Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige is reportedly very excited to get his hands on the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters and incorporate them in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For years, fans could only dream of the mutants and the Avengers teaming up (or fighting each other) on the big screen just in the comic books. Despite the two superhero franchises enjoying separate success, there has always been that notion that the two Marvel divisions will finally collide. A few months ago, it was nothing but a pipe dream, but now, it is almost within reach with Disney's plans of buying 21st Century Fox's Film and TV division supposedly almost finished.
Last month, news broke out that the companies have been talking about a possible buyout that will result to Disney absorbing several key components of Fox at an estimated cost of more than $60 billion. At one point, the conversations stopped with the potential sale abandoned after failing to come up with an agreement that is agreeable to both camps. That is until last week when negotiations were apparently once again back on and are progressing at a faster pace than what we expected.
RELATED: CHRIS EVANS JOKES ABOUT CAPTAIN AMERICA & HUMAN TORCH BUDDY FILM
With where the sales talks stand right now, fans cannot help but wonder just how Marvel Studios is planning to incorporate the roster of characters that they could finally play with, especially with 20 films already on the docket past Avengers 4. Of course, with nothing set in stone yet when it comes to the mysterious Phase 4, it is definitely possible for Feige to make room for arguably Marvel's original premiere superheroes. In a report by Deadline, the producer extraordinaire is apparently "eager" to get his hands on the aforementioned IPs.
Despite the general public excited for the mutants to be joining the MCU, there are some who are still understandably worried that this would hamper Fox Marvel movies' creativity when it comes to pushing the boundaries with an arguably darker and grittier tone than what we're used to getting from the MCU. For what it's worth, the X-Men films have always had a different vibe going on them and by subjecting them to Feige's management, we risk losing that unique quality. Additionally, others are also anxious about the possibility of Disney mellowing down films that obviously thrive with R ratings, like Deadpool and Logan. The Merc with a Mouth's creator, Rob Liefeld, is one of those who are openly opposed to the sale.
While all these points hold merit, lest we forget that before Feige even became the brain behind the MCU, he has helped launch the X-Men franchise back in the early 2000s, even having a hand on Hugh Jackman's comics-loyal Wolverine hair. So we best believe, that whatever he plans to do with the X-Men and the Fantastic Four will always be of service to the source material, hence, a good adaptation of these characters on the big screen. It's likewise hard to fathom that Disney is planning to spend several billions of dollars on this buyout just to pull the plug on Fox's rated R properties when they are doing so well. If anything, this might actually be one of the reasons why they want to buy those IPs so that they can get into that darker, grittier genre without compromising their already established house brands.
Should this sale push through, the pressing question remains: what will happen to the slew of projects already announced in the Fox Marvel franchise such as Deadpool 2, New Mutants, Dark Phoenix, Gambit, X-Force and the recently announced, Multiple Man? It's hard to think that they will be scrapped like that, especially with a few of them already in principal photography.
MORE: DISNEY BUYING X-MEN RIGHTS WOULD BE BAD FOR MARVEL FANS
Source: Deadline
