As we found out late last week, the last major hurdle in the merger between Disney and 20th Century Fox has been cleared. With shareholders for both companies agreeing to the sale, it looks like Disney will finally gain control of Fox’s assets sometime in the first half of 2019 when the deal officially closes. And those assets include some of the biggest franchises in the world.
Many fans — in particular the ones who have yearned to see the previously owned Fox/Marvel characters all under one roof and the control of Marvel Studio‘s Kevin Feige — are ecstatic, but the already-immense Disney owning and absorbing yet another huge movie studios is definitely cause for pause and even alarm. Corporate monopolies already contribute to to bland, often unimaginative franchise and sequel-driven monoculture and that’s troubling. Thousands of jobs will be lost in consolidation (at least, eventually) and that’s heartbreaking. Provocative filmmaking is already being squeezed within the studio system which leads some artists to Netflix and Amazon (which has its own set of pros and cons for movie lovers and cineastes) and it’s not difficult to imagine in a scenario where the business ramifications of the Disney/Fox deal negatively effect studio decisions on whether or not to make non-franchise or I.P. movies.
Some industry pundits are even predicting that while something as estimable like Fox Searchlight, Fox’s prestige filmmaking arm and Oscar awards player, won’t go away, it’s conceivable to see a scenario where their films are only seen on streaming networks and not widely shown in theaters (this Hollywood Breakdown podcast is an effective and simple three minute unpacking).
We digress, but the fact remains there are things you should stop for a moment and consider before celebrating. But the fact of the matter is the Disney/Fox merger is here, has started and will go into motion over the next 12 months. Things within these properties may change. In some instances, especially Marvel, things will absolutely change, especially as once-forbidden Marvel/Fox character become integrated into the MCU.
How will Fox franchises change over at Disney? Well, we certainly have some ideas and thoughts. Needless to say, the opinions below aren’t gospel, but given the way Disney and Marvel work, we’d like to think these are some strong educated suppositions. Let’s take a look.
“X-MEN”
As for Fox’s superhero crown jewel, the shared conventional wisdom about “X-Men” is that the franchise is in desperate need of a creative kick in the ass. The film franchise, which admittedly started the modern superhero renaissance, has fallen on tough times and spin-offs like “Deadpool” and “Deadpool 2” have greatly outperformed the main mothership films. And currently, Fox is in the middle of production on two X-films and they almost certainly will signify the end of that era.
Let’s break them down, one by one:
“X-Men: Dark Phoenix”
The latest installment in Fox’s “X-Men” team film franchise is coming to its natural end with ‘Dark Phoenix,’ which is probably a good thing given how much “X-Men: Apocalypse” underperformed at the worldwide box office. However, don’t believe the silly rumors: with the Disney-Fox deal not being completed until mid-2019, ‘Dark Phoenix’ will definitely have its day in the sun. However, after that, don’t expect to see any of those actors, actresses, and creative folk behind the scenes (including its mastermind Simon Kinberg) coming back for another film. This is their swan song before the massive reboot that is expected when Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige takes control. Something to look out for? Rather than announcing a big “X-Men” in say, 2021, don’t be surprised if Feige and Marvel Studios begin introducing and seeding X-Men characters one by one into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, even if it’s only via post-credits scenes. The approach of solo films before and building up to the big “Avengers” movie paid off both creatively and financially for Marvel and it’s possible they may want to try the same approach with a least a character or two before the entire team reunites.
“New Mutants”
Oh, “New Mutants.” You were once an exciting YA superhero horror film that was going to be released earlier this year in April. Then the film was pushed back to February 2019. And most recently, the film is supposedly going to hit theaters on August 2, 2019, which puts it right in the window of when Disney will most likely gain control of the franchise.
“New Mutants” is rumored to be a huge mess, but millions of dollars have been poured into the film so canceling it is, unfortunately, a non-starter (even if Marvel did want it killed). What the final film looks like is anyone’s guess. The trailer that hit the Internet months ago promised a simple supernatural horror film like we see about a dozen times a year nowadays, but with a coming-of-age “X-Men” backdrop. Then reports surfaced that the film was going back for extensive reshoots, to add an entirely new character and to change large swaths of the film. Are these changes going to make it more of a superhero film, or are they putting all their eggs in the horror basket? That’s the big question. Either way, this is definitely not the start of a franchise. One assumes, given how recent it will be, Marvel will put a “New Mutants” reboot at the far end of their queue to get as much distance from it and whatever new iteration eventually takes shape.
“Deadpool 3” and “X-Force”
These two films are the big unknowns. Despite being the biggest superhero moneymaker for Fox, Deadpool is a character and a winky meta-universe that doesn’t really fit in the Marvel Studios model. But dismantling the entire thing given its enormous success would be highly unlikely. Instead, the studio is most likely going to let Ryan Reynolds and the “Deadpool” franchise do its thing. To a point…
“Deadpool 3” is still just a happy thought, at this point, with no filmmakers involved. However, “X-Force” appears to be moving full steam ahead with filmmaker Drew Goddard attached to write and direct, and Ryan Reynolds, Zazie Beetz, and Josh Brolin are all expected to reprise their roles. Yet, with a production date still up in the air, and no firm release date, “X-Force” could easily be the first casualty of the Disney/Fox merger.
Odds are, they’ll keep Beetz and Brolin as Domino and Cable and yes, they’ll likely want to make an “X-Force” film, perhaps not the in the way Fox originally intended given there were no MCU possibilities at the time. It’s very conceivable to see a scenario where “X-Force” is put on hold for now as Marvel figures out how to incorporate all these new characters into their expanding universe.
One point no one seems to have addressed yet in all the cheering of this merger: do you see a scenario where Deadpool arrives in a scene with Spider-Man and says something along the lines of “You’re not a fuckin’ hero. You’re just an annoying clown dressed up as a sex toy.” Or talks about being pegged by his girlfriend? The R-Rated aspect of “Deadpool” is a huge question mark for Disney. 1) is Deadpool still R-Rated going forward? And if so, how do you integrate that character into the MCU without betraying the filthy fundamentals of the character? “Deadpool,” for all its no-brainer success to continuing going forward as is, is much trickier than most people have considered (though one shouldn’t forget. Disney once owned Miramax and they released tons of R-Rated movies, so it is a possibility).
With all the actual films being discussed, the biggest unanswered question on everyone’s mind is “When will Wolverine join the Avengers?” Without a doubt, we will see the X-Men, including Wolverine, share screen time with the Avengers eventually. It would be a massive wasted opportunity for Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios to relegate the mutants to another universe. But don’t expect it to happen anytime soon.
Feige has gone on record saying he doesn’t even have any firm plans for integrating the characters currently but does say he’s excited by the prospects. With Marvel Studios release dates set in stone until 2021 and probably beyond, it’s unlikely that we see the big, grand “X-Men” reboot anytime in the next couple of years (which is why seeding in characters and or X-Men ideas and tropes—the very idea of mutant beings— along the way before that, makes a lot of sense). Let’s not forget that there’s also the entire Canadian “Alpha Flight” side of the “X-Men” universe which has deep ties to Wolverine’s origin story that hasn’t been explored in movies yet either and one bets Feige has his eye on that team (Canada will get its own version of a Hulk-like CGI monster in the form of Sasquatch).
However, once the merger ink has dried, you better believe that Feige and his army of filmmakers will be dropping hints and clues (similar to the Thanos hints throughout Phases 1,2, and 3) to how and where Wolverine and his crew of mutants will appear in future films.
And lastly, the big endgame to this “X-Men” reboot will be three simple words — “Avengers vs. X-Men.” Coming to theaters 2025!