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| Photo: BagoGames | Flickr. |
I don’t want the X-Men to be in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I’ve honestly dreaded the idea of Disney acquiring the X-Men film rights from 20th Century Fox since 2017 when I first heard the news of the merger which closed in 2019.[1]
The reasons I oppose the X-Men being a part of the MCU, or even being under the Disney umbrella can be, oddly, summed up in these points:
- There will not be enough X-Men movies.
- There will be too many X-Men movies.
Marvel Studios is only able to make and release a certain number of movies and television series each year. Marvel executives decide which characters to adapt to film and when. So far, since Marvel has lacked some of its most popular comic book characters, movies about lesser-known characters were given a chance.
Given the chance to have its flagship characters, Marvel would have used those over the lesser-known characters who were given films.
I have little doubt that if Marvel had had the rights to Spider-Man during the time that “Iron Man” was being produced, then Spider-Man would’ve likely been the first MCU film. If not first, then likely in Phase One.
Marvel was very fast to put Spider-Man into the MCU once a deal was made with Sony. Marvel pushed back “Black Panther” and “Captain Marvel,” films which have the MCU’s first lead characters who aren’t white men so that Spider-Man could get his debut MCU film sooner.[2]
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| Source: Marvel Studios |
If Marvel had the rights to the X-Men earlier, then there would likely have been even more movies of lesser-known characters pushed back to accommodate X-Men movies, perhaps a Wolverine movie or a team movie. Characters who have had adaptations already would have pushed back other characters’ film debuts.
Even now, there’s fan talk about how Marvel will use X-Men characters. There are casting wishes for Wolverine, and current MCU Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo has mentioned that he would like a film with Wolverine and Hulk. [3]
While the X-Men were not a part of the MCU, there were risks taken by Fox. Would Marvel Studios have ever made a film like “Deadpool” or “Logan”? Would Marvel have even considered making a solo film for a character like Gambit? I could imagine a show like “The Gifted” getting made, but what about “Legion”?
Despite the quality of the television show “Inhumans,” would those characters have ever made it to screen if Marvel had access to mutants and the X-Men? Would Inhumans have been a part of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D”? Would “Cloak and Dagger” have been considered?
According to director Shane Black, Marvel changed the main villain in “Iron Man 3” from a woman to a man because the company executives thought that a female villain wouldn’t sell toys. [4]
This, along with the fact that Black Widow has been a part of the MCU since 2010’s “Iron Man 2” yet will only now be getting a movie in 2020. It also took 10 years for the MCU to release its first film with a black lead character, and 11 years for its first female-led film.
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| Source: Marvel Studios |
Now that Disney has the rights to the X-Men, I wonder which characters will get their MCU debuts first. No doubt we’ll get more Wolverine, Professor X, Magneto and even Deadpool. I think its likely Marvel will stick with the same characters who have been in films for a while before giving other characters a shot.
I think that by Disney having the X-Men rights, the company will limit the potential of X-Men characters and other characters along with the variety of characters in Marvel movies.
The Spider-Man deal is better in my opinion; he is only one character and doesn’t do as much to displace other characters as the X-Men potentially will. Also, Sony can still make movies outside of the MCU. Regardless of the quality of “Venom,” it’s a movie that got made and was not a part of the MCU. If it had been the MCU, Venom either wouldn’t have gotten a movie, or he would’ve at the expense of a different character.
I’m also a bit more ambivalent about the Fantastic Four characters. The movies Fox made starring these characters were poorly received. I have no doubt that Marvel Studios could make a film of higher quality than the ones Fox made.
I personally would have liked it better if Fox had been able to make a good Fantastic Four film. I also think it there could have been great potential if Fox had created its own Marvel universe with the X-Men and the Fantastic Four rather than Disney getting the rights to all the characters. I don’t mind the idea of an MCU Fantastic Four film, though.
Overall, the X-Men now being under Disney’s control doesn’t excitement me much at all. Marvel has not shown as much initiative in taking the types of risks which led to Fox making some of its best X-Men movies and I think the loss of that potential outweighs any excitement that Wolverine and Hulk may get to fight in a live-action film.
Footnotes
Originally published at http://quora.com.
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