In the press release announcing the deal between Disney and Fox, the studio made it clear that the plan is to "reunite the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool with the Marvel family under one roof." However, with X-Men: Dark Phoenix on the way and a long list of other projects in development, the status of many movies is in flux and fans have been wondering what's next for them as a result.
Disney CEO Bob Iger held two conference calls yesterday and he confirmed that the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Deadpool will all become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as opposed to remaining in a separate world or being put under a difference banner (sort of like how The Defenders exists away from The Avengers because the characters in that team are part of Marvel's television division).
"With 20th Century Fox Film, we have the opportunity to expand iconic franchises for new generations of fans around the world – just as we have with Marvel and Star Wars," he explained. "We’re also looking forward to expanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe to include X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool and to reuniting all of the Star Wars movies ever made under one roof again, which opens new opportunities for that iconic franchise." That last part is a reference to A New Hope.
It's going to take another twelve to eighteen months for this deal to be finalised and that means all of Fox's 2018 movies will indeed be released as planned. Beyond that, Iger confirmed that others will continue to be developed but you have to believe the chances of a film like Gambit happening are slim.
A story from The Hollywood Reporter confirms that there will be casualties among Fox's Marvel slate and that's because the eventual plan is to reboot the characters and make them part of the MCU. "[Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige] is going to be asked, ‘Do you want to continues on these developments paths?’" says one insider about where things go next with these iconic heroes...