What Happened to Hercules?

[megaharrison]

Seriously, this guy used to be a Marvel A-Lister. These days hes disappeared from the face of comics. You would think with Marvel trying to push new franchises to compete with DC/Sony/Fox movie-verses (see their pushing of GOTG and Inhumans as of late), they'd be all over this guy as IIRC no other movie studios owns the right to him.

[Darthkostis]

I know right? His "Incredible Hercules" run was bloody great and he's a really awesome character to boot. I was expecting Marvel to bring him back with AXIS (seeing as they're going up against Red Skull in the Onslaught armor), but I don't see that happening. Still, with the Doc Strange movie incoming maybe Marvel will revive the magic and supernatural characters.

[pageturner]

don't know that he was ever an A lister but I am fond of the character. I don't see Marvel making a Herc movie any time soon after there were two already this year and Disney's own animated movie and cartoon not that long ago.

I would love to see Herc hit on the new Thor.

[RobinFan4880]

I think it causes branding issues.

"So wait... Norse gods are real... And Greeco-Roman?"

Not to mention there is already a Hercules movie coming out unrelated to the Marvel U (in addition to Disney's own Hercules franchise).

Hercules does not fill any niche the movie universe needs, sadly.

[LittlePriest]

Could be a property rights thing. Not that they don't own their Hercules, but that there's like a hundred of them. I'm reasonably sure every content owner owns one that's been pushed at one point or the other over the last few decades.

If they push Marvel's Hercules, people might buy more Disney's Hercules (a win-win actually), or this new movie Hercules, or give Kevin Sorbo twenty bucks for an autograph, or hell, I can't keep track of them all.

Maybe they're moving away from trying to own mythological figures that are thousands of years old. I can write my very own Hercules, right now, and (if I won the lottery) publish it and Marvel couldn't say a thing about it. I could include most of his mythological "supporting cast" as well. I'd just have to avoid certain particulars to avoid successful litigation. That would put me, and probably all these other Hercules pushers in the same boat. They can all use the same characters with the same names all day long and twice on Sunday, but if they accidentally reuse something that the other guy used first then people get sued.

It would be a bunch of "I used Hercules in a green kilt thing first!." kind of stuff. Everyone pushing a Hercules would have to be a complete and total expert on what all the other Hercules had done to avoid trouble. It just seems like a huge pain in the ass.

[Geralt of Rivia]

Could be a property rights thing. Not that they don't own their Hercules, but that there's like a hundred of them. I'm reasonably sure every content owner owns one that's been pushed at one point or the other over the last few decades.

If they push Marvel's Hercules, people might buy more Disney's Hercules (a win-win actually), or this new movie Hercules, or give Kevin Sorbo twenty bucks for an autograph, or hell, I can't keep track of them all.

Maybe they're moving away from trying to own mythological figures that are thousands of years old. I can write my very own Hercules, right now, and (if I won the lottery) publish it and Marvel couldn't say a thing about it. I could include most of his mythological "supporting cast" as well. I'd just have to avoid certain particulars to avoid successful litigation. That would put me, and probably all these other Hercules pushers in the same boat. They can all use the same characters with the same names all day long and twice on Sunday, but if they accidentally reuse something that the other guy used first then people get sued.

It would be a bunch of "I used Hercules in a green kilt thing first!." kind of stuff. Everyone pushing a Hercules would have to be a complete and total expert on what all the other Hercules had done to avoid trouble. It just seems like a huge pain in the ass.

No one owns a mythological character like Herc. Greek myth is as public domain as you can possibly get.

[PhantomReporter]

Plus Marvel's is arguably the most interesting version of Hercules. It's all the mythology stuff PLUS hanging out with Thor and the Avengers in modern day NYC.

[LittlePriest]

No one owns a mythological character like Herc. Greek myth is as public domain as you can possibly get.

And I denied that where? Did you happen to read the post you quoted?

"I can write my very own Hercules, right now, and (if I won the lottery) publish it and Marvel couldn't say a thing about it."

I would just have to be careful.

There are other things around the character they can own though. It isn't the name or his origin, or the Lion thing and the washing of the stables and all those labors. They can't own the poisoning and the part where he kills his wife. But try posting a story where Hercules dresses up like Thor and puts the moves on some Dark Elf and you'll probably get a message from a lawyer. They're both public domain characters and no one owns dark elves apparently, but that story has been told and has originated recently by Marvel. Try selling your very own Thor story and you very well can. You can have him fighting his trickster god brother Loki all day long. Have him fight an empty metal suit called a "Destroyer" with a knock off buddy that has all his powers and his own little hammer but looks like a horse (that isn't related to Loki) and maybe Marvel might come a calling.

The careful part comes from recognizing what comes from mythology and what was an addition by Disney, or that goofy television show, or Marvel, so you don't tread on anything that someone else might actually have a claim to.

[Nomads1]

Hercules is the most widely known character Marvels has.

Heck, next to him, Wolverine is a D-Lister! There, I said it!

Seriuosly, I love the character and wish Marvel would continue to invest on him as they did with Incredible Hercules, an AWSOME book.

Peace

[pageturner]

No one owns a mythological character like Herc. Greek myth is as public domain as you can possibly get.

True which is why you occasionally see a Thor or Loki pop up elsewhere If the new American Gods show gets a comic you can expect to see an Odin.

and just look at the God is Dead comic.

[ArcGospell]

I really hope Hercules and Amadeus Cho appear again, those two were really the best duo that marvel had.

[Kurolegacy]

Haven't seen Hercules since the AvX Avengers Academy Tie-in. Shame they didn't keep him on as a teacher there. At least then we'd know where he was these days. But with two alternate counterparts appearing recently in X-treme X-Men and the Ultimates, Marvel at least remembers he exists.

[Mooper Films]

Miss old Herc myself. His series was great even if Chaos War was kind of a small way to end a 4 year storyline. I hope we see him after AXIS and Time Runs out come 2015 and Amadeus.

[CliffHanger2]

RDJ would make a great Hercules if he was really buff and wasn't already playing IM.

[runguy]

RDJ would make a great Hercules if he was really buff and wasn't already playing IM.

uh, no?! plus Downy is only 5'8"