Joss Whedon's S.H.I.E.L.D to ABC!

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by Admiral_Young, Aug 29, 2012.

  1. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I wouldn't say Gravitron is "their" Magneto. They're most likely doing what "Arrow" has done and will use the series to push lesser known characters into the mainstream.

    As for when Namor went to Universal...Fiege is the one who stated this, and I would guess sometime between "Iron Man 2" since Atlantis was shown as one of hot spots on Fury's monitor and now. I would assume the rights situation works the same way with Marvel Studios as it does with any other studio, they have to be actively developing a film with the character or else they become available. This kind of came out of nowhere.
     
  2. Alidar Jarok

    Alidar Jarok Everything in moderation but moderation Moderator

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    Why would Marvel Studios have to be developing a character to preserve it? Aren't they the ones who own it by default? Granted, if they're not developing a character, it makes sense to lease it to get some money, but I don't think they're required to use a character.
     
  3. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    That's right. It's the other studios, the ones who acquire licenses to the characters, who eventually lose those licenses if they don't use them. That's to keep other studios from acquiring a property and sitting on it just to keep the rightful owner from using it. Unless they actually use the character or concept, eventually the rights revert to the owner.

    Now, trademarks tends to lapse if they aren't actively used. That's how Fawcett's trademark on the name "Captain Marvel" lapsed, allowing Marvel to snatch it up for a new character. But that's different from losing the rights to the actual character, as opposed to just the name. DC needed to acquire a license in order to use the original Captain Marvel/Billy Batson character. Names, titles, and logos are trademarked, while characters and concepts are copyrighted.

    So if, say, Marvel went a couple of decades without using the Sub-Mariner, the trademark on the name could lapse and another company could theoretically create their own character named Sub-Mariner. But it wouldn't be Prince Namor, the mutant king of Atlantis. Only the name would become public domain.
     
  4. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    I was sort of thinking about this the other day. Namor doesn't seem to be referred to as "The Sub-Mariner" very often these days. Looking at the dramatis personae page in both New Avengers and Infinty, he's just called Namor. Even Reed Richards is called by his little used code name there, but not Subby.
     
  5. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^Well, I'm not sure what the situation would be if the character remains in use but the name falls out of use. I doubt the trademark would be lost in that case, though I can't be positive.
     
  6. Nerys Myk

    Nerys Myk A Spock and a smile Premium Member

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    ^More of an observation on the way the character is referred to than anything else. Namor was kind of on the cutting edge of the trend to down play code names.
     
  7. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    ^With a code name like "The Sub-Mariner," I can't blame him...
     
  8. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    I did say that I assume...I guess then they just got money from Universal. Namor did revert back to them though from somewhere else before which is why we saw Atlantis on the status screen. This still came out of nowhere since most fans assumed that we would see a Marvel Studios "Namor" film at some point.
     
  9. TemporalFlux

    TemporalFlux Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Universal was working on the Namor movie back in 2003; that's five years before the first Iron Man movie and the start of the Marvel movieverse.

    You can read about in reference to a Namor book that Bill Jemas wrote in order to try to influence the development of the film. Look about halfway down the page to see the article at this link:

    http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0301/23/
     
  10. Admiral_Young

    Admiral_Young Fleet Admiral Admiral

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    Indeed they were. Dwayne Johnson was attached or rumoured for their "Sub-Mariner" film, however at some point those rights reverted back to Marvel Studios, then now have gone back to Universal.
     
  11. PsychoPere

    PsychoPere Vice Admiral Premium Member

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    There's no reason to assume that an easter egg such as inclusion on Fury's monitor means that Marvel had the rights to the character at that time. It seems more likely that Universal has had the rights consistently to present.
     
  12. Fist McStrongpunch

    Fist McStrongpunch Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

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    Yes, I highly doubt Marvel would try to farm out their products after they created their own movie studio.
     
  13. Turtletrekker

    Turtletrekker Admiral Admiral

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    Today is the day.

    Here is a new preview with scenes from more episodes than just the pilot. Possible evidence of Graviton briefly at 1:09 and the first footage of the red masked guys seen in Stockholm.

    [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wcDvNSTBws[/YT]

    I've read that some folks on-line seem to think the red mask guys are U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M., but I've read nothing official to confirm that and they look nothing like the U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. that I remember from the comics, so I'm not sure what they're basing that on.
     
  14. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    When I saw the guys in red masks, my immediate reaction was that they're Red Skull acolytes or groupies of some sort, maybe an MCU equivalent of Neo-Nazis.
     
  15. Admiral2

    Admiral2 Admiral Admiral

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    But according to The First Avenger there were no nazis in the Marvel Movie 'Verse. Just Hydra, with teeny-tiny swastikas in their emblems.
     
  16. OdoWanKenobi

    OdoWanKenobi Admiral Admiral

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    ^Um, we saw Nazis in the movie, and it was mentioned that Hydra was a Nazi science division. They just happened to be run by a maniac who went rogue.
     
  17. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    Was it any good ? We don't get it until Friday...
     
  18. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

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    Err, I did say the equivalent of Neo-Nazis, so I don't understand the reaction.


    Ask us again in 6 hours and 15 minutes...
     
  19. Relayer1

    Relayer1 Admiral Admiral

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    D'oh. Should've worked out the time differential ! :)

    I'll be back again in 6 hours and 15 minutes...

    It's a regional English accent to boot !

    I'm off to bed - I'll get the reviews in the morning.

    Night all...
     
    Last edited: Sep 25, 2013
  20. Thestral

    Thestral Vice Admiral Admiral

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    Indeed - Hydra went rogue but not till Red Skull explicitly says he doesn't need Hitler anymore.