Today, fans got some insight from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn about which Marvel characters can’t be included in the MCU film franchise due to rights issues.
The revelation comes to us from Gunn’s Twitter account, because of course it does. The humorously visionary director who got his start in the b-movie production company Troma Entertainment is famous for giving behind-the-scenes tidbits, insights, and anecdotes about what goes on under the hood at Marvel Studios.
When a fan, Twitter user @danmatoz, asked Gunn whether we might expect to see the Spaceknight character known as Rom make his chrome-plated debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the director had bad news in response to the question.
The fan said it would be a “dream come true” to see the character be inducted into the MCU, even if it’s just an Easter egg in the forthcoming spacefaring adventure. Gunn replied, “Alas I cannot as Marvel no longer holds the rights to Rom.” Check out the Tweet for yourself below.
That’s not to say all of the Spaceknights and parts of their stories are barred from use by Marvel Studios, as Gunn said some characters and certain plot elements are still within the studio’s grasp rights-wise, but the “toaster head” is unfortunately not part of the roster.
In addition, another Marvel character from the Guardians comics, Bug, is also barred from use by Marvel Studios due to rights issues, Gunn said when pressed by fans on the issue.
Despite the characters that unfortunately cannot appear in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, we’re still excited for the film when it comes to theaters on May 5, 2023, since it will feature the hotly anticipated debut of Will Poulter as the fan favorite Adam Warlock.