When Marvel Studios finally announced their complete Phase Four slate at San Diego Comic-Con last month, I think we all cheered in unison because we’d been let in on the secret at long last. Not only do their upcoming plans include a handful of new films to be released in cinemas, but a few new TV shows running alongside them on the Disney Plus streaming service as well.
Conspicuous by their absence though were any franchises acquired in the recent absorbing of Twentieth Century Fox, but I myself expected it to be several years before either the Fantastic Four, X-Men or Deadpool be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After all, Kevin Feige and company had to map out some concrete plans of their own while all the corporate dealings were going down.
According to Buzzfeed News’ own Adam B. Vary though, Disney CEO Bob Iger was willing to shed some light on the situation – even if it was about as luminous as a penlight – explaining the following on Twitter:
“While discussing 20th Century Fox’s place at Disney, Bob Iger name-checks X-Men, Deadpool, and Fantastic 4 as ‘part of Marvel Studios,’ but he does not mention any plans of how those properties will be integrated in the MCU.
Will we hear more at the D23 panel in 2.5 weeks?”
With that, it’s safe to say that none of the next movies featuring any of those characters will boast a “Fox” logo in their opening moments. I mean, that was already a given since everything except for Deadpool will be a hard reboot, but any reassurances at this point aren’t being cast aside.
As for when we’ll learn more, let’s hope Vary’s D23 assumption pans out. If I had to guess, Fantastic Four will roll out first as part of Phase 5, which makes sense because they’re often hailed as being “Marvel’s First Family” in the comic book world. The X-Men, meanwhile, could benefit from taking an extended vacation after Dark Phoenix bombing at the box office. Plus, FF have been on ice since 2015, so they’ll be overdue once their respective reboot comes along.
When it comes to Deadpool, however, I think it’d be insane for Disney to allow for him to collect dust for too much longer. After all, he’s already headlined two hugely successful solo films of his own, so why even allow for him to cool off? Hopefully, the Powers That Be formulate plans for D. Piddy before long.
