Twentieth Century Fox has received a lot of criticism for the past few years regarding their movies. While Fox has made a few hit blockbusters, they still struggle to compete with Disney Studios bringing in only a small profit to the box office. Over the past decade, Fox has owned all of the rights to the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and DeadPool related content, including films, comics, and merchandise. Since both Fox and Disney make Marvel movies, fans for years have been wanting the two studios to put aside their differences and finally put them all in the same universe. As a comic book purist, I completely agree that the two studios should merge for one reason alone which is opportunity.
According to www.nytimes.com, Disney and Fox shareholders have an approved deal finally ending the corporate duel. The two studios agreed to a $71.3 billion purchase plan. As of right now, Disney officially owns all of the rights to Twentieth Century Fox. Fox’s film rights, television series, and broadcast networks will be under new management. The deal further expands the Disney Empire making them more successful. In my opinion, this is the best decision that could’ve happened for both studios.
I’ll admit that I did enjoy a few of Fox’s most recent X-Men films, including the DeadPool spinoffs. However, the entire franchise as a whole doesn’t hold up very well, mostly because of its constantly difficult timelines that are hard to follow for the general audience. Fox just had too much to handle with its X-Men original trilogy, X-Men prequel trilogy, Wolverine trilogy, and its new DeadPool trilogy. It’s time for Fox to try something different by finally giving the fans what they truly desire, which is to finally introduce the X-Men with the Avengers.
According to www.comicbook.com, Disney has already made plans for their newly owned property to include them in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe). Fortunately, the plans will take place right after Avengers 4. More than likely, the new characters will be introduced in Phase 4 of the universe to make the introduction more natural for mainstream audiences. Aside from the X-Men and DeadPool franchise, the MCU can improve Fox’s most critical and financial franchise failure, the Fantastic Four. In the MCU’s hands, it’s more than likely it will.
In my opinion, a Fantastic Four movie would be perfect in the MCU’s hands. They can deliver the perfect tone, action sequences, and special effects necessary for a proper reboot. Especially with Fox’s three failed attempts beforehand, it’s time for them to take a new direction. Also, the team can be introduced along side the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, and the X-Men. Clarifying my point that the Disney and Fox merger creates opportunity.
I couldn’t be more excited for the Disney and Fox deal to finally come into play. It will certainly be a while before a new reboot for both franchises are announced, but I will be very excited when that day comes. Until then, Fox still has two more X-Men films coming to theaters in 2019 which are X-Men: Dark Phoenix and New Mutants. After those films premiere, the sky is the limit.