Ever the company to nurture and expand its properties into different mediums, the only caveat that has been restricting the rich world of X-Men to the silver screen has been licensing agreements between Fox and Marvel. With superhero properties springing up left, right and center on the small-screen – Daredevil, Gotham, Agent Carter to name but a few – now seems like as good a time as any to bring the famed mutants to TV, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, both companies have begun negotiating a deal.
During the Television Critics Association’s press tour, the outlet talked with Fox Television Group chairman and CEO Dana Walden about the possibility of the X-Men universe leaping onto television – be it through a cable network or a digital platform such as Netflix.
“[For] X-Men, we’re in negotiations with Marvel. We’re hopeful we’ll be able to announce something soon. We’re not closed on a deal yet but it’s something we’re definitely pursuing.”
The very fact that Fox and Marvel have held talks about the possibility of working out the logistics to facilitate a live-action series is enough to pique the interest of X-Men fans. Granted, there is still a ways to go before anything is finalized – if it ever is, of course – but history has taught us that licensing agreements needn’t be set in stone.
Prior to Sony and Marvel leveraging a deal over Spider-Man, many believed that the possibility of seeing your friendly neighborhood webslinger in action alongside the Avengers would remain exclusive to the comics. Mountains may have to be moved, but if there’s enough interest in the possibility of an X-Men series, surely both studios can sanction a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Currently, 20th Century Fox owns the movie rights to everyone’s favorite mutants, which is why Marvel is only permitted to allude to the existence of the superheroes in passing – such as Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch being referred to as Enhanced in Age of Ultron. On the other hand, Marvel holds the comic rights, and ultimately the potential X-Men TV series is contingent on the latter studio giving the go-ahead.
