After nearly two years of corporate courtship, a rival suitor (Comcast), and some regulatory scrutiny, Walt Disney has acquired nearly all of 21st Century Fox's Media Holdings. The ~$70B deal now changes the landscape of media in drastic ways - for starters, there are only 5 major movie studios out there and there'll be much fewer major movie releases every year. Additionally, Disney now owns multiple IPs - Star Wars, Aliens, Avatar, and of course, all the Marvel Comics characters. However, before the acquisition, even that was in a split state - two of Marvel's high profile properties, the X-Men and Fantastic-4 - have been under Fox's control since the 1990s. It seemed like Marvel Comics had screwed up doing this during their financially bad time giving Fox the upper-hand in controlling the media destinies of both properties. As soon as the deal was announced, fans assumed that these properties would be a part of Marvel Studios - which appears to be a correct assumption. Kevin Feige, Marvel Studios' President confirmed this as well.
Now that Disney's Marvel and Fox's Marvel are one entity, what will the MCU look like and how soon can it happen? Here are some thoughts.'
What happens to Deadpool 3? Ryan Reynolds had once joked that they'd skip Deadpool 3 and go straight to Deadpool 4/5. The actor, who co-wrote the sequel, said that taking away the writing of his character, would lead to diminishing returns. In that light, he offered the possibility of playing Deadpool as a supporting character to the X-Force. Some other co-writers were of the idea to pair up Deadpool and Spidey - a pairing so popular that it had its own comic book! Reynolds could possibly just be cushioning himself should Marvel Studios pull the plug and not agree on his vision for the character - it is a PG13 production house after all - but it could also be a savvy plot with the company for a sweet multi-picture deal in which Deadpool shows up, does his thing with his charm and disappears again. It is entirely possible that Wade Wilson's antics will get toned down big time - which was what Once Upon a Deadpool proved out to be!
What happens to Wolverine and the X-Men now? How soon will he show up in the MCU? Feige has admitted that Marvel could not even begin to cook up ideas for the X-Men/ Fantastic-4 until the deal officially closed. Many of us even assumed that the X-Men would make an appearance in Endgame - but with the deal getting delayed, there are now predictions that Logan's adamantium claws could appear in a 2021 mid-credits scene in one of the phase-4 movies of the DCU. Marvel Studio's 2020 output inches closer to production even if the company declines to reveal their schedule after Endgame's release. At this point, we know The Eternals, Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the sequels for Doctor Strange and Black Panther are in the pipeline. Presumably, three of those projects will fill the 2020 release quota - of course, the studio has altered it's plans before, bumping Black Panther, Captain Marvel and a proposed Inhumans film. With that in mind, it is possible that the first Marvel Studios X-Men/ Fantastic-4 film could happen in 2021, especially if Feige get's back to Legion's Noah Hawley about his Doctor Doom script.
What about the other Marvel Films that Fox had in development? Fox planned to expand it's output to 3 Marvel-based films per year if the deal fell through. It included more X-Men sequels while branching out with lesser known characters. One project centering fan-favorite mutant Kitty Prude (AKA Shadowcat) was announced and would have seen Deadpool director Tim Miller return to the X-Men fold. The film would have focused on Kitty's struggle against a demon while spending a lonely Christmas night in the X-Mansion. Though little has been said, James Franco was set to star in a film focusing on X-Factor favorite Jamie Madrox - AKA, the Multiple Man. Franco's real life troubles probably sent this one to the back-burner but considering X-Men characters must now compete with Shang-Chi and the Eternals for one of Marvel Studio's coveted release dates, expect any solo X-Men outings to be a late 2020s development. Channing Tatum's long -delayed Gambit is also more likely a kaput.
Hulu and Marvel Entertainment announced an initiative to create four animated series for the platform, potentially leading to a stronger relationship between the two branches of the Disney Empire. As it happens, Disney wants Marvel material to stay in fouse, so Disney brands like ABC, Disney+, Freeform and Hulu, are the place you should see future Marvel TV shows. This could really end up being a complete monopoly given the scale of Disney's acquisition and the properties they own, but who am I to guess - there's nothing stopping Marvel Studios from making new content every year in the super-hero genre in this super-hero era of movie-making!
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