How Marvel's President Feels About One Day Adding The X-Men And The Fantastic Four

Avengers X-Men

Fans have been griping for years now about the way in which the various movie rights to Marvel characters are split among multiple companies. While audiences hunger to see the Avengers meet the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, there are basic legal reasons why it's just not do-able. That being said, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has confirmed that it is certainly his company's desire to collect all of the heroes and villains under one roof to create a very specific experience on the big screen. He recently said,

My goal is to replicate the experience that comic book fans have reading the books up on the screen, and we've been able to accomplish that beyond my wildest dreams over the last ten years. And certainly, including Spidey in [Captain America:]Civil War, in the upcoming [Avengers:] Infinity War, is yet another dream that I didn't even dare to talk about publicly, because I thought the odds of it were very slim. So no plans beyond that for the few remaining characters that aren't already in the MCU, but never say never. Who knows what can happen in the future?

The executive/producer recently gave an interview to the Perception YouTube channel (via Screenrant)and it was at the end of the recorded phone chat that the interviewer and Kevin Feige discussed the idea of Marvel characters outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe returning home. The topic was broached when Hugh Jackman's turn in Logan was discussed, and the fact that the actor said he would only return to play Wolverine in an Avengers movie. Feige was asked about the probability of that happening, and after mentioning his appreciation for the James Mangold's movie as an end for the big screen character, he then said the preceding.

Now that Sony and Marvel Studios have made a deal to let Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (played by Tom Holland), the biggest target now in this conversation is the relationship between Marvel and 20th Century Fox - who own the rights to both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four. There has been a lot of pleading on the internet for Fox to make some sort of deal and send their superhero characters back to the original publisher, but the combination of time and money may mean we won't see any negotiations start up any time soon.

As cool as it would be to see the X-Men, Fantastic Four and Avengers team up on the big screen - as they have for decades in the comics - it should be noted that there would be a serious downside to having all of the movies made by just one studio. Take the year 2018 for example: right now the Marvel titles that are set to be released include Black Panther, The Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man & The Wasp, New Mutants, Deadpool 2, and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. It would be impossible for any one studio to release all of these movies in one calendar year - which is to say that if all of the rights were to revert, we would potentially wind up seeing our favorite characters less often.

It's easy to imagine a future where Marvel and Fox both need to generate new interests in their properties by agreeing to a major crossover - but that's not something that needs to happen anytime soon (there are years left on the Fantastic Four contract; Fox is a little over a year removed from the X-Men franchise's greatest success, Deadpool; and the Marvel Cinematic Universe is doing just fine without the presence of mutants). Still, it's nice to know that Kevin Feige still sees it as a goal for his company, which is just enough to keep the dream alive.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.