8 Things Marvel Needs To Do With The X-Men And Fantastic Four

It's now 100% official - Disney has swallowed up 21st Century Fox, meaning the X-Men and Fantastic Four are now within grasp of Marvel Studios. After Spider-Man came home last year, these properties were virtually the only ones outside of the company's reach. Now, the Marvel comics universe is extremely close to being whole on screen, and we couldn't be more excited. With these two major franchises now being at the studio's fingertips, the possibilities of where things can go from here are endless. Some of them for the better, but others potentially for the worse. If Kevin Feige and his team simply bulldoze their way through the X-Men movie universe, for instance, they could be making a big mistake. So, here are a few do's and don't's for Marvel. Just a couple of helpful suggestions about how to handle the sudden influx of new characters that have come their way. In some cases, it will be best to leave things alone, while others really need a bit of the Marvel magic touch. Regardless, let's have a look at 8 things the studio needs to do with the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Bring The Fantastic Four Into The MCU There are all sorts of complications about bringing the X-Men into the MCU, but with the Fantastic Four it's very simple. Just put Marvel's First Family back where they belong already! While the studio has found success with the X-Men, Fox has never known what to do with the Fantastic Four. The 2005 movie and its sequel aimed to replicate the bright, all-ages tone of the comics and ended up skirting Batman & Robin levels of camp and cheese. Then, the 2015 reboot ended up being even worse by trying to "Nolanize" the characters but failing miserably. What Fox should have done is pitch the Four the same way that Marvel does all their properties: fun, accessible to everyone but grounded in character. Apart from the MCU being the best tonal fit for the gang, there's just so much opportunity for crossover if the Fantastic Four joined the universe. Spider-Man is always teaming up with them in the comics, for instance, and having Mr. Fantastic on board could mean a role for the Illuminati is possible in the future. Though it might be a bit tiresome to have new versions of Reed Richards, Sue Storm and the rest so soon after the last time, it's really the only way to do the Fantastic Four justice at this point. Don't Mess With Deadpool This is what every X-Men fan is praying for: please Disney, don't mess with the Merc with the Mouth. While the mutants being folded into the MCU arguably makes sense in a lot of ways, fitting the dirty-mouthed Deadpool into the franchise would be a lot more jarring. The MCU has been wholly kid-friendly for one so far, so to insert an R-rated mature hero such as Wade Wilson into the mix would be a major game-changer. Not to mention the fact that this is Disney, the home of Mickey Mouse, that we're talking about. The studio is very particular about what falls under their brand. But no one wants to see a neutered-down version of the character, especially now that we know how successful an accurate take can be. In fact, with the Fantastic Four currently dormant, Deadpool is likely the second biggest franchise behind the mainline X-Men films that Disney execs can't wait to get their hands on. So, they need to make sure they aren't going to mess it up. It actually looks like the studio has already decided to keep Deadpool R-rated, as the company's CEO Bob Iger has said that he sees an "opportunity" to produce some "Marvel-R brand" movies. Who knows, maybe Deadpool could start a revolution of more mature content from Disney? We'll have to wait and see. Leave The TV Shows Alone What's preoccupying most of our thoughts at the moment is what Disney will do with the X-Men movie franchise, but an interesting question is what about the TV universe that Fox has just started building over on the small screen? In 2017, both Legion and The Gifted have arguably proven to be two of the strongest additions to the X-Men universe we've had yet. So, it would be a great shame if Marvel's machinations ended up shutting these down. Looking at the evidence, though, the shows will hopefully continue for the foreseeable future. For one thing, they won't have any trouble adjusting to life under Disney as they were already co-produced by Marvel Studios, in what was a unique deal back then. And, as we've heard many times when fans have asked for the Defenders to meet the Avengers, Marvel's TV arm operates independently from the movie division. So, any changes to the film series might not affect the direction of the TV shows. Fingers crossed that we're right about this one. In fact, let's hope Marvel having complete control of the future of the X-Men on TV means there will be many more shows to come. Continue Experimenting While a lot of fans are excited about Disney's buyout of Fox, there's also a huge backlash against the deal. Primarily, some people fear this will mean that Disney takes far fewer risks on less surefooted winners than Fox did. A good example of this is the many offshoots of the X-Men franchise in recent years that have delved into different genres. We've already talked about Deadpool, but let's not forget the bleak western that was Logan and the horror movie approach of the upcoming New Mutants. What we really hope Disney takes from the critical - and commercial - success of these more experimental movies so far is that people want to see a range of superhero films. It would be easy for them to homogenize everything and make new X-Men movies in the style of the MCU. But while the MCU's great, too much of the same thing is never a good thing. Alongside continuing with the experiments that have worked, like Deadpool, let's hope Disney keep on pushing out the envelope and continue Fox's spirit of trying out new things. Make Use Of All The Awesome New Villains Everyone is getting excited about all the new heroes that could be joining the MCU, but let's spare a moment to think about all the amazing villains that are now up for grabs. We're not so much talking about the X-Men side of things here, as the likes of Magneto, Apocalypse and Mr. Sinister don't usually crossover into the Avengers' purview much in the comics. Instead we're talking about all those antagonists that Fox had the rights to, as they have ties to the Fantastic Four, but were doing nothing with. Namely, the time-travelling Kang the Conqueror, Galactus the World Eater or Doctor Doom. Oh, and let's not forget Taskmaster (who was partially caught up with Deadpool's rights). Each of these rank amongst the Avengers' biggest threats ever and deserve a major role in the MCU going forward. In particular, Galactus would be a natural replacement for Thanos as Phase Four's big bad. And imagine having a proper, comics-accurate Victor Von Doom on the big screen? The MCU's always been known for its relatively weak villains, but this lot should wipe that criticism away for good. Also, if they want to, Marvel could use this opportunity to play DC at their own game and introduce their own version of the Legion of Doom - the Cabal, featuring the likes of Norman Osborn, Doom, Loki and others. Recast Wolverine If You Have To, But Keep Using X-23 First of all, there's no way that Marvel is going to waste the opportunity to not make use of having the rights to Wolverine - one of the most iconic characters of all-time. Logan easily ranks alongside Spider-Man, Iron Man and Captain America and deserves to stand alongside them. The hitch is that Hugh Jackman, the man who has embodied the mutant for 17 years, has made it clear that he's done with the role. It looks like the only choice is to recast, then. This is a little disappointing, as it just wouldn't be as thrilling to see the new guy, say, fighting with Hulk than if it were Jackman. If Marvel does decide to reboot Wolverine though, what we would ask is that they continue to make use of X-23, Wolvie's clone daughter recently introduced in Logan. Ideally, the studio would wait a few years and bring back Dafne Keen, but if they have to, they can recast the part with an older actress. The bottom line is, though, that Marvel should use this as a chance to explore new characters as well as reheat old ones. Plus, more female heroines around is always a good thing. Give Us An Avengers Vs. X-Men Movie This is the big one. Now that the Avengers and the X-Men both fall under the same corporate umbrella, we need to have a big crossover movie in which the two meet - and comic book law dictates that two superhero teams must lay into each other first before they join forces. The perfect source material to build such a movie around, then, would be Avengers vs. X-Men. What makes the comic such an obvious choice to adapt is that, apart from having a snappy, box office-baiting title, its story would fit in with where the X-Men franchise is at right now. In the source material, the conflict heats up over the threat of the Phoenix Force. The same destructive entity that is just being reintroduced to moviegoers in next year's X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Other than that, the animosity between the two superhero teams could work even better in a film version as, depending on how the blending of the franchises is handled, this movie could be the first time they meet, which would obviously cause hostilities as both sides would fear the other. Marvel fans have dreamed of the day when they could see Avengers rubbing shoulders with X-Men on the big screen, so it just has to happen. No doubt Disney execs are smart enough to cotton onto this, too. Don't Reboot The X-Men Franchise Here's the catch, though. While we are totally down for an Avengers vs. X-Men crossover event movie, the line should be drawn at cancelling Fox's X-Men universe outright and simply rebooting the X-Men within the MCU. Recent history tells us this would be Disney's kneejerk reaction, as poor Andrew Garfield's Spidey was given the boot in favour of Tom Holland when Spider-Man was welcomed into the MCU. However, while that transition was painlessly done, it would be a tragedy if the X-Men were given the same treatment. If Disney brought the guillotine down on the X-Men world, they would be killing the oldest superhero movie franchise going, one that has continually grown and survived for the past two decades. Thankfully, early word suggests that the studio understands the appeal of keeping the aesthetic of the X-Men universe separate from the MCU. In fact, CEO Bob Iger has commented that he doesn't intended to change the "brand" of the X-Men. Exactly what this means we don't know, but it does give us hope that the franchise won't be simply wiped clean and bolted onto the MCU. In short, obviously we would love to see the two universes crossover - but only on special occasions like a big AvX event. For the most part, it would be best if they continued moving forward separately. Simply rebooting the franchise and starting again would be a lazy way of approaching things and would do a huge disservice to a world that fans have been invested in for so long.