With Disney’s purchase of the bulk of 20th Century Fox’s assets nearly complete, it seems inevitable that we’ll see the X-Men and the Fantastic Four join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
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Fans have wanted to see live-action versions of Wolverine, Deadpool, and the Fantastic Four interact with the Avengers for a long time, although it seemed impossible as the groups were owned by rival studios. Unlike Sony, who had reached a deal with Disney for Spider-Man to appear in the MCU, Fox was happy with the success of the X-Men movies and didn’t seem likely to loosen their grasp on the Fantastic Four.
However, the 2017 announcement that Disney would be purchasing the bulk of Fox’s assets gave many fans hope that we’d see an (almost) complete Marvel Universe in movie form at last. And while Marvel Studios and Disney have remained vague about the future of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, it seems very likely that they’ll appear soon. Given that, here’s everything Disney and Marvel Studios have said about the movie futures of the X-Men and Fantastic Four:
December 2017 – Merger Announcement
When Disney and Fox first announced the merger in December 2017, the companies were quick to note that it would result in the X-Men and Fantastic Four joining the MCU.
“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,” the press release read.
“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.”
January 2018 – It Could Be Years Away
While fans were excited about the possibility of the X-Men and Fantastic Four joining the MCU, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige quickly cooled expectations in January 2018.
“The truth of the matter as I understand it is the deal has to be figured out,” said Feige. “There’s been no communication. We’re not thinking about it. We’re focusing on everything we’ve already announced. If and when the deal actually happens, we’ll start to think more about it. Until then, we have a lot to do.”
“It would be years away [until the characters show up],” Feige noted. “We’ve announced everything through 2019, so none of those would be adjusted.”
March 2018 – Other Priorities
Feige further clarified in March 2018 that Marvel Studios had other priorities before they could start working on any projects involving the new characters.
“It’s all about getting Infinity War finished and out, starting Captain Marvel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Untitled Avengers, the next Spider-Man, and Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3,” Feige told EW. “These are the ones that are keeping us busy.
“When and how that deal with Fox finishes and comes together and we’re told, ‘Hey, now you can start working on it. Now you can start thinking about it,’ is when we’ll actually start thinking about it,” Feige said. “I will say just the notion of having what, frankly, most other companies with [intellectual property] have all along, which is access to all of their characters, that would be fun.”
June 2018 – Waiting for the Phone Call
As the merger continued on its uneven road to being finalized, Feige mentioned that he, like all the other fans, was just waiting for confirmation to begin work.
“I’m just sitting, waiting for a phone call to say yay or nay, but obviously it would be nice to have access to that entire library,” Feige said during a June 2018 conference.
Feige’s comments continued to paint a picture of cautious optimism coupled with keeping focus on projects that could actually be completed and worked on.
July 2018 – Vague Ideas
Feige reiterated in July 2018 that he wouldn’t begin work on integrating the characters until Disney had given the go-ahead.
“Not until we’re given the word,” Feige said to the Daily Mail. “I have vague dreams and vague ideas. But right now, bringing to life the 10,000-plus characters that Marvel fully controls is what the gameplan is.”
“My desire is to get Ant-Man and the Wasp in theaters and successful,” Feige said of the then just-released Ant-Man sequel. “Then complete filming on Captain Marvel this week and to get the next Spider-Man on camera, then to continue to work on Avengers 4 in the cutting room. I’m very busy for the foreseeable future.”
However, the Daily Mail noted that his comments weren’t “entirely convincing.”
August 2018 – MCU Integration Confirmed
While no immediate plans were announced in August, Disney CEO Bob Iger did note that the plan was for Kevin Feige to control the X-Men and Fantastic Four as part of Marvel Studios.
“I think it only makes sense,” Iger said. “I want to be careful here because of what’s been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn’t be two Marvels.”
That was followed up with a proposition of “so Deadpool could become an Avenger?”
“Kevin’s got a lot of ideas,” Iger said. “I’m not suggesting that’s one of them. But who knows?”
November 2018 – It Could Be a Little Time
If there were plans to immediately integrate the X-Men and Fantastic Four into the MCU, one man who’d know about it would be Joe Russo. The Avengers: Endgame director claimed in November that he didn’t know specifics, but he did speculate about the characters’ future.
“It could be a little time, with the integration of Fox and all the Fox characters,” Russo explained. “I haven’t talked to [Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige] directly about it, so I don’t know what his plans are. But my guess would be they’re gonna integrate some of the other characters and take their time doing that.”
December 2018 – Looking Very, Very Good
Feige has been pretty cautious about the Fantastic Four and X-Men, but it looks like even he was getting excited about the pending merger in December.
“No,” Feige said when asked if he’s been working with Fox-owned characters. “But we’ve been told it’s looking very, very good and could happen in the first six months of next year.”
At this point, Disney and Fox are just waiting approval from a handful of countries such as Brazil and Mexico. Once the merger is finalized, we’ll likely see Marvel move the X-Men and Fantastic Four into the pipeline quickly and make some announcements, possibly for projects that could be released in 2020.
