Last week, the proposed acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company took a hit, much to fan dismay, when rival contender Comcast tabled a substantial, all-cash bid for the rights to intellectual properties owned by the Rupert Murdoch-founded company. According to CNBC, Comcast was willing to offer $60B in cash to 21st Century Fox in hopes of acquiring the company and most of its media assets.
Now, the impending amalgamation, whether it be with Disney or Comcast, wouldn’t typically have such an impactful resonance on cinephiles. However, seeing as amongst the intellectual properties owned by 21st Century Fox are several highly sought after Marvel characters, including Deadpool, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men, the MCU fandom has taken notice.
Unfortunately, speaking strictly from a business perspective, I cannot provide you with an update regarding a merger between the two mass media corporations, and apparently, neither can Ryan Reynolds.
During a recent sit-down with Collider, Deadpool himself commented on the Disney-Fox deal, saying – at least from his perspective – although he hasn’t heard anything new, the potential acquisition of Fox, whether it be by Disney or Comcast, hasn’t affected anything regarding development and plans.
“It really is at the moment—and maybe it’s an illusion, and maybe I’m naïve—but it’s business as usual at Fox. I also like to think, and again I don’t know anything, I’m not an executive over there, but I like to think that the acquisition of Fox, by whether be it Comcast, Disney, or Myspace for fuck’s sakes, I like to think that whoever buys Fox is buying it to keep intact, and to allow it to be its own entity. I mean, it’s a valuable asset, it’s under a totally different set of rules and leadership. So, I don’t know, I would assume that it’s just gonna be business as usual, but fuck if I know.”
Practically since the MCU began, there have been rumors about a crossover between Marvel Studios and 21st Century Fox, as if there weren’t enough superheroes in Avengers: Infinity War already. Then, when news broke about Disney’s intention to acquire Fox, what was once a far-fetched fantasy suddenly became a viable reality. While temporarily we’re left in the dark, a resolution to this madness should be with us by 2019, hopefully.