Despite reacquiring a number of characters for such projects as ‘Daredevil,’ finding loopholes for Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron,’ and making a deal with Sony Pictures for ‘Spider-Man,’ Marvel Studios still doesn’t have access to many of the most iconic heroes and villains in the House of Ideas pantheon. It’s a well known fact among True Believers that Fox is keeping the Fantastic Four and the X-Men from joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was recently revealed that Universal Studios is keeping Marvel from creating a solo Hulk movie. Now, thanks to a fan’s question on Facebook, we know a few others who won’t be appearing in Phase Three and potentially beyond.

After throwing Nebula, Howard the Duck, and Cosmo the Space Dog into ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, it seemed pretty obvious that James Gunn was open to including any and all cosmic characters in his sequel starring Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, Groot, and Drax the Destroyer. There have been teases of Nova and Adam Warlock so far, but the filmmaker revealed that there are a few foes that are off limits to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy 2’ or any other Marvel Studios film. In a reply to a fan on Facebook wondering if legendary Avengers villain Kang the Conqueror or the Shi’ar Empire could pop up in his upcoming film, Gunn revealed that neither he nor his fellow MCU architects can use those characters:

Considering the Fantastic Four’s history with Kang and acclaimed X-Men writer Chris Claremont’s creation of the Shi’ar, it’s not really a surprise that 20th Century Fox has them in their stable of Marvel properties. And while it would be cool to see Peter Quill and his team tango with Gladiator, Smasher, and the rest of the Shi-ar Imperial Guard, there are plenty of alien races in the Marvel Universe that could be utilized in the Guardians’ next adventure.

However, don’t give up all hope just yet. As I previously mentioned, Kevin Feige and the rest of the MCU executives have managed to work around things rather creatively. If they decide that they want Earth’s Mightiest Heroes to face off against Kang in the future (or if they want to work him into a Young Avengers project somehow), things might get easier if ‘Spider-Man’ does well since it would show that sharing the rights to these characters could be a good thing. Although I wouldn’t exactly hold my breath when it comes to Fox due to their notoriously bad decision-making. Either way, share your thoughts on this situation in the comments below.

Source: Comic Book Movie