As far as big screen crossovers go, there are two that will probably never happen. The first is between Marvel and DC, for obvious reasons, and the other is one between the X-Men and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Despite the fact that the mutants did originate at the House of Ideas, Marvel Studios owns all the characters within the MCU, while Fox holds the cinematic rights to Wolvie and the gang. As such, a crossover just isn’t possible, as the two studios don’t seem to be very keen on working together.
However, it looks as if we may not have to wait for Fox and Marvel to hop into the same bed in order to see all these characters cross paths on the silver screen, as CNBC is reporting that Disney, who owns Marvel, is now looking to buy Fox. If they end up doing so, they’ll then own the rights to the X-Men and presumably, can easily include them in the MCU without any sort of issues rising up due to rights.
Of course, it wouldn’t only be the aforementioned mutants who get a chance to interact with Iron Man, Hulk and the rest of the gang, as the Fantastic Four, Deadpool and many others would be included here, too, and would also be able to find a spot within the Marvel Cinematic Universe without any issue. In short, Disney would own all of Fox’s characters and could use them as they see fit.
Nothing has been finalized as of yet, but from what we understand, Fox isn’t able to compete anymore due to the rise of streaming companies like Netflix and Amazon. As such, they’re now looking to sell, and Disney might just be the one to purchase them.
Granted, the Mouse House wouldn’t take hold of everything, as CNBC says:
Disney could not own two broadcast networks and would therefore not buy the Fox broadcast network. It would not buy Fox’s sports programming assets in the belief that combining them with ESPN could be seen as anti-competitive from an antitrust standpoint and it would not buy the Fox News or Business channel. Disney would also not purchase Fox’s local broadcasting affiliates, according to people familiar with the negotiations.
Still, none of this is relevant to characters like the X-Men and Fantastic Four and should a deal place here, we might just see that one, big cohesive Marvel Cinematic Universe that we’ve always dreamed of.
