For reasons which aren't entirely clear, Fox chose to keep its
X-Men and
Fantastic Four franchises completely separate. There have, however, been rumblings over the years about some sort of team-up and it's now been revealed that one was in the works back in 2011 that would have not only combined those franchises but also used Deadpool and Daredevil.
The reveal came courtesy of
X-Men: First Class writer Zack Stentz during a recent interview:
"My ex-partner and I, when we were working at Fox and we were working on X-Men: First Class, we did a secret movie for them that, I can't tell you what the plot was, but I can tell you that it used all of the characters, all of the Marvel characters that Fox had at the time in 2011. It used the X-Men. It used the Fantastic Four. It used Daredevil. It used Deadpool. Daredevil was still at Fox at the time. We almost had Paul Greengrass directing it which would've been so cool but he had another project to do instead. It didn't end up going but it was a script I was really proud of and it would've been really good."
That's right, a Paul Greengrass directed mega superhero movie that would have arguably been even bigger than The Avengers (we can probably safely assume that they would have squared off with a threat as large as Galactus or Annihilus too). It's crazy to think this never happened but Fox has never really been able to get their act together, so it's not exactly a massive surprise.
"This was at Fox in 2011, which doesn't really exist anymore, so maybe they won't sue me for revealing," he continued. "Even though, I didn't reveal what it was called."
Are you disappointed it didn't happen? At least Marvel Studios is probably already plotting it out...
Which X-Men and Fantastic Four characters should Kevin Feige
prioritise moving forward? Hit the "View List" button to find out!
Cyclops
While it's true that we've seen plenty of Cyclops over the past twenty years or so, I think an argument could be made that Fox never quite got the character right. James Marsden and Tye Sheridan were both well cast but neither has been given the opportunity to show what a great leader Scott Summers is and most of their screentime has been devoted to pining after Jean Grey.
From the very start, Bryan Singer made a point of emasculating Cyclops as soon as Wolverine showed up and while I'm sure Marvel Studios is well aware of the importance this character holds to X-Men fans, there's sadly a risk that they'll feel he's been overexposed.
With any luck, though, he'll be given the chance to shine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and these movies will focus on his actual personality, including Scott's slightly darker side which has seen him align himself with Magneto in both the regular and Ultimate Marvel Universes over the years.