The Universal Rights Situation for Namor

For quite some time there has been confusion within the fandom over what the situation is with Marvel's IP at Universal. It's broadly understood that they retain distribution rights to Hulk, Namor, and associated IP--or do they? The former is certainly true, but for years there has been conflicting comments over Namor, so let's take a look at that.

At various times a number of scoopers, from Sutton to Conrad to Murphy have reported that they believe the rights to Namor have been returned (either backed by specific comments from Joe Quesada, or a belief that a discovered production company is coded for the character). I think it's important to go through what information we do know. Here's a brief breakdown before we go through it thoroughly:

• The deals for the Hulk and for Namor are separate; the latter was acquired by Universal no later than 2001; we do not know the specifics attached to these deals (unlike Fox, whose ticking clock for the rights to return was seven years, or Sony's, whose clock is at five and a half years)
• 2006 was the last reported active effort to produce a Namor-film by Universal (Jonathan Mostow replacing Chris Columbus on the project at that time)
• In 2012, Joe Quesada said Marvel had regained the rights to Namor--I'll get into Joe's comments below
• In 2013, according to Kevin Feige, the situation with Namor is unchanged
• In 2014, Borys Kit (of THR) repeats Quesada's comment above via a Tweet, but going through the thread was uncertain about the situation
• In 2014, Feige said the MCU could make a Namor film, but it would involve multiple parties (this is different from the Hulk rights, which only involves Universal); the comment implies Namor was on a development clock (thus the change in his language about what Marvel could do with the IP from just a year earlier), but had perhaps not lost their role in distribution
• In 2016, Quesada repeats what he said in 2012 (I'll get into that below)
• In 2018, Feige says Marvel could make a Namor film, but that it's not as 'clear or clean' as the majority of other characters

With the Hulk we know the impediment has always been that Universal retains distribution rights--Mark Ruffalo was complaining about it leading into Endgame, so clearly the contract elements related to distribution were different than they were for other Marvel IP. If there's a clock on distribution we're now at almost 13 years in with no change. Most assume that Namor functions the same way and, if it does, then that clock sits at nearly 15 years.

Here are various specific comments (Joe Quesada's can be found from 2012 and 2016)--Quesada in particular has been the primary source of confusion for scoopers over the years:

2012

• At a convention Quesada says the rights to Namor had lapsed and reverted to Marvel Studios (I could not find a recording of this, so this is reported speech, but he's never denied the story)

2013

• Feige tells Empire magazine: "That's [Namor] at Universal" (ergo, Quesada was wrong)

2014

• 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.

2016

• FATMAN ON BATMAN: Where is the Sub-Mariner, by the way? Who has that?
• Quesada: We do. He’s in the comics.
• FOB: No, what studio? How come you guys aren’t diving into the water?
• Q: I can’t speak for studios.
• FOB: Is it elsewhere? The same people that own Iron Man, have Sub-Mariner?
• Q: As far as I know, yeah we do. It’s not at Fox, it’s not at Sony.

2018

• IGN: With the Disney/Fox deal, if that pans out, with the Sony rights sharing deal with Spidey, the one big loose end, then, is Namor and Universal. Can you tell us what the status of that is? Is there any chance for him to just pop up in an MCU film? It just sounds like an incredibly complicated situation, for one character.
• Kevin Feige: It is. I think there’s a way to probably figure it out but it does have — it’s not as a clean or clear as the majority of the other characters

Let's unpack this a little, since it's clear in his 2016 comments that Quesada has no clue what's going on with Namor. Until 2013 or 2014, Universal could make its own Namor-film. After that point, only Marvel could make a movie (so, seemingly Universal was on a production clock for the character similar to the Sony/Fox deals). By 2014, Feige mentions doing so involved old contracts (my emphasis) that impact Namor--contracts? Why the plural?

The only answer I've ever seen for why multiple parties are involved with Namor comes from Armin of ComicBookCast2. He said that because Namor is a mutant (named as one back in 1991), Fox would also have a stake in him. This is plausible and could explain why a film featuring him was so complicated to make. I believe this reality was echoed in Feige's comments in 2018 (before the Fox purchase was complete).

The assumption remains that Universal has distribution rights, because even if Armin is right about Fox, Feige said parties involved and there's no other known party. With the Hulk (and associated content) the limitation has been giving the character his own film--simply appearing isn't at issue. It may be that the Hulk could even have his own show (just like She-Hulk), but that's not clear. We shouldn't tacitly assume this is the same case with Namor, since those deals were made separately, but given that we have no other candidates it's what we're left with as a default. It's worth noting the reason we're saddled with Amy Pascal for all of the MCU's Sony projects is that she was included as part of the sharing arrangement (she was ousted from Sony six years ago, after all), so it's possible some other odious executive has their claws in Namor, but there's no evidence of that as yet. Presumably Marvel could buy his rights if Universal was willing to sell them, but I expect if such a move occurs it will pop-up in the trades (at a time for maximum publicity, lest we forget the many denials about the initial Sony deal until it was announced).

Given the hypothetical Fox-involvement is no longer an issue, why aren't we seeing a Namor film or at least an appearance? Marvel's approach with the Hulk has been to ignore Universal and work with what they are allowed to do, and if they can do the same with Namor, why isn't he on the slate?

The only two answers I can think of are either that he is, but those plans are for later in Phase Four or into Phase Five, or that there are stronger impediments to including him. There was a tiny hint that work on something Namorish could be occurring back in July when Sutton put Marrina on an R&D list. The character originates with Alpha Flight, but for a short time was Namor's wife. It's a stretch, but she actually spent as much (or more) time with Namor than Alpha Flight. There have certainly been many rumours he will appear in Black Panther 2, but not from anyone reputable.

At the end of the day we simply don't have all the answers, but regardless, I hope this article clears up what we know about his rights.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)