If A Sub-Mariner Movie Happens, Marvel Studios Will Make It Says Kevin Feige

There has been a lot of speculation and rumors concerning a movie based on Namor, the Sub-Mariner. These rumors don’t just concern whether or not the movie will be made, but which studio could actually make it. Confusion over who actually controls the film rights to the Marvel character has given way to rumors that Universal Pictures, possibly in conjunction with Legendary Pictures, actually has a Namor film in the works.

According to Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige, if anybody is going to make a Namor movie, it will be Marvel.

IGN asked Feige if it was even possible for Universal or Legendary to make a Namor film, and Feige simply said “No.”

So if not them, then Marvel? Feige says it’s complicated.

“Yes, but it’s slightly more complicated than that,” he explained. “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.”

It sounds like, while Marvel is the only one in a position to actually make the Namor movie, there are still lingering legal clauses from past contracts with the other studios. It makes it difficult to see why Marvel would go through the trouble of working out a deal for a Namor movie, when they have a whole universe of other characters without legal entanglements, especially since Namor, the Sub-Mariner isn’t exactly a household name.