Marvel Studios owns the rights to most of their comic book superheroes, but not their first: Namor, The Sub-Mariner, who appeared (along with the original android version of The Human Torch, and the jungle hero Ka-Zar) in 1939’s Timely Comics #1, the first publication from the company that eventually changed its name to Marvel. The movie rights to the Atlantean hero/anti-hero/villain (depending on whoever’s writing him at the moment) are still owned by Universal Pictures, but they’ve been sitting on him for years.
Until now? The latest rumor from Latino Review suggests that The Sub-Mariner is being positioned for an event release in 2016, and will be co-produced by Legendary Pictures (Godzilla) and Universal.
This is only a rumor. The speculation currently stems from two sources: the vague stipulation that the currently unnamed Universal/Legendary release for 2016 is “new and not a sequel or remake, though it may be based on underlying intellectual property,“ and Legendary’s response to the rumor with a simple “No comment.“
While the supposition that Universal is working on a Sub-Mariner movie is not unreasonable, it’s also based on pretty flimsy evidence, as you can see. We wouldn’t be shocked to discover that Universal has decided to make the most of the only superhero they own (unless you count all the Universal Monsters), but we also wouldn’t be shocked to discover that this was all just a case of jumping to not-entirely-unreasonable conclusions.
Latino Review goes on to suggest that Zac Efron may or may not be offered the role of The Sub-Mariner. Of course, if Universal really IS making a Sub-Mariner movie, they are likely to consider and/or extend offers to any age-appropriate actors with delicious abs, so that wouldn’t be much of a stretch either.
We will wait to see if Universal and Legendary decide to officially confirm or deny these rumors before we report on them any further. In the meantime, if anyone asks if you’ve heard about the new Sub-Mariner movie, just roll your eyes and tell them there’s no actual evidence to support that theory yet. If the rumor is wrong you will look like a genius in the very near future, and if the rumor is right you’ll still come across as impressively prudent.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
