Ever since Disney officially purchased Fox earlier this year and gained access to its huge library of IPs, fans have been wondering when the wayward Marvel franchises would be absorbed or rebooted in the MCU. And while Fantastic Four was noted at Comic-Con in July as being on the docket, leading audiences to believe it‘s a part of Phase 5, the same can’t be said for the X-Men, arguably the crown jewel of Fox’s Marvel properties.
It’s easy to understand the lack of info regarding the mutant misfits, as Disney had to release Dark Phoenix, which utterly bombed this past June, and New Mutants is still a year out. Given that there’s content still to come, then, it makes sense that the studio hasn’t made any announcements.
In fact, Marvel Cinematic Universe architect Kevin Feige has repeatedly told to the world not to expect the X-Men to show up on the silver screen anytime in the near future. And during a recent interview with io9, he reiterated the following:
It’ll be a while. It’s all just beginning and the five-year plan that we’ve been working on, we were working on before any of that was set. So really, it’s much more, for us, less about specifics of when and where [the X-Men will appear] right now and more just the comfort factor and how nice it is that they’re home. That they’re all back. But it will be a very long time.
However, Disney can’t let the franchise fall by the wayside. Though Dark Phoenix failed, and the studio doesn’t seem to have faith in New Mutants, there is some momentum behind the property. For instance, Jonathan Hickman’s relaunch of the X-Men in the comics has gotten a lot of praise and generated a good amount of buzz.
Furthermore, rumors suggest that the fan favorite 1990’s cartoon X-Men: The Animated Series might be resurrected on Disney Plus and may even be announced at the upcoming D23 event. If true, the return of the beloved show, combined with the increased interest on the comic side, should be more than enough to keep fans occupied until the team’s debut in the MCU.
As ComicBook.com notes:
The series has not been on streaming services since it left Hulu in 2017, though it can still be purchased digitally on services such as iTunes and Amazon Video. In fact, the other popular series X-Men: Evolution and the cult-favorite Wolverine and the X-Men are both unavailable on streaming platforms as well.
Now that Disney owns Fox’s entertainment assets, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before they put these popular animated shows back on a streaming service. Disney Plus seems like the most likely option, but Hulu would also be a viable option as they were previously available there.
Of course, nothing is confirmed as of yet, but the outlet certainly makes some good points and with any luck, fans of the classic animated series will get some welcome news at D23 next weekend.
Published: Aug 16, 2019 05:14 pm