James Gunn, always very active on his social networks, revealed to fans which characters will not be able to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 or the rest of the MCU due to rights issues.
The reveal comes to us from James Gunn’s Twitter account. The humorous, forward-thinking director who started out at B-movie production company Troma Entertainment is known for providing insight into everything surrounding the filmmaking process, ideas and anecdotes about what goes on behind the scenes at Marvel Studios. .
When James Gunn was asked by a fan if we could expect to see the character known as Rom in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the director had bad news in response to the question.
The fan said it would be a “A dream come true” see the character be included in the MCU, even if it is only in the form of an easter egg in the next space adventure. Gunn replied: “Unfortunately I can’t, as Marvel no longer has the rights to Rom”.
That is not to say that Marvel Studios prohibits the use of all Spaceknights and parts of their stories, as Gunn said that some characters and certain plot elements are still within the scope of the studio as far as rights are concerned, but the “Toaster head” unfortunately not on the list.
Additionally, another Marvel character from the Guardians of the Galaxy comics known as Bug is also banned from use by Marvel Studios due to rights concerns, Gunn said when pressed by fans on the issue.
And it is. https://t.co/FErjccuo9H
– James Gunn (@JamesGunn) December 30, 2021
In Bug’s case, the reason why the character was originally introduced with the Micronauts cannot be used, to later join the Guardians of the Galaxy in a second incarnation. Currently the cinematographic rights of Micronauts belong to Hasbro, since these characters were based on a line of toys known as Mego Micronauts that belong precisely to Hasbro.
The same happens with ROM, the famous space knight, is a character that is based on an electronic toy created by Scott Dankman, Richard C. Levy, and Bryan Lawrence McCoy, and also belonging to Hasbro.
In the comics both the Micronauts and Rom came to share adventures, so they could have a shared cinematic Universe and it could even be the case that they could appear in GI Joe or Transformers movies, based toy franchises that are also part of the company.
Despite the characters that unfortunately cannot appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3We’re still excited about the film when it hits theaters on May 5, 2023, as it will feature Will Poulter’s long-awaited debut as Adam Warlock.