Will Disney Kill Deadpool and the X-Men?
by EG
Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox means that some estranged Marvel characters are being brought back into the fold. That means a potential meeting between characters like Deadpool, Wolverine, and The Avengers. But also might mean that some charactes get lost in the shuffle and others - ahem, Deadpool - are altered to fit the Disney brand.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get a lot bigger, but some fear that it may become too crowded.
The announced Disney-Fox deal is a big step forward in Marvel reclaiming many of the characters it lost in the 1990s as it licensed them out to stave off bankruptcy. The respective characters from the X-Men and Fantastic Four universes will finally join the Marvel Studios fold.
On one level, it could not have come at a more precipitous time. After the release of Avengers 4 in 2019, Marvel Studios' deals with some of its marquee actors are set to expire, including those of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, among others who have been around since the MCU’s big bang, and whose salaries have become astronomical.
The inbound characters, whether in stand-alone movies or fancy crossovers, are bound to give an injection of freshness to the MCU and the comic book movie genre in general, but fans should know this wish fulfillment is a double-edged sword.
For one, it's unclear whether the actors who portray fan-favorite heroes — be it Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique or Michael Fassbender as Magneto — would take part in the new movies. Both actors, who star in next summer’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix, inked expensive, one-off deals. A return in a greater Marvel universe could cost even more.
Also, Marvel head Kevin Feige has said he has 22 more movies planned to start rolling out over the next decade as Phase 4 of the MCU begins. The merging of the universe complicates that rollout not just from a development point of view, but also a distribution point of view. Just how many Marvel movies can Disney release in a year?
Insiders are already expecting casualties.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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