When Disney merged with Fox, the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters finally returned "home" to Marvel Studios. Now, we can look forward to seeing rebooted version of those heroes and villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe just a few short years from today.
That's exciting, of course, but there are still some characters who remain off limits to the fine people at Marvel Studios. Some are caught in another studio's web, while others are embroiled in complicated legal issues which mean they may never be able to enter this shared world.
Those are the ones we're taking a look at today, as we delve into which iconic comic book creations won't be assembling alongside The Avengers, X-Men, and Fantastic Four for the foreseeable future.
To take a look through this feature, you just need to click on the "Next" button down below!
10. Rom: Space Knight
In 1979, an action figure was released by Parker Brothers called Rom. At the time, Marvel Comics was asked to publish a tie-in promotional comic book to give the character a backstory, but the the title - called Rom: Space Knight proved to be a hit, and ended up running until the mid 1980s.
Suddenly a staple of the Marvel Universe, fans were shocked when he eventually disappeared, but that was down to the publisher ultimately losing the rights to the character.
Now, they're held by IDW, and he's left a voice in this world which has never been filled. These days Paramount Pictures is working on a movie featuring the robotic hero, and it's not an adventure which will be tied to Marvel in any way (though we're sure they'll mine those comics for inspiration). This is a shame as Rom would have fit right in with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
9. Black Cat
One of Spider-Man's greatest love interests, Felicia Hardy is a character who would fit right in if she were to become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Honestly, it's a terrible shame a movie has never explored her relationship with Peter Parker, and Sony Pictures instead seems intent on giving Black Cat her own solo adventure with the web-slinger nowhere to be seen.
Unfortunately, as Sony hold the rights to the anti-hero, it's not down to Marvel Studios to decide that she should be part of the MCU, so chances are she'll remain separate in the SUMC for now.
However, it was recently revealed by original Silver & Black director Gina Prince-Bythewood that there have been talks of a Disney+ TV series starring Black Cat, so could that be about to change? If we had to hazard a guess, the filmmaker spoke out of turn, and distributing the show there is just an idea which has been considered and not a sign Felicia is coming to the MCU.
8. Kick-Ass
It's easy to forget this, but the original Kick-Ass comic books were published under Marvel's Icon Comics imprint. Just like Kingsman, the property was brought to the big screen by Matthew Vaughn's Marv Films, and while that R-Rated franchise was distributed by Fox, this one came from Lionsgate.
However, despite those connections to Marvel Comics, the film rights don't belong to them or Lionsgate.
Instead, it's Marv Films who control them, and while there are plans for more Kick-Ass adaptations down the line, they won't be connected to Marvel Studios or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's possible future Kingsman movies will be distributed by 20th Century Studios, but even then there's no way that these characters are all suddenly going to start inhabiting the same world.
7. Venom
In an ideal world, Spider-Man would have returned from Titan with an alien costume in tow, with Spider-Man: Far From Home exploring what it means for Peter parker to be bonded to a Symbiote. From there, the stage could have been set for Venom to enter the MCU, and for us to get a comic accurate version of Eddie Brock (and now whatever that was in the 2018 movie).
As things stand, Venom is firmly entrenched in the SUMC, and Venom: Let There Be Carnage is another movie Marvel Studios won't have any sort of creative involvement in when it's released next year.
That's not the end of the world, but there's so much Venom could have brought to the MCU, with his arrival in that world a guaranteed game-changer. Andy Serkis will hopefully redeem the Lethal Protector, of course, but forget about seeing the likes of Captain America and Wolverine ever getting "Venomized."
6. Men In Black
After four Men in Black films, it's easy to forget that these characters originally starred in adventures published by Marvel Comics. However, the rights are as far from Marvel Studios' reach as the likes of Kick-Ass and Venom because they reside with Amblin Entertainment and Sony Pictures.
Men in Black: International underperformed both critically and commercially, but work continues on the franchise, and it will more than likely return in some way, shape, or form down the line.
Would it be fun seeing the Men in Black in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Sure, but the franchise has too much baggage at this point, and it would just be weird to see them suddenly show up. It's not going to happen anyway, but it's certainly interesting to think about what might have been.
5. The Defenders
This is only temporary, but as of right now, we're not going to be able to see The Defenders (characters like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher) in the MCU.
While Marvel Studios do hold the rights to the characters, any heroes or villains who appeared on Netflix cannot be used for a two-year period after their final seasons aired. Daredevil, for example, could be back in the hands of Kevin Feige by the end of this year, but others are stuck in limbo until well into 2021, and we don't fully know what other legal issues there might be.
We also don't know how much interest Feige has in characters who have essentially become "sloppy seconds," but they can't be used for the time being regardless of how the feels about them.
4. Miles Morales
Sony Pictures did something Marvel Studios has never done when they released Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and it went on to win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. As a result, it now appears as if Miles Morales' adventures will be contained to an animated setting, and while seeing the Spider-Verse franchise expand is no bad thing, it also feels like a waste to some extent.
For whatever reason, Sony Pictures seems intent on expanding the SUMC with supporting characters instead of alternate versions of Spider-Man, and while the MCU has referenced Miles' existence, there are no signs of him appearing any time soon...of course, it's not Marvel Studios' decision!
If Kevin Feige was in charge, it's easy to picture the Spider-Man franchise becoming a shared universe in its own right with multiple versions of the web-slinger swinging from franchise to franchise. Miles would likely be among them, but as it stands, Sony is keeping him in that animated "Spider-Verse."
3. Marvelman
The Marvel Cinematic Universe now has a hero appropriately titled Captain Marvel, but what about Marvelman? Originally created for publisher L. Miller & Son as the UK's version of Captain Marvel (called Miracleman at the time), the hero was later rebooted by Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.
The character has been caught in many ownership battles in the years which have followed, but in 2009, it was revealed that Marvel Comics had managed to purchase the rights. Reprints were issued, but plans for a new title never materialised, and you have to believe that's down to legal issues.
As a result, we definitely don't expect to see Marvelman brought to the big screen for the foreseeable future as that could be a complete minefield for Marvel Studios. The lack of contemporary stories also doesn't help, so who knows what the future holds for him on the page or screen at this stage.
2. Sinister Six
Once upon a time, a Sinister Six movie was going to be directed by Drew Goddard after spinning out of The Amazing Spider-Man franchise. That didn't happen after 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 failed to earn back the huge amount of money Sony Pictures invested in it, but the studio seemingly hasn't given up the idea of assembling this team of supervillains on the big screen.
In an ideal world, that would happen in a future Spider-Man movie set in the MCU, but once again, that's not a decision in the hands of Kevin Feige. We've also seen little in the way of groundwork laid for that.
After all, why put that group in one of the web-slinger's solo outings when you can make money by giving them their own franchise? That has to be Sony's thinking, and now they're building movies around characters like The Vulture, Venom, Carnage, and Morbius, we're likely going to see a totally different iteration.
1. Spider-Man
We've talked a lot about specific characters who are part of Spider-Man's world (including an alternate version of Spidey himself), but Peter Parker himself is the big one. After the Disney/Fox merger, Marvel Studios finally regained the X-Men and Fantastic Four, meaning the Marvel Cinematic Universe will soon be made up of more than just The Avengers and some lesser known characters.
However, Spidey is the one that still evades Kevin Feige and company, and without him, the MCU still isn't truly complete. Spider-Man has certainly become an integral part of this shared world, but with so many specifics in place with the Disney/Sony deal (Spidey can only appear in ONE upcoming Marvel Studios movie as of right now), he's never truly going to feel like a permanent member.
That was proven by the very public falling out between the studios last year, and it's inevitably going to feel like a ticking time bomb moving forward as we don't know when things could change again.