Marvel Could Start Developing X-Men & Fantastic Four For MCU in Early 2019

[Dead2009]

Marvel Studios is looking likely to start working the X-Men and Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe early in 2019. Kevin Feige spoke with Variety and said that he expects that he will gain access to the characters as a result of the Disney/Fox merger within the first six months of the year.

“We’ve been told it’s looking very, very good and could happen in the first six months of next year,” Feige told the outlet. “The notion of the characters that had previously been under a Fox agreement coming back is great. It’s nice when a company that created all these characters can have access to all those characters. It’s unusual not to; Marvel’s been in a unique position to not have access to those characters for a long time … But in terms of actually thinking about it and actually planning things, we haven’t started that yet.”

NBC News reports that sources close to the Fox/Disney deal expect that it could be completed as soon as the end of January. With Marvel’s film schedule currently booked through 2019 though, don’t expect to see the mutants or First Family on the big screen until sometime in 2020 at the earliest.

https://411mania.com/movies/marvel-start-developing-x-men-fantastic-four-mcu-early-2019/

 

[erasure fan1]

But in terms of actually thinking about it and actually planning things, we haven’t started that yet.”

Yea, I don't buy it. If they haven't actually started planning yet that would be crazy. I'm sure they have rough plans and ideas how to bring theses characters in. I don't think they have scripts yet but Kevin is smart enough to have a plan. I would guess this was said more from maybe a legal standpoint than anything else.

 

[WhatJaneSays]

The earliest they could reasonably start developing purely former Fox licenses is 3-6 months after the buyout is finalized. Which that is likely not to happen until late Spring or Summer. Development would start late in the year, September-December. The first project would probably not go into production until 2020, for a mid to late 2021 release.

Simply incorporating some elements from the former Fox licenses could be done earlier, however anything that's in production/post-production now is likely beyond the ability for those additions; Captain Marvel, Endgame, Far from Home (which is technically Sony so). And things in pre-production are probably out of considerations as well; Guardians vol. 3, Black Panther 2. We could possibly see something in movies that are still in scripting phase like Doctor Strange 2 or Black Widow.

I could be totally off, as there are a lot of as of yet unnamed Marvel Studios movies earmarked through 2022. I just don't see any of those slots within the next 2 years being able to utilize the former Fox licenses as stand alone products.

 

[Princess Leia]

I still think it will be late early 2022 at the earliest. They have the next stage pretty planned out (even though they haven’t put films with release dates for the general public yet). What they can do is throw some characters in as cameos in various movies (Storm in Black Panther 2), until Phase 5 happens.

Also- one way to get around introducing mutants would be to have Xavier say something along the lines of ‘We watched the Avengers in the shadows, now we believe we can also be accepted, yadda yadda yadda.’

 

[MisterPenguin]

In 2019, there will be only three Marvel movies: Captain Marvel, Avengers Endgame, and Spider-Man Far From Home. All have wrapped on production.

In 2020, the next Marvel movie is set for an April release. I don't think any production has begun on that. This would make that April 2020 a possible blank slate, or, they have a fully finished script waiting to go.

Then there are the rumored films: Strange2, Panther2, Ant-Man3, Captain Marvel 2, Black Widow, Spider-Man 'Home'3, Eternals, Shang-Chi, and eventually a GotG vol3.

Far From Home starts Phase 4, where we were told things would be very different.

Of course, post-credit tags can be relatively quickly whipped up. If Endgame ends with wrestling away or destroying the Infinity thingamabobs, then that can totally reset the MCU to become almost anything, including creating a reality where Avengers, Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, and X-Men coexist. If Feige and team have a roadmap for Phase 4 that includes Fox franchises, then Endgame and Far From Home can tease it and the first movie in 2020 can make it happen.

 

[ppete1975]

Would be easy to put an end credit (they have what 4-5 a movie). Just show professor x (doesn’t even have to say anything). Or show the thing walking down a street. A quick view of someone that alot of people think marvel cant add. And you get people talking. You have four groups of people. 1) keep up with all of this 2) have no idea who anyone is that hasnt been in the mcu 3) people who know the characters but don’t understand the disney thing 4) people who know the disney stuff but aren’t up to date

 

[Princess Leia]

One easy way to do F4 without getting into an origin story would be to start adding things in the background (like mentioned above).

Fury or Hill could have the news on in the background covering the space mission, and then it’s reiterated in the opening credits ala Incredible Hulk.

Into the Spiderverse did a great job with origin stories IMO, so it’d be nice to see Marvel get creative.

 

[Disney Irish]

Don't be surprised if you see a certain character with claws in a post-credit scene in End Game.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Don't be surprised if you see a certain character with claws in a post-credit scene in End Game.

marie​

 

[Indy_UK]

I don't want them shoehorned in ASAP. I'd rather they wait another phase before brining them in

 

[Disney Irish]

I don't want them shoehorned in ASAP. I'd rather they wait another phase before brining them in

Actually this is a perfect time as Phase 3 is ending and Phase 4 is starting up. Phase 4 has been rumored and thought to be about the cosmic side of Marvel, which includes the ability to move between dimensions. Dark Phoenix is coming out this summer, it'll technically be under Fox/Disney by the time it comes out. So depending on how it ends they could have the cosmic entity Phoenix Force introduced, which leads into a Avengers vs X-Men story line.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Actually this is a perfect time as Phase 3 is ending and Phase 4 is starting up. Phase 4 has been rumored and thought to be about the cosmic side of Marvel, which includes the ability to move between dimensions. Dark Phoenix is coming out this summer, it'll technically be under Fox/Disney by the time it comes out. So depending on how it ends they could have the cosmic entity Phoenix Force introduced, which leads into a Avengers vs X-Men story line.

After credits scene for Dark Phoenix: "Jean, I'm Nick Fury. You think you're the only cosmic entity in the world? Ms. Grey, you've become part of a bigger universe. You just don't know it yet."

 

[Princess Leia]

Actually this is a perfect time as Phase 3 is ending and Phase 4 is starting up. Phase 4 has been rumored and thought to be about the cosmic side of Marvel, which includes the ability to move between dimensions. Dark Phoenix is coming out this summer, it'll technically be under Fox/Disney by the time it comes out. So depending on how it ends they could have the cosmic entity Phoenix Force introduced, which leads into a Avengers vs X-Men story line.

I don’t see Disney keeping this cast. It’s a mixed group in terms of talent, and I think they’ll want a fresh slate.

Also, Dark Phoenix is supposed to take place in the 90s (with the never-aging X-Men group of Xavier, Beast, and Magneto), and while Captain Marvel also takes place in the 90s, it’s easier for Disney to just start with a clean slate.

 

[Disney Irish]

I don’t see Disney keeping this cast. It’s a mixed group in terms of talent, and I think they’ll want a fresh slate.

Also, Dark Phoenix is supposed to take place in the 90s (with the never-aging X-Men group of Xavier, Beast, and Magneto), and while Captain Marvel also takes place in the 90s, it’s easier for Disney to just start with a clean slate.

I just don’t see them rebooting and starting over with a third cast. Also if they use dimension jumping (or quantum realm jumping) as I kind of expect them to use then you can have the time jump from 90s Dark Phoenix to modern Avengers. We’re already going to see something similar in End Game.

 

[Princess Leia]

I just don’t see them rebooting and starting over with a third cast. Also if they use dimension jumping (or quantum realm jumping) as I kind of expect them to use then you can have the time jump from 90s Dark Phoenix to modern Avengers. We’re already going to see something similar in End Game.

They’re going to need to recast Wolverine regardless.

 

[Disney Irish]

They’re going to need to recast Wolverine regardless.

Maybe, or Hugh Jackman can continue playing him and they can de-age him digitally like is common in Hollywood now.

 

[Dead2009]

I just don’t see them rebooting and starting over with a third cast. Also if they use dimension jumping (or quantum realm jumping) as I kind of expect them to use then you can have the time jump from 90s Dark Phoenix to modern Avengers. We’re already going to see something similar in End Game.

They're going to recast the Avengers at some point anyway so it doesn't matter if they did something with a 3rd cast, IMO.

 

[Disney Irish]

They're going to recast the Avengers at some point anyway so it doesn't matter if they did something with a 3rd cast, IMO.

There is no evidence they would recast the main MCU characters with new actors. The only time it was done was prior to it being a complete Marvel production was when Terrence Howard was replaced by Don Cheadle for the part of Rhodey. And honestly I think that was a time where the change ended up for the better. Don Cheadle represents the character a lot better than Terrence Howard did. But for example I just don't see them recasting Tony Stark or Steve Rogers with any other actor. At this point, no one besides Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans would represent those characters any better. What I'd expect is just like the comics that the MCU would change the lineup of who was an Avenger or who took up the mantle of the Iron Man or Capt America personas. So I could see them having Bucky Barnes or someone taking on the Capt America mantle, but that is it.

And with most of the actors that are currently playing the X-Men characters being mostly young, I just don't see them recasting at this point. So when the X-Men characters get folded into the MCU, I don't expect all to make it. But I do expect them to use these same current line-up of actors for those characters that do make it.

 

[Dead2009]

RDJ and Chris Evans' contracts are done after Avengers 4 with no news that they've signed on to continue their roles.

 

[MisterPenguin]

RDJ and Chris Evans' contracts are done after Avengers 4 with no news that they've signed on to continue their roles.

I think I read in places they're both now hedging about accepting reappearances. I would imagine like for how RDJ appeared in Homecoming.

There's always flashbacks, time travel, alternate dimensions, clones, robotic clones, future timelines (a la Logan), dream sequences, etc... All the usual comic book stuff.