Despite rumors to the contrary, Marvel’s First Family won’t be treading the same path as Spider-Man and returning to their parent company, with 20th Century Fox confirming to ComicBook.com that the rights to Fantastic Four aren’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future.
News of a potential switcheroo first cropped up earlier today, when a report stipulated that, in the wake of Josh Trank’s high-profile flop, the rights to the superhero group would return to Marvel. Brokering a deal with Fox, it was said that Fantastic Four would even have featured in the studio’s Phase 4, with a standalone film coming in 2020.
This tantalizing rumor came to the fore after yesterday’s announcement of two X-Men television pilots – pilots that both Fox and Marvel’s TV arms are co-producing. In return, Marvel was allegedly on the cusp of seizing the Fantastic Four rights, though the fact that Fox has always held the license to the X-Men universe on the small screen meant that the rumor began to fall apart at the seams quicker than expected.
As a result, that ambitious crossover that has been pitched by Simon Kinberg and such likely won’t materialize anytime soon; despite Trank’s box office bomb, Fox remains committed to the flailing superhero group, even going so far as to say that the planned sequel is still on the cards. But without any official word of Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan or Jamie Bell committing to the follow-up, Fantastic Four 2 is about as far from a sure-thing as they come in Hollywood.
And there you have it. Despite a brief burst of excitement and budding potential, any plans for Marvel to regain the rights to Fantastic Four have been put to bed. But are you disappointed? Relieved? Let us know using the comments below.