If you’re a big Marvel fan and/or were disappointed by the Fantastic Four movie this summer (which let’s face it was a massive flop), you might have been excited to hear the swirling rumours that Marvel had struck a deal with 20th Century Fox to get the franchise back.
And thinking of the possibilities of such a deal is tantalising: who wouldn’t want Mr Fantastic et. al back in their rightful place alongside the Avengers? Not to mention Doctor Doom and Galactus to increase the Marvel Cinematic Universe villain quota! Plus HULK AND THE THING!
If the article so far has excited you, unfortunately, it is time to derail the hype train. Despite Fox’s latest Fantastic Four film being a universal disappointment, both studios have already refuted claims that Kevin Feige and Marvel had struck some kind of deal to lease the Fantastic Four to Marvel Studios – in a proposal similar to the one made earlier this year with Sony, involving the rights to Spiderman.
Undeniably, this is a bold move on the part of Fox, who clearly want to show that Marvel cannot have everything their own way, despite the recent successes of their films in contrast to Fox’s comparative failures.
Quite what will happen next is anyone’s game. For the moment, Fantastic Four and X-Men remain Fox’s property, however, with the characters having increasingly large roles in Marvel comic storylines – which are due to be adapted into films soon (such as Reed Richards in the Civil War storyline), one can only speculate on how long Fox’s grip on these rights will last and indeed whether Marvel will finally be able to collect the rights to all of their heroes, as many fans would hope.
To remind yourself of what the film might have been, watch the trailer below.
