The Ramifications of a Deal between Fox and Disney

Reports surfaced on Monday that The Walt Disney Company is in talks to purchase various branches of 21st Century Fox.

According to an article by CNBC, the talks have been going on for a few weeks now. The Walt Disney Co. would not purchase all of 21st Century Fox. News and sports coverage would remain under Fox’s control, but the television and film branches would be sold to the mouse. International assets such as Star and Sky, along with notable television networks like FX and National Geographic would change hands if the purchase were to be completed.

Talks have been halted as of late, but a potential purchase by The Walt Disney Co. of this magnitude could shake up all of Hollywood and could mean huge changes to what consumers have become accustomed to from both Disney and 21st Century Fox. With news of this circulating all over the web, many have speculated what Disney and its surroundings would look like if the purchase was to be completed, so let’s talk about that.

The immediate reaction by many when they hear of this is that the entire purchase would be made so that Marvel Entertainment, which is owned by The Walt Disney Co., could retake the film and television right to both the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.

Back in the early 1990’s Marvel sold the film and television rights of many of it’s flagship characters to companies like 21st Century Fox and Sony Entertainment. These are the most notable of transactions due to the magnitude of the characters that were sold, ie. X-Men, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four.

When Marvel Entertainment began its cinematic universe in 2008 with the film “Iron Man”, fans clamored for the characters that were absent from the array of movies that have now built to “Thor: Ragnarok”. This is now the seventeenth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After three failed Fantastic Four films and ten X-Men films with a varying degree of opinions, 21st Century Fox has harbored much scrutiny from movie-goers.

Now we sit with the thought of an impending purchase that will allow fan favorites like Wolverine, Johnny Storm, and Deadpool to join the same universe as The Avengers and The Guardians of the Galaxy.

As a huge fan of Marvel Comics there is nothing I want to see more than this deal to happen. This could potentially allow stories like Avengers vs. X-Men or House of M to be made into films with no worry of excluding characters due to rights issues.

Imagine Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man in the same film. This would break the box office and fans who have wanted to see ALL of their beloved characters on the same screen at the same time would have their dreams realized.

The much scrutinized exile of the X-Men in the comic books could come to an end if Marvel were to regain their rights. Hello to wonderfully crafted stories about characters we love and goodbye to the imposters, The Inhumans. But with all the merriment and happiness that could come from this deal, scrutiny and a reluctance hovers over the fan community.

While some may think that the “X-Men” films are lackluster and boring, others enjoy the differences that Fox delivers opposed to Marvel.

Marvel Entertainment, under the dome of The Walt Disney Co., has established itself as more lighthearted and comical. The new “Thor: Ragnarok” film was a comedy first and a comic book film second. Nay-sayers to the deal are worried that the lighthearted nature of the current Marvel films will ruin what Fox has been doing with the X-Men films.

Anything will be better than what Fox delivered with its three tries at The Fantastic Four.

Another aspect of this deal comes with talks of Disney’s upcoming streaming service. Disney announced that they are pulling all of its properties from Netflix, at a currently unannounced time. With Disney having it’s own streaming service, potential X-Men television projects are on the mind, but what will happen to successful shows like The Gifted or Legion that are currently airing or have a season two already in the works?

Others questions about Fox’s T.V. properties rise with the thought of this deal. For shows like Family Guy or any on FX, will this purchase “Disneyify” them? Will the more adult oriented content of these various shows be changed or be completely forgotten? Many questions and thoughts come to mind with news of these talks.

All I know is that if this deal does get completed I’ll be the first one in line for the reboot of The Fantastic Four and X-Men.