Integration

[Joe Moore]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balgus82

I doubt it's legalities because well doesn't WB own all the rights?

While they own the rights to the characters, likenesses, etc., the names could still cause trouble when referencing specific physical products. That is when these issues arise.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balgus82

And they didn't rename anyone else.

Not renaming all the characters is only an indication that no problems arose when new trademarks were applied for those characters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balgus82

Plus the Wildstorm comics were able to use the old names with no issues.

Use in media is different than use in physical products. See the cases when modern Transformers comics got away with the name Hot Rod, yet Hasbro was not allowed to use the name for physical products. Same with Shockwave, which until recently, had to be called Shockblast for toys, but in media could still be called Shockwave.

I'm not saying that trademark concerns were what caused this, only that it was a possibility.