The will they/won’t they dance for the rights to bring 21st Century Fox’s Marvel characters into the MCU has taken another small step to completion today. And that’s because CNBC’s reporting that Comcast, currently engaged in a bidding war for Fox with Disney, are prepared to concede the superhero IP and other assets to the Mouse House if they can take possession of British TV provider Sky.
The amounts involved in this bidding war have reached ridiculous heights with tens of billions of dollars on the table from either company. And right now, the only person that’s truly winning in this is media-mogul/supervillain/real-life lich king Rupert Murdoch, last seen cackling maniacally atop a gilded throne of skulls.
I won’t go into the complicated financial mechanics behind this deal because, to be honest, I don’t understand them (hey, I’m an entertainment writer, not an expert in mergers and acquisitions), but what’s important to us is that we’re a little closer to reuniting the entire Marvel Universe in the MCU now.
While I have no doubt that Kevin Feige and his team could turn out endlessly entertaining movies with the IP they already have access to, introducing the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters would give the universe a real shot in the arm – providing at least another 4 or 5 Phases worth of stories.
Let’s hope that this is a little way off yet, though. I’m still desperate to see how the Deadpool strand of the X-Universe develops, and the upcoming New Mutants looks like a fascinating spins on what a mutant-based superhero film could be. Regardless, I have a feeling we’ll get confirmation of how this deal is going to work fairly soon now, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled.