With Disney soon to be adding 21st Century Fox to its all-mighty gauntlet like a precious Infinity Stone, Disney CEO Bob Iger has taken it upon himself clarify a burning question that's been on the minds of many Marvel fans: What is to be done about the X-Men franchise? Well, according to Iger, both Marvel's X-Men and Fantastic Four properties will be placed in the very capable hands of Kevin Feige, because of course they are. In other news, water is also wet and the sky remains blue.
"I think it only makes sense," Iger said. "I want to be careful here because of what's been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn't be two Marvels."
Of course, this statement doesn't provide fans of Marvel's more mature content with any new information as to the fate of Wade Wilson aka Deadpool aka Marvel's Money Making Merc With a Mouth. Thankfully, Iger addressed the character's uncertain future after a person who clearly has their priorities straight asked, "so Deadpool could become an Avenger?"
To which Iger replied, "Kevin's got a lot of ideas. I'm not suggesting that's one of them. But who knows?"
Iger also went so far as to share how the studio plans to welcome the fresh faces coming over from 20th Century Fox into the fold:
"Very good question. We’re going to take the best people from both companies and that's who's gonna basically be on the playing field for us. Meaning, talent will prevail. Fox Searchlight is a great example. You look at FX, NatGeo. Yeah, you’re buying libraries and brands, but you're also buying the people. I'm not gonna talk about specific people right now except to say that I've met with virtually the entire senior management team at Fox and I'm not only fully engaged with them on what the possibilities for them might be but I'm excited about the prospects."
Hey DJ, can I get a little bit of ALADDIN's "A Whole New World" up in this piece? Ahhh, there we go. I feel like this is the perfect tune to sway to as we imagine the possibilities of a unified Marvel Cinematic Universe. I say this because, now that Disney has their white-gloved hands on the X-Men, Fantastic Four and beyond, there's no telling what manner of amazing crossovers the new deal could yield. Will Deadpool abandon the X-Force for another team? Could the X-Men work alongside (or against) the Avengers? Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together – mass hysteria! Granted, it'll be a while before we see any of these changes come to pass, but I sure am looking forward to seeing what happens.