There's an incredibly bright future ahead for Marvel Studios -- and not just because of the quality of product they've been able to put out over the last decade. The recent news about the Disney-Fox merger is great news for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as X-Men and Fantastic Four characters will soon have the chance to meet the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy, and that opens up and endless number of possible story opportunities. Naturally, details are being kept to a minimum, but one person very excited to see how things go is Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth, who told me earlier today,
Oh, [it's] awesome. And I hope they get to do it, because contractually a lot of us have now kind of done our run. But to interact... and I've said that a while ago about, 'Imagine interacting with Wolverine or all the different characters from X-Men'... [Deadpool and Thor] would be pretty cool. The most exciting thing about Avengers was just being on set as Thor with the Guardians, or... I was as much a fan to see that kick off as anyone else.
The new movie 12 Strong, in which Chris Hemsworth stars, is set to arrive in theaters later this month, and I had the opportunity to sit down with the actor earlier today during the film's Los Angeles press day. While talk about Marvel was peppered into a lot of our conversation (more on that soon), it was at the very end of the one-on-one interview that I brought up the Disney-Fox merger. I asked how he felt about what the move would potentially mean for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and while there was a caveat, he expressed legitimate excitement about the prospects.
Of course, that caveat is a pretty important one. Marvel Studios has been incredibly hush-hush about the future of the franchise post-Avengers 4, and while part of that is maintaining certain stakes and secrets about their soon-to-be-released projects, another is that a lot of main players will be seeing their multi-picture contracts come to an end. Not only is Chris Hemsworth's deal up after Marvel's big May 2019 release, but so are those belonging to stars like Chris Evans a.k.a. Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. a.k.a. Iron Man, and Scarlett Johansson a.k.a. Black Widow. Because of this, some of Marvel's biggest names might not be around when the X-Men and Fantastic Four arrive.
There are obviously a lot of big questions that are still up in the air regarding the Disney-Fox merger -- including when the deal is going to be concluded -- but it is exciting to hear that Chris Hemsworth is as on-board with the effect it will have on comic book movies as much as anyone. We'll just have to wait and see if "Thor meets the X-Men/Fantastic Four/Deadpool" ever becomes a thing.
In the meantime, you can see Chris Hemsworth back up on the big screen in 12 Strong on January 19th, and stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more from my interview!
