Namor Rights Back At Marvel Studios, According To Joe Quesada
By Angie Han/June 3, 2016 1:30 pm EST
And then there’s Namor. The Sub-Mariner has been off by himself at Universal, cursed to tread water for years while his planned film keeps falling apart. But the spell may finally be broken. According to Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, the Namor rights have reverted to Marvel, meaning he can finally join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is, if they’ll have him.
Quesada addressed the Namor rights during an appearance on Kevin Smith’s Fat Man on Batman podcast. Here’s the relevant exchange, starting around the 41-minute mark. Smith’s questions (in bold) and Quesada’s answers are transcribed below.
We do. He’s in the comics.
Where is the Sub-Mariner, by the way? Who has that?
No, what studio? How come you guys aren’t diving into the water?
I can’t speak for studios.
Is it elsewhere? The same people that own Iron Man, have Sub-Mariner?
As far as I know, yeah we do. It’s not at Fox, it’s not at Sony.
Assuming Quesada has his facts straight this time, though, and that Marvel really has cleared up any legal issues surrounding Namor, this means the character is free to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whether he’ll actually get to is another question. When Smith asked Quesada whether Namor would appear in the franchise, Quesada would say only, “I cannot confirm nor deny, sir.” And seeing as Marvel’s already got its plans mapped out for the next several years, it’s unlikely we’ll get a Namor movie before 2019 or 2020.
