UPDATE: Several sources are now reporting reporting this is news is premature at best and totally incorrect at worst.
Last night, we learned Marvel and Fox had somehow settled the television rights for the X-Men, giving Fox the go-ahead to make two X-Men TV series, Hellfire and Legion. So, what did Fox have to give Marvel to make such a huge deal happen? Tender foot rubs? Massive pile of coke? Happy endings all around? Well, according to Den of Geek, they only had to give back the film rights to The Fantastic Four, with the first film reportedly coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2020.
You may remember that there are three, so-far untitled films on Marvel’s schedule in five years’ time. We’re told that one of those films is a Fantastic Four movie. We don’t have an independent source to back this claim up, so we’ll have to treat it with a certain amount of caution for now. But given the reception Fantastic Four received earlier this summer, it makes sense that Fox would be receptive to the idea of a deal with Marvel, particularly if it meant wresting something as major and lucrative as the X-Men TV rights from Marvel’s grasp.
For those of you who haven’t been following the Fantastic Four kerfuffle, the film recently ended its entire North American run having made less money than one of the previous Fantastic Four movies made in its opening weekend alone. Ouch. That’s a clobbering. So, although this is just a rumor, it would make sense for Fox to be willing to trade something that has consistently underperformed for them to get more rights to something else (X-Men) they’ve had hugely profitable successes with. And if anybody can figure out a way to turn a profit on the Fantastic Four, it’s Marvel.
So, who’s going to break the news to Chris Evans?
(Via Den of Geek)