What if Warner can thank Universal for Aquaman?

[Banner]

The reason why Disney made movies based on lesser known titles such as Guardians of the Galaxy was because other studios had the rights to the more popular and familiar characters and groups. Universal had the rights for Namor until relative recently, and maybe still has, since Kevin Feige said the whole thing was "complicated". If Namor had belonged to Marvel/Disney in the first place, perhaps they would already have made a Namor Movie. In the meantime, while Disney is working out the rights for the character, Warner was free to make Aquaman.

Both Namor and Aquaman have a lot in common; they are the rulers of Atlantis. They have super-strength, they can live both on land and in water. Their are hybrids; their father is a normal human, their mother from beneath the Ocean. They control giant beasts.

If Disney had made Namor first, it would have made Aquman look like a copy. Just like The Shadow was considered a Batman rip-off by some, or that John Carter was inspired by Avatar. Sadly a lot of today's audience is not familiar with the background stories when based on comics or books. If Disney had made a Namor movie today, the audience would think "didn't we already see something like this in Aquaman?".

So, since Warner was first, they had the sandbox all by themselves. How Disney is gonna solve the Namor problem without making him look like an Aquaman copy (yes, I know he is older than the latter in the comics), remains to be seen.

[Killerbee911]

Namor even with Marvel having the rights wasn't going to be a priority. He would honestly be option for this phase of Marvel after Endgame. Look at this way does Namor fit the Marvel before other than a cameo in Captian America 1 or does Namor fit in better with an established Fantastic Four and Black Panther in the mix?

Also Marvel doesn't have a Namor problem Namor will be used as antihero/villian. Aquaman is Hero. MCU will be fine

[Midvillian1322]

Namor and Aquaman personality couldn't be more different. If Namor was in Aquaman he would have agreed with Oceanmaster.

With Namor rights there are producers who signed the original deal with Universal that are holding things up. We probaly get a Namor movie in the next 5years I'd bet. And I don't think anyone gonna call it a copy cat

[KNIGHT OF THE LAKE]

The difference is that the general public is well aware of Aquaman. So Disney doing Namor first doesn’t change that. It’s like Quicksilver being done before Flash (twice).

It’s the more obscure characters you have to worry about. To me, Warner has to go full Grant Morrison meta Darkseid to have a prayer to compete with Thanos.

[Osiris-Rex]

I doubt if Disney had the rights to Namor the MCU would have made a Namor movie. The only reason Warner Bros. made an Aquaman movie was because James Wan wanted to make an Aquaman movie.
His reason was no one cared about Aquaman, Aquaman was a joke. So the studio would be more likely to leave him alone and let him make the movie he wanted to make. That was why he passed on
Superman when Superman was offered to him. Superman would have gotten a lot more scrutiny.

[Midvillian1322]

I doubt if Disney had the rights to Namor the MCU would have made a Namor movie. The only reason Warner Bros. made an Aquaman movie was because James Wan wanted to make an Aquaman movie.
His reason was no one cared about Aquaman, Aquaman was a joke. So the studio would be more likely to leave him alone and let him make the movie he wanted to make. That was why he passed on
Superman when Superman was offered to him. Superman would have gotten a lot more scrutiny.

Kevin Feige is a huge Namor fan and they dropped hints in Ironman 2. I'm not saying we woulda got a Namor movie but I bet he'd be in the MCU with the fantastic four coming for sure hes on the horizon though he cant get his own movie till Disney pays off then producers

@Knight Namor is less well known nowadays but there was a point in time where the Submariner was a name everyone knew. So obscure sure but I have a feeling hes way less obscure then you think. Aquaman was more well known nowadays for all the wrong reasons, most having to do with Super Friends. While Namor helped build Marvel Comics. But lost popularity and like cap got shelved for awhile till the F4 made him relevant again.

[DrNewGod]

...Namor is less well known nowadays but there was a point in time where the Submariner was a name everyone knew. So obscure sure but I have a feeling hes way less obscure then you think. Aquaman was more well known nowadays for all the wrong reasons, most having to do with Super Friends. While Namor helped build Marvel Comics. But lost popularity and like cap got shelved for awhile till the F4 made him relevant again.

The point when Submariner was a name everyone knew was seventy years ago, and the "everyone" was pretty much only comic fans. Aquaman has had considerably more and wider exposure. Often, as Midvillian point outs, for the wrong reasons, but Aquaman's brand was already much larger even before his inclusion in Justice League.

Submariner can still be done, and can be done distinctly from Aquaman. He's probably best used as a Magneto-esque antagonist, at least initially (which, come to think of it, is what Lee and Kirby did to bring him back). Still, until the rights business is settled, nothing else is happening with The Avenging Son.

[Jim Kelly]

I think the important take away from AQUAMAN for movie studios was the underwater effect. I'm sure many effects artists are studying that and the major studios are trying to figure out what kind of things they can do with it. That's probably why THE TRENCH was fast tracked, to take advantage of this effect.

From Disney, it seems likely the first thing we'll see is a live action Little Mermaid. But I'm sure the Marvel movies will look for ways to use the effect, as well.

As far as the Sub-Mariner goes, I think the best thing would be to use him in a Fantastic Four movie--as a rival to Reed for Sue's affections. That way, they could set up the character and establish him as distinct from Aquaman. And based on public reaction to that, they could determine if a Sub-Mariner solo movie would be worth doing. But I doubt that Marvel is going to let DC have dominion over the seas. They want to plant their flag on everything.