Marvel's Rom The Space Knight Movie May Never Happen. Here's Why

In the realm of comic book adaptations, things have gotten rather strange as of late. A little over a decade ago, people thought it was a risk to make movies based on characters like Iron Man and Captain America. They may have been a bit off the beaten path, but most people at least had heard of them to an extent. These days, one of the biggest franchises in the world is based on the Guardians of the Galaxy, while M.O.D.O.K. has his very own T.V. show on Hulu.

It seems like virtually any comic book character could get their own property these days, especially in light of Disney greenlighting a slew of Marvel series to go directly to Disney+. It begs the question that's undoubtedly been on most people's minds for years now: when will we get a movie based on Rom the Space Knight?

The character started as a toy before spinning off into its own comic book series from Marvel. The cyborg seems ripe for adaptation given its cool aesthetic, but James Gunn recently broke down why people shouldn't get their hopes up any time soon.

The absence of a Rom the Space Knight movie isn't for lack of trying. Several years ago, news broke that screenwriter Zak Penn was working on a script for an upcoming movie adaptation. The plan was for the film to become part of a Hasbro interconnected universe, so it would fall within that franchise instead of the MCU. But what are the chances the character could join the ranks of Star-Lord and Nebula in an intergalactic MCU adventure of its very own?

According to James Gunn, fans of the character shouldn't get their hopes up. When asked about the character on Twitter, Gunn responded, "Marvel owns the story from the comics; Hasbro owns the character. So, unless something changes, the original Spaceknights tale with Rom can never be told." That means Hasbro can theoretically use the character in a movie but can't pull from any storylines or other characters from the Marvel Comics run. Similarly, Marvel could technically adapt storylines involving Rom the Space Knight but would be unable to use that character in any upcoming projects.

If all this sounds confusing, it's because it is. Character rights are something Marvel fans are all too familiar with, seeing how Marvel Studios and Sony co-own Spider-Man while Disney only recently acquired the rights to X-Men and the Fantastic Four through its acquisition of 20th Century Studios. All of this to say — don't expect James Gunn to make a Rom the Space Knight movie as he's far too busy with other projects to bring more onto his plate.