Now that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is doing the rounds to promote the release of Avengers: Infinity War, he's inevitably being quizzed about the future of the MCU and how the Fantastic Four and X-Men will fit into that. While most of us have assumed that the characters will show up in Phase 4, it sounds like not even the deal being completed by next summer will help that become a reality.
Seeing as Marvel plans out its movies years in advance, Feige has now made it clear that the focus is currently on the ones we know the release dates of and points out that the heroes Disney will gain after purchasing Fox likely won't factor into plans until a number of years after the deal is official.
"No, because any of that deal would take a while to get going and years from whenever and if ever it happens. So, certainly it won’t impact the five movies we’ve announced, and it probably wouldn’t impact anything for a handful of years after that. Because really, we’re not thinking about that. We’re thinking of delivering on what we promised. Any movie, especially for any characters we don’t have the rights to yet until someone tells us we do, would be even further after that."
This doesn't necessarily mean that the movies Fox are currently developing will see the light of day; it just means that once the deal is official, Feige and company will need a couple of years to plan what they want to do with the X-Men and Fantastic Four, cast actors to play them, and make the movies!
As a result, we're clearly going to have to be patient but it's fair to say it will be well worth the way!