With The Fox/Disney Merger Set To Be Completed Sooner Than Expected, Here's What It Might Mean For The MCU

Earlier this week, we learned that the Fox/Disney merger will be completed much sooner than anyone ever expected but what does that mean for the Fantastic Four and X-Men's arrival in the MCU? Take a look!

By JoshWilding - Oct 13, 2018 03:10 AM EST

Filed Under: X-Men

Avengers 4 is already set to be a game changer for the Marvel Cinematic Universe as we bid farewell to a number of beloved heroes and newer additions like Black Panther and Captain Marvel step up to take their place. However, this shared world is about to become even more crowded with the addition of the heroes and villains Marvel Studios will acquire from Fox in the highly anticipated Disney/Fox merger.

We are, of course, talking about the X-Men and Fantastic Four as the characters finally come home and get to live in the same world as The Avengers all while being under the watchful eye of Kevin Feige.

The question is, following the news that the merger will actually be finished by the New Year, what sort of impact is that going to have on the MCU? We previously heard that it wouldn't be done until January so this is changes things in a significant way and that's what we're taking a look at here today. So, to check out this breakdown in its entirety, all you guys have to do is click on the "View List" button.

Is There Time To Shoot Something For Avengers 4?

Yes. While reshoots are pretty much done and it's far too late to change the movie in a significant way, bear in mind that The Avengers' shawarma scene was filmed the day it premiered and was then attached to the final cut a couple of weeks later when it reached theaters. This would have to be something very small but it is feasible that Marvel Studios could squeeze some sort of tease in.

What might that be? Well, it could be as simple as Galactus' shadow looming over the moon and it would send fans into a frenzy and with this deal done by January, there's time to make it happen.

What Happens To Dark Phoenix And The New Mutants?

While some fans are no doubt salivating at the prospect of Dark Phoenix being cancelled, we've heard a number of times in the past that Disney will release any Fox movies which are already deep into development. Plus, seeing as millions of dollars have just been spent on reshoots, there's no way Dark Phoenix will just sit on a shelf somewhere gathering dust only to never actually see the light of day.

In other words, it will indeed be released in some form and whether that's in theaters or on Disney's streaming service is hard to say, especially as the latter doesn't have a firm ETA. The New Mutants could well be scrapped especially as the reshoots still haven't happened and it sounds like a disaster.

What Comes First: X-Men Or Fantastic Four?

While the franchise has been left in a sorry state thanks to Fox, I honestly believe that the Fantastic Four will be a priority for Marvel Studios when this deal goes through. That's partly because of the team's amazing rogues gallery but also because Kevin Feige is bound to want to leave some breathing space between Dark Phoenix and his X-Men reboot. Introducing mutants will also take some time.

In fact, it would make sense for Marvel to take a slow burn approach to the X-Men because of that whereas the Fantastic Four could easily be introduced thanks to an origin story which ties into any number of cosmic adventures we've seen in the MCU (they may have stolen that spaceship to see if they could figure out why everyone disappeared only to be hit by cosmic rays in the process).

Has Kevin Feige Already Started Planning The Future?

While the Marvel Studios President has claimed that he's not giving these characters any thought until the deal is signed, sealed, and delivered, there's no way he hasn't been mulling over ideas for their future and I wouldn't be remotely surprised if some of the studio's talented concept artists have already been commissioned to throw around some costume ideas for the X-Men and Fantastic Four.

Feige is a crazy genius who has a good decades' worth of movies planned out and a recent report even claimed that Marvel Studios secretly commissions scripts which may or may not become a reality like Dark Avengers so you just know that he has an idea how to introduce all of these characters.

What Sort Of Impact Will The Mass Layoffs Have?

The sad reality is that while we're all getting excited about seeing The Avengers in the same world as the Fantastic Four and X-Men, thousands of Fox employees are about to lose their jobs. It's a sad reality for mergers like these that that will happen but seeing as Disney is already singling out the people they want to keep, these losses will have no sort of impact of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's future.

What we don't know is whether Marvel has its eye on any of the talent that's worked behind the scenes on Fox's Marvel franchises but I do find it hard to imagine Feige teaming up with Simon Kinberg!

Will Fox's Slate Of Marvel Movies Be Scrapped?

Definitely. Disney CEO Bob Iger has confirmed that the Fantastic Four and X-Men franchises will be rebooted for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so there's not a chance in hell that the likes of Gambit and Multiple Man will survive this merger unless they're actually shooting by early next year (which simply isn't going to happen). Despite that, there's one project which may very well survive.

That is, of course, Deadpool 3/X-Force. While the version Drew Goddard is hoping to work on probably won't make it through the merger intact, I find it hard to imagine that Kevin Feige won't want to keep Ryan Reynolds around and it feels like the actor may have suggested making that PG-13 cut just to prove the Merc with the Mouth can work in the child friendly Marvel Cinematic Universe.

When Will The Acquisition Be 100% Completed?

While this merger will be 100% official by January, it's also been said that it's unlikely to be fully done until the Spring and it will then take months for Disney to get everything in order. However, while Bob Iger and company are restructuring everything and figuring out what to do with all those Fox movies being worked on, there's nothing stopping Feige with getting to work on the X-Men and Fantastic Four from January onwards. In fact, I would think he's already provisionally made a start on that.

Which Movies Will Suffer Because Of The New Characters?

As great as it was seeing Spider-Man brought into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Studios making space for the wall-crawler meant that a number of movies were delayed, including Black Panther and Captain Marvel. Feige has confirmed that he has a rough idea of where Phase 4 will go but that's bound to change once these new characters are added to it, so expect to wait for some sequels.

What that probably means is projects which aren't a huge priority like Doctor Strange 2 and Ant-Man 3 which aren't a massive priority will continue to wait while bigger names are prioritised for the time being.

How Will This Impact Disney's Streaming Service?

Right now, it's hard to say but with Scarlet Witch and Loki already being lined up for their own shows, common sense says that certain X-Men characters will receive the same treatment somewhere down the line. While Feige no doubt has plenty of ideas for the big screen, I highly doubt this has even been discussed yet but perhaps poor old Gambit will finally receive the spotlight on this platform instead?

Regardless, while Wolverine can hold his own on the big screen, the likes of Storm and Magneto would be perfectly suited to an eight-part series like this and it would certainly make this service a draw.

When Will We Get Some Official News?

Regardless of when this deal is completed, we won't hear anything about what comes next until after Avengers 4 is released. Feige has said on numerous occasions that they want that to hit theaters before revealing what movies will make up Phase 4 and an official announcement should be made either at D23 or Comic-Con next summer (it's also possible that the studio will hold another "Marvel Event").

Either way, don't be surprised if at least one Fantastic Four or X-Men movie is squeezed right into the end of Phase 4 because there's no way these characters will gather dust for more than a few years...

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189 Comments

1 2 3 4 5

DoubleD - 10/13/2018, 3:46 AM

Disney / Marvel needs to release 6 movies a year to stay on par with Fox movies that were being released.

DoubleD - 10/13/2018, 3:49 AM

@DoubleD - Make Mine Marvel

Comicbookart - 10/13/2018, 4:07 AM

@DoubleD - lol 6 movies a year?!

Feige is only one man.

lvcl - 10/13/2018, 4:12 AM

It´s gonna be a challenge to fit the story of FANTASTIC FOUR in the timeline of AVENGERS

As they are the first superheroes maybe they get their powers in the 70´s and they can meet the young version of Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, T´Chaka, young Nick Fury and even Ms. Marvel fighting the Skrulls (and the SuperSkrull)

They can meet INHUMANS too and fight against GALACTUS or Dr DOOM together
Be lost on space for some years and came back later

It´s gonna be amazing there are so many possibilities

DoubleD - 10/13/2018, 4:18 AM

@Comicbookart - Feige needs to hire a executive assistant.

The one thing I will miss with Fox was at least we we're getting Marvel movies. How does Disney / Marvel manage this. Fans will suffer.

That's why I like Sony's Spiderman-U-verse movies. The line at Marvel / Disney for new movies is already to long

Origame - 10/13/2018, 4:30 AM

@lvcl - not really. The real challenge is going to be bringing in the x men, because mutants is basically a new race on earth and they dont have an excuse to say something like they live in a different part of the planet or galaxy like they did before. All they need to do is say that they weren't around like captain marvel or arent heroes yet.

Comicbookart - 10/13/2018, 4:30 AM

@DoubleD - So what you want is for someone other than Feige to be in charge of some films?

Because that is the only way there will be 6 MCU films a year. Not sure if that's a good idea.

dracula - 10/13/2018, 3:49 AM

Do Fantastic 4 first, then do X Men, but only use the original 5 members, then do a Wolverine movie and introduce Storm in Black Panther 2

DoubleD - 10/13/2018, 3:51 AM

@dracula - Fantastic Four, since we've been getting so many X-Men movie for years.

dracula - 10/13/2018, 3:54 AM

@DoubleD - Yeah, and the big threat after thanos should be either Galactus or Kang. If it's Galactus, build him up for Avengers 6 or 7. Kang can fill up one of the movie in between

MikeNolan - 10/13/2018, 4:28 AM

@dracula - Like the idea of that. Slow and steady AF. It would be cool to get a few neat side X-Men appear in a really solid Disney streaming service Marvel show - Just some of the small time characters

1 2 3 4 5

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With The Fox/Disney Merger Set To Be Completed Sooner Than Expected, Here's What It Might Mean For The MCU

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