It was reported earlier this week that Disney’s acquisition of Fox could be finalized by the end of January. On the heels of this announcement, Kevin Feige appeared on Variety‘s Playback podcast to talk about Marvel Studios’ plans for the future. Feige has previously suggested that the studio has no immediate plans to bring Fox’s Marvel characters into the MCU fold. But when merger came up, he revealed that plans might start to take shape sooner than expected.
“We’ve been told it’s looking very, very good and could happen in the first six months of next year,” said Feige. “The notion of the characters coming back is great. It’s nice when a company that created all these characters can have access to all those characters. It’s unusual not to. But in terms of actually thinking about it and actually planning things, we haven’t started that yet.”
RELATED: Fox Asked Kevin Feige to Review the Dark Phoenix Script
20th Century Fox still owns the film rights to X-Men, Fantastic Four, and any respective offshoot properties like Deadpool and Silver Surfer. The X-Men series is partially credited with ushering in the modern superhero movie boom. Unfortunately, the franchise has largely been a mixed bag in terms of quality. The Fantastic Four films haven’t found the same success at the multiplex.
It’s still very early to speculate on who might preside over the new films once Disney absorbs the studio. However, a few MCU veterans might be up to the task. Ant-Man director Peyton Reed was attached to helm the original Fantastic Four before Tim Story was hired. Reed has expressed interest in taking another stab at Marvel’s first family. Ant-Man co-writer Adam McKay also professed his desire to make a Silver Surfer movie.
What are your thoughts about X-Men and Fantastic Four joining the MCU? Let us know in the comment section below!
