RUMOR: Disney Kills Fox’s Marvel Projects! Thank God! | Breaking Geek

Welcome to Breaking Geek, where uber-geek Nick Doll offers strong opinions, fun commentary, informed reactions, and thought-out theories regarding the most interesting news of the week, using his expansive knowledge of all things geek! 

Over the weekend, Daniel Richtman (@DanielRPK on twitter) revealed that nearly all Marvel projects currently being overseen by Fox, are a causality of Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox.

Of course, at this point, this is still an unsubstantiated rumor, but if true, it really doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Kevin Feige is a master universe manipulator with his own plans, and some of these projects really don’t feel like they fit the Disney brand. Why continue developing Gambit, Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, Kitty Pryde, and Multiple Man solo projects when you need to take the time to first properly introduce mutants and the Fantastic Four into the Marvel Cinematic Universe?

X-Force’s fate is uncertain. X-Force was set to film in two months, which would need to be reworked under Disney and Marvel Studios, so the current version in pre-production isn’t happening. Bob Iger did say Disney wants to include Deadpool with their offerings – who wouldn’t, the Merc with the Mouth makes so much money – but Deadpool and X-Force creator Rob Liefeld also assumes X-Force has been drowned by the House of Mouse, tweeting, “Pour one out for ol’ X-Force. Victim of the merger. $800 million grosser easy.”

As upset as I would be to lose the chance to see an X-Force film – if it is indeed dead – I think Marvel Studios and Disney made the right moves in canceling Gambit, Doctor Doom, Silver Surfer, Kitty Pryde, and Multiple Man.  I’m actually pleased these projects are dead.

This joy the death of these films brings me isn’t simply because I don’t think they will gel with the MCU, as I think the very idea of these movies, even being made under Fox, was flawed from the start.

Let’s break it down!

99.99% Of X-Men Characters Don’t Need A Solo Movie… Ever

Wolverine… Deadpool… that’s about it. Not simply because of the movies we’ve already seen, but also looking back at the history of Marvel Comics, these are two characters who have stood alone just about as much as they join in other books like X-Men and X-Force. Sure, there have been hundreds of mini-series or books, that didn’t run that long, that have showcased certain mutants at the center of their own titles. There was a recent run of Multiple Man that made quite a splash, Domino has her own book for the time being, and Shatterstar (seen in Deadpool 2… briefly) also has his own title on comic shelves.

But, that’s the world of comics, where instead of 3 movies being released by Marvel proper a year, there are dozens upon dozens of mini-series and new titles allowing the exploration of characters better known for being part of the X-Men than carrying their own, consistent title.

Marvel Studios Has Real Options, Unlike Fox

Honestly, maybe Kitty Pryde, Gambit, or Multiple Man could have eventual TV shows showcasing them as leads on Disney+, but otherwise, these titles make no sense for Marvel Studios.

Fox was only planning solo movies for X-Men other than Wolverine because that’s all they had! They couldn’t make Fantastic Four work, so what other choice did Fox have to make more than one Marvel movie a year other than using the main X-Men team, and other side teams like X-Force and New Mutants?

Fox’s only choice to kick up the number of superhero films coming from the studio was by getting creative… in stupid ways. I know Gambit and Kitty Pryde are very popular X-Men, but they are far better utilized in a team movie than their own adventures.

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The X-Men are, for the most part, not like the Avengers, ever since inception. They’re a unit that most function together and even mostly live in the same mansion. They were not a team assembled from currently existing superheroes, they were created as a team!

That’s not to say they can’t break off into smaller teams and have adventures, or an X-Men film could focus on Pryde or Gambit as the heart of an X-Men movie involving a bigger team, rather than the other heavy hitters we saw again and again at Fox. Hell, Marvel Studios could do different X-Men team movies, like the current Marvel Comics where you have X-Men: Blue and X-Men: Red.

Still, at least to start, introducing the X-Men as a unit, or bringing in Wolverine first in the dawn of mutants is the move to make in the MCU. It also probably makes the most sense to have just a core X-Men franchise with no side teams (save for X-Force) at least for the next two or three “phases” of the MCU.

Unlike Fox, Marvel Studios has options. Kevin Feige has shown just as much excitement in lesser characters Fox-owned but never used as he has in getting to play with the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Marvel Studios is known for digging deep, so why waste a solo film on an X-Men when there are so many other great solo characters floating around? In addition to the characters, Disney gains with Fantastic Four.

Marvel’s First Family Comes First

Of course, the Doctor Doom movie is dead. You have to do a good job with the Fantastic Four first. Once Marvel Studios has done Marvel’s first family justice, then you can consider a villain lead movie, though Marvel Studios has yet to make this move, aside from making Thanos the protagonist in Avengers: Infinity War.

After we have the FF, the same thing could be done with Doom, as he is a very strong villain in the comics that can threaten nearly the entire MCU. I’m not actually recommending Disney make an Avengers movie or FF film with Dr. Doom as the protagonist, but it sure makes a hell of a lot more sense than whatever Fox was doing. So, again, I’m glad the project is dead.

Silver Surfer?

I do see the possibility of getting a Silver Surfer movie someday, but you also need to introduce Galactus, which should be an Avengers villain for sure, despite him intentionally being a Fantastic Four baddie.

Going back to the obvious and less opinionated side of things, a Silver Surfer project would need to be reworked from scratch to fit in with something Fox never had, a cosmic corner of their pitiful Marvel Universe.

Conclusion

Good riddance! These movies sounded like a waste of time even before Disney bought 20th Century Fox.

Let us hope X-Force is able to live on, with its current cast and R-rating, but the rest of those projects had to go. I’m glad Mickey wasn’t afraid to get his white-gloved hands dirty…


Are You Sad At These Film Casualties? Or Are You Also Glad Feige Has A Clean Slate? Let Me Know How Wrong Or Right I Am Below!

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