A
new report from CNBC a few days ago indicated that
Disney is on the cusp of acquiring
21st Century Fox, with the parties negotiating a deal that could be officially announced as early as next week! With the potential for Fox's Marvel-owned properties to return to the hands of
Marvel Studios, we're listing the top 10 characters we want to see make the leap into the Marvel Cinematic Universe!
To view the list in its entirety, simply click on the VIEW LIST (ONE PAGE) button below!
Reed Richards
If any Marvel property has had a tough time onscreen, it's the
Fantastic Four. The first attempt at a franchise in 2005 was received rather blandly by fans and critics, (with its sequel not faring much better) and Josh Trank's infamously terrible
Fant4stic left a very bitter taste in the mouth of fans of Marvel's First Family.
While a deal with Disney could finally see the entire team given a proper treatment onscreen,
Reed Richards would probably be the most interesting. In addition to his fantastic superpowers, Reed's genius scientific mind has always been his strongest trait. Having assisted The Avengers on more than one occasion in the comics, along with being a member of the secret Illuminati, Reed's precense in the MCU could open many potential storylines.
Doctor Doom
They say a hero is only as good as their villain, and boy, does this villain deserve better.
Doctor Doom has had some equally rough treatment on film despite being one of the most renowned Marvel villains. Known for his egoistic regality and ruthlessness in the comics, both live action versions of Doom have fallen well short of the mark.
Although it was recently announced that
Legion showrunner
Noah Hawley would helm a Doctor Doom-centric film for Fox, those plans may end up on the backburner if Disney acquires the rights. Besides, who doesn't want to see Doctor Doom take on The Avengers one day?
Cyclops
A classic Marvel character and a true leader,
Cyclops' live action appearances have been dull to say the least. Played by James Marsden in the original trilogy, the "team leader" often took a back seat to Wolverine, popping up here and there when he needed to fire an optic blast and tell Logan to stay away from his girl.
X-Men: Apocalypse had Tye Sheridan take the part of a younger Scott Summers, and while we got to see a little more of Scott in the field, he was still far away from the leader he's meant to be.
We still have at least one more Fox-made
X-Men film in the pipeline, as its very unlikely that deal between Disney and Fox would cancel the release of
X-Men: Dark Phoenix, now in post-production. There's still a chance we could see the Cyclops we've always wanted, but a clean slate in the MCU might go a long way in giving
X-Men fans what they want to see.
Jean Grey (And Not The Phoenix)
Unlike Cyclops,
Jean Grey has been given plenty of focus in Fox's
X-Men films, but in entirely the wrong way. The original trilogy set up Famke Janssen's Jean as a love interest for Wolverine who was scared of her powers, which ended with her transformation into
The Phoenix in
X-Men 3. While Bryan Singer looked set to deliver a comic-accurate Phoenix, Brett Ratner opted for a much different take when he took over the film, turning Jean into a pale, zombie-eyed mute that disintegrated those who stood against her.
With a short reintroduction to the character in
X-Men Apocalypse (played by Sophie Turner this time), Fox is set on rushing into the Phoenix storyline yet again when
X-Men: Dark Phoenix releases next year. An MCU reboot of the character could take her back to basics, with a focus on what she can do as just Jean Grey, while properly building to the Phoenix over the course of several movies.
Galactus
Officially,
Galactus has made one live action appearance in 2007's
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, though you could barely call it that. Marvel's cosmic planet-eater was adapted as a (now-infamous) space cloud, which looked pretty terrible. Early drafts of Josh Trank's Fan4stic would have also featured the character in the film's alternate dimension, but the idea was scrapped early on.
Fans probably still have a while to wait before we see the purple giant fully realized, but introducing him down the line to confront the Fantastic Four - or even The Avengers - in the MCU would seem very likely, especially since Marvel has started to delve further into their cosmic material.
Silver Surfer
Of course, what would Galactus be without his most famous herald? Introducing the
Silver Surfer in the MCU may be a little tricky after his one live action appearance in 2007's
Rise of the Silver Surfer. Arguably one of the few things Fox got right, Surfer's story in that film was an adaptation of the classic comic story where he arrives on Earth to herald the arrival of Galactus, only to turn on him in the end.
If Galactus is brought into the MCU, it would only make sense for Surfer to arrive with or before him, though perhaps featuring the two characters in space first would be a good change of pace.
Annihilus
We've featured two of the most famous
Fantastic Four villains on our list, but
Annihilus is one that has been discussed endlessly by fans, producers, directors and more. As lord of the Negative Zone and commander of his army, the Annhilation Wave, Annihilus has the possibility be an awesome Fantastic Four villain if given the chance. Introducing more alternate dimensions such as the Negative Zone would be great for the MCU as well!
Kang The Conqueror
The Avengers are set to confront their greatest foe yet in
Thanos when
Avengers: Infinity War hits theatres this May, and while the two part story promises plenty of thrills, it's left many wondering: who comes next? As a frequent opponent of The Avengers in the comics,
Kang the Conqueror immediately comes to mind, though his rights currently lie with Fox.
Marvel Studios getting the rights to Kang would open the possibility for a fight across time and space that wouldn't need to involve any Infinity macguffins. Also his relation to Reed Richards would be a neat little twist.
Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds)
Suffice it to say that
Ryan Reynolds hasn't been
Deadpool long enough. After finally managing to convince Fox to make a solo film for the character (which paid off immensely), there's now a sequel on the way, and having Deadpool erased or recast in a Disney acquisition would be a shame for Reynolds and fans.
A big fear from many is that a Disney purchase could erase the possibility of R-rated flicks, though with Deadpool being known for his violence and vulgarity, it seems unlikely that Disney or Marvel would strip away what people love most. Plus, who doesn't want to see Deadpool cracking wise about being sold to the House of Mouse?
Wolverine
There's no question that
Hugh Jackman delivered everything he could in his nearly 20 year tenure as
Wolverine. With the actor bidding an emotional farewell to the role in
Logan earlier this year, many people have already begun throwing names in the hat for who they want to see play the role next, though Fox hasn't shown any sign that they plan to recast the role any time soon.
While some may argue we've seen too much Wolverine, there's still plenty that hasn't been done with the character onscreen, especially if he were to join the MCU. Sparring with the Hulk to reluctantly joining the Avengers are just a few of the many possibilities, and maybe...just maybe...we could finally see a version of that classic costume onscreen!
Do you think there's anyone we missed? Which Fox-owned Marvel character do you want to see in the MCU? Let us know in the comments!