For those hoping for a surprise Wolverine cameo in ‘Infinity War’ or the upcoming ‘Avengers 4,’ don’t hold your breath.
Even though Disney announced plans to purchase Fox, which includes all the film rights to the X-Men and Fantastic Four, the deal is far from done. Most of those who are optimistic the deal will even close pin the official date at somewhere at the end of Summer 2019.
READ MORE: Kevin Feige Talks What Disney/Fox Deal Means For Marvel
Even still, there are people that are hoping for just a little cameo or namedrop before then, especially considering ‘Avengers 4’ is released next summer. However, in an exclusive Playlist interview with Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, we found out that not only is that not going to happen, but it might still be years before we see any Fox characters in the beloved Marvel Cinematic Universe.
When asked if the Disney/Fox deal complicates plans for the upcoming MCU Phase 4, Feige paused and said:
“No, because any of that deal would take a while to get going and years from whenever and if ever it happens. So, certainly it won’t impact the five movies we’ve announced, and it probably wouldn’t impact anything for a handful of years after that. Because really, we’re not thinking about that. We’re thinking of delivering on what we promised. Any movie, especially for any characters we don’t have the rights to yet until someone tells us we do, would be even further after that.”
If Feige’s timeline is to be believed, that means that what’s likely is that any integration with Fox characters into the MCU might not take place until a Phase 5 situation, at the earliest. Of course, many have speculated that Marvel Studios already has plans in place for when the deal is done, but Feige has always said that the focus is on their current characters and wouldn’t approach those new characters until the deal is finalized.
However, that doesn’t mean that Feige isn’t excited about the possibilities. When we asked if he had any favorite Fox characters that he’d love to get his hands on, Feige said, “No, I mean, I think those are tremendous characters. I’m not going to pick one over the other of any of these characters because it’s too hard, but my career started with those characters on the ‘X-Men’ films.”
Unfortunately, it looks like any Marvel Studios-produced “X-Men” films are still years away. In the meantime, check out this new clip from the upcoming “Avengers: Infinity War,” which shows Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner meeting Black Panther. More from this interview soon. – reporting by Rodrigo Perez