Past and present Marvel titles where the movie rights belongs to someone else

[Banner]

There are still some Marvel universe characters that don't belongs to Marvel what movie rights are concerned. Spider-Man, Hulk and probably Namor. But there are other titles outside the Marvel universe as well.

Present:

Malibu Comics. Plenty of characters and titles, especially in the Ultraverse.

Men in Black

Red Sonja. I don't think Marvel has the rights, despite being a created by Roy Thomas and Barry Windsor-Smith.

Past:

Transformers

ROM: Spaceknight

Micronauts


Any titles not mentioned?

[Digifiend]

Yeah, Marvel don't own Red Sonja, and for some reason it ended up at another publisher - and completely divorced from Conan, who she's a spin-off from, as a result.

Yes, anything Hasbro connected doesn't belong to Disney either.

Another example is Doctor Who. Marvel had the rights to his comics from 1979 to 1995, when Marvel UK was sold to Panini, who still publish Doctor Who Magazine, including a comic strip, to this day. IDW and Titan have since had comics rights too, and since it's a BBC TV show, it's BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide, and before that BBC Enterprises) who have the movie rights, and always have done.

[Banner]

I'm OK with Doctor Who, because he has been around as a live action character for so many years, which is his (or her) original medium. But it would be nice to see a real big budget feature movie for once. And I have never read any of the issues, so I don't know if it has anything to offer not yet seen in the show.

If only Michael Bay (or the script writers, to be fair), had used the Marvel comics version of Transformers as inspiration instead of coming up with the concept they did.
The same with Star Wars; the original Marvel series have so many great ideas I'm sure many would love to see in a movie (less action and more sci-fi).

As for those who owns the rights for the other titles mentioned; I just hope they does them right if they eventually decide to make a movie adaption of them.

[Kaijudo]

Off the top of my head beyond the ones that have already been mentioned:

Godzilla
Shogun Warriors
Human Fly

Those were all set in the Marvel Universe, as I recall. Then there were some outside ones like Sledge Hammer, Solarman, and Mad-Dog, who were all either based on TV shows at the time (or in Mad-Dog's case, featured on a show about the comic book artist) or were existing characters Marvel licensed to bring back, but have since reverted to the original creators.

[Banner]

Except for Godzilla, these are all new to me, even if the Human Fly sounds familiar. I notice he was written by Bill Mantlo, also the writer of Micronauts and Rom: Spaceknight (in addition to other characters).

(Then there was the mini-series (I don't think it was ever meant to be an ongoing series) based on the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.)

[Kaijudo]

Except for Godzilla, these are all new to me, even if the Human Fly sounds familiar. I notice he was written by Bill Mantlo, also the writer of Micronauts and Rom: Spaceknight (in addition to other characters).

(Then there was the mini-series (I don't think it was ever meant to be an ongoing series) based on the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.)

Human Fly is a name shared by a Spider-Man villain, so it's possible you heard of that one. But in the 70s, there was a real-life stuntman who (if I recall correctly) went by the name Human Fly, including a costume, and Marvel licensed him for a series. I remember reading it and him meeting up with Ghost Rider (I was VERY young at the time and probably more looking at pictures than anything, but I remember that costume very well).

And good call on 2001! If I'm not mistaken, that's the book that introduced Machine Man.

[Gaastra]

Part of the marvel universe but not owned by marvel--

2001
doc savage
fu munchu
john carter of mars
tarzan and jane
team America
us one
alf
sledgehammer
meteor man
conan
red Sonja
doctor who (did get a cameo in iron man a few years ago)
Godzilla and the monsters (Godzilla did show up in avengers)
rom
Micronauts
shogun warriors
human fly
solomon kane
kull
invisible was in marvel team up but not sure if It was canon.
the guiding light heroes
kiss
alice cooper
flash in quasar
Nightcat
NFL superpro


[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]
[IMG][/IMG]

[Mike_Murdock]

Has anyone mentioned GI Joe?

[pageturner]

should the toys even count they are just licensed properties.

[Digifiend]

john carter of mars

That's owned by Disney, so there should be nothing stopping Marvel using him now.

[Banner]

Yeah, that's some more on the list. Also GI Joe.

And yes, the toys should count because Marvel turned them into so much more than just toys (and then there is the animated series). If Marvel/Disney still had the comic rights and also movie rights (or even decided to buy the whole Hasbro), it could be integrated into the Marvel universe with great success, just as Guardians of the Galaxy and lesser known titles. As for Transformers, several box office hits have already been made. There are shared opinions about those, but if based on the original Marvel comics, you would have a much more established and richer universe to draw inspiration from.

[strathcona]

Then there were some outside ones like Solarman, and Mad-Dog, who were all either based on TV shows at the time or were existing characters Marvel licensed to bring back, but have since reverted to the original creators.

Solarman is owned by Marvel. IIRC he was created to spin off into a cartoon, but that never happened. Same story are Crystar I believe.

Are people sure that Sledge-hammer, John Carter of Mars and Meteor Man take place in the 616? I've not heard that before for this titles.

[Digifiend]

Carter was never given a reality number.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/John_...(Earth-TRN388)
Meteor Man is 616.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Jeffe...ed_(Earth-616)
Sledge-Hammer isn't on the wiki.

[Banner]

Seems like they are planning on making a movie based on Micronauts (if Marvel still bought the rights, they would probably be included in the next Ant-Man movie):

https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a8...-transformers/

Also Rom and titles from Malibu Comics could potentially be adapted into movies (amongst the others mentioned that has never been live action, I have to confess that I'm not that familiar with them).

[Kaijudo]

Solarman is owned by Marvel. IIRC he was created to spin off into a cartoon, but that never happened. Same story are Crystar I believe.

Are people sure that Sledge-hammer, John Carter of Mars and Meteor Man take place in the 616? I've not heard that before for this titles.

You're right on Crystar but wrong on Solarman. He first appeared in a 1970s indie comic, then the Marvel series, then a series by Scout Comics. It's kind of like how Peter Cannon was a Charlton character acquired by DC, whose rights then reverted to the creator, which is why Cannon is being done at Dynamite now. Here's an interview about it from 2016:

https://www.newsarama.com/30563-marv...ed-series.html