Here's What To Expect From Fox's Final X-MEN Movies And Sony Pictures' "Spider-Verse" During 2019
This year, Fox's X-Men Universe comes to an end, while Sony Pictures will continue developing its animated and live-action Spider-Verses. To find out what to expect from both, hit the jump for details...
Much to the dismay of a lot of snobbish film critics out there, superhero movies and comic book adaptations are going from strength to strength and clearly aren't going anywhere. 2019 looks set to be a banner year for both Marvel Studios and Warner Bros.' DC Extended Universe, while everything is about to change at Fox and Sony Pictures forges ahead with its Spider-Verse.
When it comes to the latter two studios, 2019 will be the year we say goodbye to the "FoX-Men," while Sony is clearly not going to be stopped from forging ahead with expanding a shared Spider-Man Universe...that doesn't necessarily include Spidey in any way!
Throw in the fact that we don't know what comes next for the wall-crawler after Spider-Man: Far From Home is released and we have a lot of questions. Here, we delve not only into the projects we know about but also those which have been rumoured, not to mention some speculation about what could be on the way for the Marvel characters from both studios.
So, to take a look, all you guys have to do is click on the "View List" button to check it out in full.
The X-Men's (Second) "Final Stand"
Dark Phoenix is essentially a remake of X-Men: The Last Stand and after Fox spent money reshooting what sounds like a huge chunk of the film, the long-delayed release is either going to be an epic and incredible finale to a series that began back in 2000...or a total disaster and disappointment.
Whatever the case may be, this will be the final X-Men movie made under Fox's reign and the franchise will be rebooted by Marvel Studios as soon as the Fox/Disney deal is made 100% official.
That could happen around the time Dark Phoenix is released in June and it will be interesting seeing whether or not fans flock to this one or simply choose to ignore it because they know that something better is on the way. Honestly, most just hope it will do this comic book storyline justice!
The Animated Spider-Verse Expands
We already know that a sequel and Spider-Woman-led spinoff is in the works but with an Oscar for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse pretty much a guarantee at this point, we should probably expect more movies set in the "Spider-Verse" to be announced, right?
Possibly not. Right now, the critically acclaimed movie has made only $277 million at the worldwide box office and while that's not a bad return on a $90 million production budget, it's also not a home run the same way Venom was. As a result, common sense says that Sony will hold off and see how the above two releases perform before they consider expanding the franchise on the big screen.
Venom 2 Finds A Director
Talking of Venom, we recently learned that Kelly Marcel is returning to pen the screenplay but with that news came the update that director Ruben Fleischer may be unable to take the helm of the sequel due to the fact that he's committed to Zombieland 2.
That's probably just an excuse, though, because while Sony was happy with those box office numbers, they don't want to deliver another critically panned movie (it's also been said that Tom Hardy was unhappy with the reception and the blame there obviously lies mostly with the director).
As a result, with production surely set to start later this year to meet that October 2020 release date, it shouldn't be too long until we find out who Sony wants to take charge of this follow-up.
A First Look At Morbius The Living Vampire
With production on Morbius the Living Vampire set to begin within the next few months, there's no way 2019 will end without us getting a first look at the movie and that means we'll get to see Jared Leto go from being The Joker to this classic Spider-Man villain. Here's hoping that reveal image is a little more exciting than the widely ridiculed image of Tom Hardy suited up as Eddie Brock, eh?
The New Mutants Is Finally Scrapped
Surely, this is inevitable? Despite being pencilled in for an August 2nd release date, those reshoots still haven't taken place and rumours about problems behind the scenes persist.
If there really isn't a director in place to take charge of them and Fox needs to spend tens of millions of dollars basically reshaping the entire movie and adding new characters, it's entirely feasible that the Disney merger will happen soon enough that everyone involved just cuts their losses and the project is forgotten about.
Given how much money has already been spent, that may seem unlikely but stranger things have happened and it definitely feels like this is a lost cause so expect a big update on this one soon.
Sony's Female Heroes Finally Get The Spotlight?
Silver & Black is no longer happening but Sony Pictures is reportedly developing movies revolving around Black Cat, Silver Sable, and even Jackpot (a Mary Jane Watson lookalike who fights crime).
With any luck, Sony is going to start moving forward with work on these as the year goes on, especially as they'll no doubt want to get something in theaters by the time 2021 rolls around. As a result, don't be surprised if we finally get some intel on who the studio would like to play some of these characters, news which is bound to stoke the interest of fans.
It's feasible that Sony is holding off to see how Captain Marvel does but if that's a hit, there's no way they're sitting on these heroes much longer.
Marvel Studios' X-Men Plans Become Clear
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has confirmed that he expects to start working on rebooting the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises before the year is over, and while it's unlikely that we'll get casting news, there's a very good chance that some intel on how mutants will be incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe will find its way online.
If an entire Phase 4 slate is revealed, we may even get a release date and title and I wouldn't be remotely surprised if Marvel decides to kick things off with an adaptation of Avengers Vs. X-Men.
The Wall-Crawler Swings Back To The Small Screen
We recently learned that Sony is considering bringing some of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse's characters to the small screen and seeing as Marvel TV could do with launching some more animated projects, that makes perfect sense (and they'll have plenty of time on their hands following the cancellation of pretty much every Marvel show on Netflix).
It's still early days and these are unlikely to premiere this year but when Comic-Con rolls around, don't be surprised if Sony and Marvel reveal plans for breakout characters like Spider-Ham and Spider-Noir, not to mention Peni Parker. After all, there's not enough room for all of them on the big screen so expanding the Spider-Verse on TV makes perfect sense.
Fox Pulls The Plug On A Number Of Projects
While it's been said that Fox will continue developing projects despite the upcoming Disney merger, there's no way the studio will waste money on movies they know will never happen, especially now that it's going to be completed much sooner than expected.
As a result, there's no way the likes of Multiple Man and Doctor Doom are ever going to start shooting or even begin pre-production, especially when June is fast approaching and those involved behind the scenes are busy with other things and neither has a cast!
With that in mind, expect the plug to be pulled on these and any other spinoffs this year.
Say Goodbye To The Gifted
Legion and The Gifted both do pretty well in terms of ratings but these shows were given the green light before the Fox/Disney merger and there's no way Kevin Feige is going to be happy about key characters being off limits to him because they're starring in TV shows he had nothing to do with.
Honestly, I think 2019 will see the final seasons of both shows hitting the air and once the X-Men and Fantastic Four are properly introduced to the MCU, it's then that new TV shows will be launched (after all, Disney will want to get something Marvel related on its newly owned FOX network).
A Bright New Future For The Fantastic Four
For a while, the Fantastic Four became a dirty word at Marvel, hence why their comic was cancelled and you couldn't find merchandise featuring the characters for love or money.
Well, that's changing with the Disney/Fox merger on the horizon and not only do they now have their own comic book series but we're also starting to see them show up in various mobile games (and possibly even Spider-Man on the PS4). While it's going to take Feige a lot to restore faith in the franchise after three disastrous efforts from Fox, things are finally looking up for Marvel's First Family.
The New Mutants Reshoots Finally Happen (LOL)
Hey, it could happen! As I mentioned a little earlier in this post, it does seem unlikely that Fox would just let this movie vanish when it's already been shot and if they can do those reshoots cheaply enough, The New Mutants could very well end up in theaters (or on some sort of on-demand service).
As a result, Fox's X-Men Universe could go out with a bang or a complete whimper but it's hard to escape the feeling that we're in store for a Fantastic Four level disappointment here and I can't help but be curious about what the movie will look like, especially with such a talented cast involved.
Fox Finally Gives Up Those Release Dates
Fox has pencilled in a lot of future "untitled" movies in release dates spread out over the next few years but those will soon be vacated and it will be interesting seeing whether Marvel Studios chooses to keep them for their own purposes or if other studios will sweep in. Either way, there are big changes on the horizon and that means thing aren't going to play out as many of us originally thought!
Spider-Man Swings One Way...Or Another
We don't know what will become of the wall-crawler after Spider-Man: Far From Home and while Amy Pascal says that Sony wants to keep working with Marvel Studios, the success of Venom could very well have given Sony the confidence to once again take control of the hero, MCU be damned.
Now, we all know that would be a mistake but it's been said that they want Spider-Man in the Kraven the Hunter movie and Pascal insists that the Sinister Six spinoff from Drew Goddard is still happening (and the Sony leak confirmed that Spidey would appear there).
So, in 2019, Spider-Man's future should become clear and that means we'll either see him stay in one world, become part of both, or even get a second, separate Spidey who will appear in the movies mentioned above. We'll have to wait and see but things are going to get interesting this year...
More Spinoffs (Whether You Like It Or Not)
Venom massively exceeded expectations at the box office and that's bound to have given Sony the confidence to move forward with the Spider-Man spinoffs we've heard about...and the ones we haven't.
This could be good news or terrible news but now that Marvel Studios owns pretty much every character there is, it may not be a bad thing to get some variation from Sony even if not all of them are winners. After all, the more comic book movies we get a year, the better, right? We'll see, I guess!