The geek world imploded a few weeks back when it was revealed that Disney is working on purchasing the bulk of 20th Century Fox. Immediately, fans either got excited to see properties such as the X-Men merge with the House of Mouse and potentially join the MCU, or bemoaned the unstoppable dominance of Disney. Shortly after this report came out, though, we were told that the whole thing might already be dead in the water, as negotiations between the two companies had apparently died down.
Now, however, we’re hearing differently. Just a few days ago, Deadline told us that they heard talks were back on and today, WSJ is confirming as much. According to them, things are really heating up, but the Mouse House may find themselves with some tough competition in the form of Comcast, who also want in on the action and are “very serious” about acquiring Fox’s assets. Which, for the record, are being valued at a staggering $48.5 billion.
While there’s no guarantee that a deal will place, WSJ does note that 20th Century Fox is expected to make a decision about whether or not they’re going to sell before the end of the calendar year. That doesn’t mean that everything will be signed, sealed and delivered by then, just that by the time 2017 comes to a close, we’ll have a pretty good idea of whether or not we can expect to see the X-Men hopping into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that Disney would simply just keep things running as they currently are. After all, with its newfound emphasis on spinoff movies like Logan and Deadpool and successful TV series, the X-Men franchise is in very healthy shape and they may not want to mess that up.
Then again, from what we’ve heard, it doesn’t sound like that’s what the House of Mouse plans to do. Understandably, one of the main reasons Disney is so interested in purchasing Fox is so that they can secure the rights to the Marvel characters that their rival studio currently owns – those being the X-Men, Fantastic Four and a few others – and consolidate them all under the same banner.
This would seem to suggest that they want to build one, cohesive shared universe, and while that’s certainly very exciting, there are potential drawbacks that could stem from the two toy boxes becoming one. As Ryan Reynolds pointed out, what would such a venture mean for the likes of Deadpool, whose R-rated humour would surely clash with the House of Mouse’s family-friendly image? Ditto for other edgy properties like X-Force and even that potential X-23 spinoff.
For now, there’s no point in speculating any further, as this isn’t a done deal just yet. However, if WSJ’s right with their scoop, then it may very well be happening and if it does, you get bet that it’s going to shake up the industry in a massive way.
