UPDATE: Comic Book Resources has reached out to their contacts at Fox and the contact has said this rumor is not true. CBR also claims Den of Geeks has also back pedaled on its claims.–William Gatevackes
Yesterday, a story broke that Marvel Studios had struck a deal with 20th Century Fox, allowing Fox to develop and produce two X-Men related television series. Fox owned the film rights to the comic book mutant superhero team, while Marvel had retained the television rights. It was a surprising move that left some wondering what Marvel was getting in return from Fox for those television rights. Den Of Geeks think they have the answer –
According to our source, Fox were given the TV rights for X-Men in exchange for Fantastic Four. The deal’s been in the works for some time, we’re told, and further, the timing of Marvel’s recent announcement of its movie slate leading up to the year 2020 and the X-Men TV series is no coincidence.
You may remember that there are three, so-far untitled films on Marvel’s schedule in five years’ time. We’re told that one of those films is a Fantastic Four movie.
If true, this is exciting news for comic book movie fans. The film rights to the Fantastic Four comics don’t just include the titular quartet of heroes and some of their adversaries such as Dr. Doom. There are also a number of characters who are considered big players in the Marvel Comics universe including the hero Silver Surfer, the cosmic villain Galactus and alien races like the shape-shifting Skrull. The group of characters are considered a cornerstone of Marvel’s world and having them available to interact in Marvel Studios’ Cinematic Universe is something that fans have been hoping for for some time. Especially given that the three Fantastic Four films released by Fox over the years have been, to put it politely, abysmal.
But note, even Den Of Geek is advising caution in that they have only one source for this story. So let’s not break out the campaign yet, but maybe we can possibly at least get it starting to chill.
