Ever since the Disney-Fox merger, superhero fans have been desperate for concrete information on how the studio will tackle the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises. We’ve all theorized about how the mutants and Marvel’s First Family could fit into the MCU, but those in charge of actually overseeing this haven’t spoken about it too much just yet.
At Disney’s quarterly earnings call, though, CEO Bob Iger confirmed that the X-Men and the Four are now officially “part of Marvel Studios.” However, he didn’t specify anything about how the properties will be folded into the existing shared universe.
BuzzFeed’s Adam B. Vary shared Iger’s comments on Twitter, saying:
https://twitter.com/adambvary/status/1158843698253189120
Iger’s words follow on from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige’s brief touch on the topic at Comic-Con in July. At the end of the big announcement of their Phase 4 plans, Feige teased that they had other projects on the way in Phase 5, such as “the mutants” and the Fantastic Four. As Vary says above, it’s widely speculated that these movies will be discussed more at D23 later this month.
Given this, Iger’s reluctance to comment on how Marvel will handle the properties makes sense, as he’s not going to preemptively spill the beans before the time is right. That said, it’s not out of the question that Marvel won’t actually make them part of the MCU even though they’re now in charge creatively. There are a lot of complications, after all. Deadpool’s R-rated antics, for one, would stand out in the PG-13 world of Marvel.
There’s also the troubling question of how to introduce mutants into the MCU without either breaking continuity or turning them into the Inhumans and having them pop up overnight. Seeing as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness looks set to play with alternate dimensions though, maybe the previously Fox-owned properties could take place in their own universe? After all, it might be both the simplest option and the best way for Marvel to stay as true as possible to these characters.