While Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Namor is free to return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a solo film starring the ruler of Talokan appears to be off the table.
During an interview with TheWrap, Wakanda Forever producer Nate Moore discussed the legal issues standing in the way of Disney and Marvel Studios producing a Namor solo film. Like the Hulk, Namor is still controlled by Universal, and has essentially been "borrowed" by Marvel Studios. In the MCU, Namor can appear in team-up films and the like, but cannot star in a solo movie. Namor also cannot appear by himself in promotional material, with the only exception being for a character poster that's released as part of a larger series of posters.
"He can return," Moore said of potential future Namor appearances within the MCU. As for the legal situation, the producer explained, "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." Moore elaborated, "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."
Moore went on to praise Wakanda Forever director/co-writer Ryan Coogler for his interpretation of Namor and his people. "I've read every Namor comic ever written and I love them, but the world of Atlantis is a little vaguely drawn," he said. "It's maybe kind of Roman maybe. And so, Ryan is such a detail-oriented filmmaker that he wanted to anchor into something that felt as tangible and real as hopefully Wakanda fuels for people. And I think there was nothing from a business side anyway that was preventing us from doing that, which is great."
Namor Is in the Same Boat as the Hulk
As previously mentioned, Namor isn't the only Marvel character technically still owned by Universal. In the late '90s, Marvel infamously began seeling off the screen rights to many of its comic book characters. Sony got Spider-Man, Fox got the X-Men and Fantastic Four and so and so forth. Universal ended up with both Namor and the Hulk. The studio released the standalone, Ang Lee-directed film Hulk in 2003.
While Disney and Marvel Studios now have the rights to use the Hulk in MCU projects, Universal still holds the distribution rights to any solo films starring the character. The only Hulk solo film released as part of the MCU was 2008's The Incredible Hulk, which was produced by Marvel but released by Universal. As such, The Incredible Hulk is one of only four films in the MCU's back catalog to not be available for streaming on Disney+, the other three being the Jon Watts-directed Spider-Man films, which were distributed by Sony.
Since 2008, the MCU's Bruce Banner/the Hulk has only appeared in team-up movies, or projects where he is otherwise not the lead character. His most recent appearance came in Marvel Studios' Disney+ original series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. That said, if rumors are to be believed, Marvel may be able to release its own Hulk solo movie in the near future. Online detective work into Universal's distribution agreement suggests that it could expire in June 2023. There is currently no word on the status of the Namor deal.
Namor's Actor Wants His Own Solo Movie
While the prospect of a Namor solo film set within the MCU seems impossible for now, actor Tenoch Huerta -- who plays the character in Wakanda Forever -- has expressed hope for such a project. "I would like it, but I don't know," Huerta told Digital Spy earlier this month. "It depends on what [Marvel Studios president and Marvel Entertainment chief creative officer] Kevin Feige says he wants. It depends on the inbox. It depends on the people, and how many tickets they buy. So please: buy a lot of tickets." Feige himself had previously said something similar, alluding to the idea that a Namor solo film depended on the critical and commercial success of Wakanda Forever.
See Tenoch Huerta in action as Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in theaters now.
Source: TheWrap