X-Men, Fantastic Four And Deadpool Reuniting With Marvel Family Specifically Called Out In Disney And Fox Deal Announcement

The landmark deal between Disney and 21st Century Fox has officially gone through, and Marvel can finally throw a big welcome party for some of it's biggest characters.

Disney's acquisition presents plenty of positives for both companies, but Marvel Studios benefits the most without a doubt. That is made clear several times in Disney's official press release, including early on when the house of mouse highlights a few returning heroes (via BusinessWire).

"Combining with Disney are 21st Century Fox's critically acclaimed film production businesses, including Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Fox 2000, which together offer diverse and compelling storytelling businesses and are the homes of Avatar, X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool."

While Marvel Studios greatly benefits from the purchase, Disney made it clear that fans and stockholders do as well, thanks to the huge crossover potential between the franchises now that they are under one roof.

"The agreement also provides Disney with the opportunity to reunite the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool with the Marvel family under one roof and create richer, more complex worlds of inter-related characters and stories that audiences have shown they love. The addition of Avatar to its family of films also promises expanded opportunities for consumers to watch and experience storytelling within these extraordinary fantasy worlds."

Walt Disney Company chairman and chief executive officer Robert A. Iger is excited about the possibilities, and sees a plethora of benefits for the company moving forward.

"We're honored and grateful that Rupert Murdoch has entrusted us with the future of businesses he spent a lifetime building, and we're excited about this extraordinary opportunity to significantly increase our portfolio of well-loved franchises and branded content to greatly enhance our growing direct-to-consumer offerings," Iger said. "The deal will also substantially expand our international reach, allowing us to offer world-class storytelling and innovative distribution platforms to more consumers in key markets around the world."

All of this means that fans will finally get a complete Marvel Cinematic Universe, and this really couldn't come at a better time for Marvel. The initial era of the MCU is coming to a close with Avengers 4, and now there are a host of new possibilities for Phase 4 and beyond. The only remaining character not under the Marvel umbrella is Spider-Man (housed at Sony), but the companies already worked out a deal that allows Spidey in the MCU.

It seems the future for Marvel fans is bright indeed.