Last month, the proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company was cast in doubt when rival contender Comcast began preparing a substantial, all-cash bid for the rights to intellectual properties owned by the Rupert Murdoch-founded company.
Seeing as amongst the IPs owned by 21st Century Fox include several Marvel characters, such as Deadpool, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, the amalgamation has piqued the interest of MCU devotees, hoping to observe a crossover between the mutant brethren and Marvel Studios’ multi-billion dollar franchise.
Although the all-cash proposal was believed to have upped Comcast’s chances, the fact remained that Fox Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch preferred Disney shares, and the global telecommunications conglomerate didn’t appear to pose that significant of a threat.
Unfortunately for the MCU fandom, however, Disney’s $52.4 billion deal to purchase a majority of Fox’s assets “is in more jeopardy than some may believe,“ according to The Hollywood Reporter. In a sit-down with digital news network Cheddar, Richard Greenfield of BTIG said Rupert Murdoch “is not set on selling to Disney” and “simply [wants] the best possible outcome, meaning the most dollars.”
The conventional wisdom which sees Murdoch lean toward the deal that would make him “one of Disney’s largest shareholders, is wrong,” says Greenfield. Rupert, who controls the multinational mass media corporation with his sons, James and Lachlan, “simply wants to do business with the highest bidder” – which means that he could be more inclined to go with Comcast.
A merger between 21st Century Fox and The Walt Disney Company would allow Marvel Studios, now a Disney subsidiary, unrestricted access to the characters and freedom to include the mutants in their cinematic universe. So while it’d be a dream come true for many fans, it does appear that the Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool crossover we’re all dreaming of will have to be put on hold, at least for now.
