia Wright (Xuri) and Angela Bassett (Ramonda), allowed Ryan Coogler’s story to grasp the audience through the use of emotion and immersion, leading the movie to record nearly $619.2 million at the box office. While this marks a promising future for the Black Panther franchise, nothing is certain regarding Namor due to the character’s rights being borrowed by Marvel in a deal with Universal Pictures.
What’s this deal about? Well, in the 1980s, in midst of bankruptcy, Marvel licensed the use of some of its characters to different studios to being in much needed money. Thus, until very recently, it was unimaginable for Marvel Studios to include the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Blade, or the concept of mutants in recent and future projects. Besides, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is another example of the agreement Marvel has with another studio. Owned by Universal, the character has been a side character since his introduction in The Avengers.
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Universal acquired the rights to Namor in 1991. Since then, the studio tried to put together a Namor movie that ultimately has never seen the light of day. At some point, an agreement was made between Marvel and Universal, which allowed Namor to be pulled out of those troubled waters. As a result, today, Namor’s agreement seems to be very similar to Hulk’s. Like the latter, Namor is not allowed to have a standalone movie and can’t appear by himself in marketing materials unless it’s part of a series of posters.
Image Source: Nerdist
Fortunately, according to producer Nate Moore, the agreement between the studios only affected how they marketed the movie and not the way they wanted to use the character. “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,” said Moore in an interview with The Wrap.
While Marvel Studios is still working on legally acquiring their long-lost characters, in the meantime, we can safe in the knowledge that Kevin Feige will find creative ways to include Namor in future MCU stories.
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Source(s): The Wrap
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