With the Fox acquisition over at Disney, Marvel Studios now has control over pretty much every character from the comic books (minus Spider-Man). However, that doesn’t mean that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to see brand-new “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four” films anytime soon. When discussing what the Fox merger means for Marvel Studios, there’s quite a bit that’s still up in the air, according to studio president Kevin Feige.
Speaking to Variety, the Marvel boss was asked about what the future might hold for the “X-Men” and other Fox superhero properties that he is now in control of. While we already know that full-scale reboots of the characters seem to be years off still, there may be some of the ideas that Fox put forward that Marvel Studios is interested in adopting.
READ MORE: Kevin Feige Says ‘X-Men’ May Not Fit Into Marvel’s Upcoming 5-Year Plan
Feige said it “remains to be seen” if Marvel Studios will venture into the world of] R-rated adventures such as the successful films “Logan” and “Deadpool.” That being said, it appears that the adult-oriented humor that has made the latter character so damn popular is here to stay.
“When we were purchased, Bob [Iger, Disney CEO] said to us, ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,’” said Feige. “There’s no question that Deadpool is working, so why would we change it?”
Now, the real question is whether or not the R-rating is integral to Deadpool “working?” Can a PG-13 Marel Studios version of Ryan Reynolds’ character still be as edgy and funny as the no-holds-barred, filthy version that fans have come to know and love? As Feige said earlier, we guess that answer “remains to be seen.”
What might actually happen sooner is that fans will see those lower-level Marvel characters popping up in MCU films. For years, Marvel Studios was handcuffed by the fact that Fox had control over thousands of characters, leading Feige and Co. to introduce other characters or change origins to suit these limitations. With the Fox deal done, that’s no longer an issue.
READ MORE: Disney: More ‘Deadpool’ On The Way & ‘New Mutants’ Still On Release Schedule?
“We spent 12 years at Marvel Studios really embracing and digging into all the stories of characters who had never been brought to the screen before, but there would be times when we’d have a supporting player or a reference point or something for a movie and legal would go, ‘don’t forget that characters on that other list and you don’t have access to it,’” said Feige. “I’m not talking about Professor X or Wolverine, but there are thousands of characters in those brands and we’d shrug and go okay and figure out another solution. It will be nice to not have to do that.”
At this point, everything leads us to believe that Marvel Studios is likely 4 or 5 years away from fully-integrating the Fox properties. However, with the deal now completed, it’s only a matter of time before those Fox characters start popping up. Perhaps, as part of the upcoming new Phase of films? We’ll find out soon enough.