When The Walt Disney Company proffered a new and improved $71.3 billion tender for the rights to intellectual properties owned by 21st Century Fox, it seemed that the phone call Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was, and by all accounts still is, waiting for, would be on the way. Unfortunately, Comcast is about to make life that much more difficult, not only for the House of Mouse and those in favor of a Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy crossover, but X-Men: Dark Phoenix star Sophie Turner as well.
Let’s rewind a bit, though. While at the 2018 Produced By Conference, the prime mover behind the highest grossing film franchise of all time, Kevin Feige, was questioned about the possibility of integrating the X-Men into the MCU, to which he responded: “I’m just waiting for a call saying yay or nay from people far above me…of course, it would be nice.”
Regrettably, Jefferies analyst John Janedis believes that “given the strategic importance of the 21st Century Fox assets, we expect Comcast will come back with a higher offer,” which could potentially be valued at around $80 billion. So while Disney’s still in the hunt, given the global telecommunications conglomerate’s unwillingness to back down, the bidding war could persist for an extended amount of time. As a result, Sophie Turner, portrayer of Jean Grey in the X-Men prequel trilogy, won’t see her wish of becoming an Avenger fulfilled anytime soon.
During a sit-down with Digital Spy, Turner was asked which of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes she’d like to meet should the proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company go through, and here’s what she had to say:
“Which Marvel hero would I like to meet? Iron Man, probably, because he’s so badass. Or… oh, God, I don’t know. All of them. All would be pretty awesome. I don’t know. There’s so many. Just all of the Avengers, basically. I just want to be another Avenger.”
Admittedly, it does look like Feige won’t be hearing anything from the receiver except a dial tone for some time to come. Although, with Captain Marvel, Avengers 4, Spider-Man: Far From Home and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 all in the pipeline, the Marvel Studios President of Production knows where his priorities lie. At least, that’s what he told Entertainment Weekly recently, saying
“These are the ones that are keeping us busy. When and how that deal with Fox finishes and comes together, and we’re told, ‘Hey, now you can start working on it. Now you can start thinking about it,’ is when we’ll actually start thinking about it.”
Nonetheless, with Captain Marvel – the next MCU installment – and X-Men Dark Phoenix not scheduled for release until 2019, Feige and Turner will have plenty of time to envision and hopefully prepare for the crossover to end all crossovers during the interim.
