So, You Want the X-Men in the MCU?

Kevin Feige says the Fox deal will finally be complete by the end of March.

Bob Iger says Fox, Fox Searchlight, and FX will keep their name and logos, and movies will still come out under the Fox brand.

So, you won't see the Disney castle in front of say, Predator 5, or Alien 7.

https://www.comicbookmovie.com/disn...nder-the-fox-banner-after-deal-closes-a167006

Specifically, next Wednesday.

http://www.darkhorizons.com/disney-fox-deal-to-close-march-20th/

7,000+ people are being let go as a result of the merger, including a lot of marketing people, including the people who were supposed to market "Dark Phoenix".

http://www.darkhorizons.com/merger-impacting-dark-phoenix-marketing/

Yikes.

Everything balanced, as all things should be.

Fox tweeted that the deal is all done on their end.
They just transferred all their stocks and stuff over.
The legal time clock runs out tonight at midnight, and then it'll really be complete.
Tomorrow, Disney should announce some stuff.
Don't count on a map of phase 4 or anything, but it should be some announcement, even if it's basic.

According to the Wikipedia, Disney (via acquisition of the Fox assets) will own 60% of Hulu.

Why then cometh "Disney+"? Why not just capitalize on Hulu? Branding? Name recognition?

Okay, so here's what we know so far.
-Deadpool will be the only thing to survive the old X-verse (but we kinda knew that).
-No X-Men integration into MCU until 2021 or later (but we kinda knew that).
-Complicated deals still have to be worked out with the old X-Men producers, cuz their contracts are still valid, so for Feige to take over, they may have to be bumped up to powerless executive producers that still draw a check (think Roddenberry on the old Trek movies).
-Feige has already started talks with them today.
-No word on if New Mutants will be theatrical or streaming until Disney bosses watch it to see what shape it's in.


https://www.comicbookmovie.com/x-me...atest-on-what-kevin-feige-has-planned-a167275

The Disney homepage is now full of Fox characters.
Bart Simpson.
Avatar.
Shape Of Water.
Deadpool.
Donald Glover's character in "Atlanta".

https://www.superherohype.com/news/440017-disney-homepage-fox-merger

Control.

Comcast/NBC (IIRC the only other owner after the merger) will share in the revenue if Marvel/Fox/Disney properties bring new subscribers to Hulu. By having Disney+, this cuts Comcast/NBC out of the deal. Additionally, when Comcast bought NBC the Feds put restrictions on what they could do with Hulu. With this merger, the Feds may decide to put restrictions on Disney as well or break up Hulu. This gives Disney a backup.

If Disney directly owns a large percentage of Hulu, and then spins off a competitor, a breakup of Hulu for antitrust reasons will be inevitable.

I predict they'll hit the ground running with a Fantastic Four movie first.
They're easier to mix into the MCU, they're Stan Lee's first heroes, so they're "Marvel's first Family", AND you have almost as a welcoming continuity parking spot, the Avengers tower being evacuated in "Spider-Man: Homecoming", that you can turn into the Baxter building.

Maybe Hulu will get some more content?

If they go with FF, then maybe third time is a charm?

Fourth.
Two Tim Storys, one Josh Trank, THEN the MCU reboot.

Okay, I waited out all of yesterday to make sure something else wouldn't drop.

Conjecture time.

Assuming they stick to 3 movies a year, here's the next 4 years as I see it.

Next year, 2020, Black Widow, Eternals, Shang Chi.
Those are carved in stone, cuz those are in active production.

2021, has to be Guardians 3.
Plus Black Panther 2 and Dr. Strange 2 have to go somewhere, so 2021 is pretty much spoken for.

2022 is where they can put Fox stuff, but oh, wait, Captain Marvel 2 has to go somewhere.
I'm thinking, Captain Marvel 2, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool 3.
FF, because as mentioned, they're easier to splice in, and they're cosmic like Captain Marvel, and Eternals, and Guardians.
Deadpool, cuz his movies are smaller stories, and are cheaper to churn out.
And you wanna save money for 2023.
Then he can finally do his meta-commentary on the merger.

That leaves 2023 for X-Men to have for themselves, and dominate.
Way I'd do it, give them their own reboot origin movie, then do an Avenger 5-6 two part crossover.
With Fantastic Four in part 6.
And Deadpool in the after-credits.

Whaddya think?

Fifth. Roger Corman made the first FF movie.

"But Dicky, I want the Fox crossovers NOW!!!!".

So do I.
But Marvel has always taken their time, and followed their plan.

They dropped a Black Panther Easter egg all the way back at Iron Man 2, but Black Panther didn't get his own movie until movie #18.

Yeah, they've got plans stretching out for years. It's going to take time to figure out how to fit the Fox characters in.

I think 2021 would be the absolute earliest any of those characters could show up, but 2022-2023 is more likely.

I think they'll go straight at FF, but they'll start the X-Men off with a new Wolverine and build up. Deadpool will continue pretty much as it was, though expect plenty of MCU snark.

This will be the third attempt at a franchise. Hopefully they get Dr. Doom right as well.

You mean . . .
DOOM.

"Deadpool Only Fox X-Men Character Not Expected To Be Rebooted By Disney"

https://screenrant.com/deadpool-x-men-disney-reboot/

Maybe if they keep Deadpool a Fox release, it won't have to eat up slots on the MCU slate.
Then they can get to the X-Men faster on the MCU side, and get to X-Force faster on the Deadpool side .