It is well established by now that Marvel is the grand-daddy, king shit of universe builders. Their MCU (that’s Marvel Cinematic Universe for the uninitiated) sprawls across 13 features (with 9+ more in the pipeline) and 4 television series (to date), and features an elaborately plotted and highly connected set of stories and characters.
They’ve become the template for how to successfully juggle multiple properties simultaneously, and now every man and his franchise wants to set up a “universe” to churn out endless sequels, prequels and spin-offs based on IP. DC has started, with the much maligned Batman v. Superman, and the team behind Transformers is actively trying to resuscitate that dead horse, but none has yet to reach the bullet-proof box office and (more importantly) the fan satisfaction of the MCU.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment in all of this has been Fox’s handling of their small subsection of Marvel properties. Deadpool notwithstanding, the overall output of Fox’s comic book adaptations has been sub-par to say the least. From the complete train-wreck of Fantastic Four to the slow turn off the rails of the X-Men franchise, as a superhero fan it’s been devastating to watch. If a new rumour proves true however, it might mean that fanboys can stop crying into their Infinity War comics and thinking of what could have been.
After the mega-success of Captain America: Civil War, and the well received return of Spider-man to the Marvel fold, it seems that execs at Fox might be coming around to the idea of having the golden touch of Kevin Feige on their side. Chatting on the latest episode of Collider Heroes, Matt Key, a producer on Kevin Smith’s Fatman on Batman podcast, dropped a little tidbit concerning the MCU:
“I’ve heard from a few of my sources, my little birds, that Fox and Marvel have… kind of talked, but not really, but like there’s interest from Fox, like, ‘Ooh, y’know, what they did with Sony and Spider-Man is actually pretty cool, like, maybe…’ We’re years away from that ever possibly happening… but I think that’s what it would take… Fox joining hands with Marvel…”
Admittedly not a lot to go on, and of course massively speculative, but even the idea that Fox is reaching out for help might signal that we won’t ever have to sit through another lackluster X-Men movie or another (terrible) reboot of Fantastic Four. It seems win-win for both parties really, Marvel finally gets back the properties it so foolishly sold off before they became a movie studio, and Fox gets to bask in the idea that they might actually get these stories right for once.
While not likely to affect the currently mapped out Phase 3, it’s possible that were this to go ahead we could see some X-Men pop up in the Infinity War storyline (now known as Avengers 3 and 4), and maybe, just maybe, we might even see Wolverine take his rightful place among the Avengers! It’s early days yet people, but hey a fan can dream can’t they?