Marvel Studios Kevin Feige Explains What it Means for X-Men Characters to Come Home

The Walt Disney Company's purchase of 21st Century Fox does come with far-reaching consequences that will be felt throughout the entertainment industry for years to come, and it does mean that a lot of people will lose their jobs. This move will have its fair share of negative effects, that is certain, but there are a couple of good results stemming from the merger as well. The most talked-about of these is the fact that the rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters from Marvel Comics are now back with Marvel Studios, allowing them to appear alongside the Avengers in future MCU films.

This is something that Marvel fans have been waiting quite a long time to see. Even more excited than many of the fans is Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige, who finally gets all of the classic Marvel comic book characters at his disposal.

While speaking with Variety about the pending release of Avengers: Endgame, and the next stage of the MCU that will follow it, Feige was asked about his thoughts on the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters joining the franchise.

"The specifics of what it means remains to be seen, but overall it's wonderful and it feels like these characters have come home," Feige said. "It will be nice to have what every other [intellectual property] holder that I can think of has, which is access to all their IP. Imagine if Donald Duck was at another studio. Imagine if Goofy or Moana were someplace else and you didn't have access to them even though they are yours."

Since characters like Mr. Fantastic, Wolverine, and Spider-Man weren't available when Marvel Studios started putting together the MCU, Feige chose to focus on characters that weren't as well known at the time. However, now that they are back, there is a whole new world for marvel to play with.

"We spent 12 years at Marvel Studios really embracing and digging into all the stories of characters who had never been brought to the screen before, but there would be times when we'd have a supporting player or a reference point or something for a movie and legal would go, 'don't forget that characters on that other list and you don't have access to it,'" he said. "I'm not talking about Professor X or Wolverine, but there are thousands of characters in those brands and we'd shrug and go okay and figure out another solution. It will be nice to not have to do that."

Are you excited to see what Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige do with these characters? Which do you think will be the first to be introduced in the MCU? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Avengers: Endgame hits theaters on April 26th.

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