Yesterday, Universal Pictures announced that they had teamed up with Legendary Pictures for an Untitled “Event Project” that would hit theaters on November 4th, 2016. As daunting as it may be to guess what kind of movie that could be, Latino Review suggests that it may be a superhero film, featuring none other than Marvel’s Namor the Sub-Mariner.
While this news should be taken with the requisite grain of salt, after some careful consideration, a Namor film makes a great deal of sense. First and foremost, it’s the one Marvel character that Universal owns the rights to, and they will likely need to make an adaptation soon if they wish to retain those rights.
Secondly, the partnership with Legendary could be telling, considering that the studio was involved in several Warner Bros. comic book films (The Dark Knight trilogy, Superman Returns, 300, Watchmen, Jonah Hex, Green Lantern and Man of Steel) Legendary left their partnership with WB last year in order to strike a deal with Universal. Could they be jumping ship and taking a stab at a Marvel property?
If Namor does arrive in 2016, that could put the character’s big screen debut a year ahead of Aquaman’s potential inclusion in Justice League (which is currently rumored for 2017). Namor is the Marvel counterpart to DC’s Atlantean hero, so Universal could get the jump on DC by bringing their sea-bound superhero to the big screen first.
Of course, there are other possibilities for what Universal and Legendary have up their sleeves. Will Smith’s Brilliance is one, as well as Hot Wheels, the long-gestating Mass Effect movie, or any of the monsters in Universal’s back catalog. I suppose only time will tell, but Namor does seem like a pretty good possibility.
Tell us, what do you think of this rumor? Should Universal try their hand at a Namor movie, or would you rather see the rights revert back to Marvel Studios? Sound off in the comments below!