Rumor: Disney to buy 21st Century Fox... hopefully

vwong19

Being a huge Marvel fan today’s rumor makes me very excited about the possibility of bridging  the XMen and Fantastic Four with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This would enable Lego to create more sets around the mutants and Fantastic Four.

Deadpool version 2 anyone?

Ma1234

There is little stopping LEGO from doing that now. 

madforLEGO

The most exciting thing about this would be the Mutants coming back to Marvel Studios, if that would still occur as it depends on how a purchase would go I would think.

gmonkey76

I would love to see Marvel get the rights to all their characters back. Even if Disney doesn't buy Fox all it would take is for the new owners to play nice with each other. If Disney and Sony can play nice who knows what could happen in the future. 

bandit778

Be worth it just to get the 20th Century Fox fanfare back a the start of the Star wars films where it belongs. Little things, but it just doesn't seem right not having it before the Star Wars theme. :)

CCC

So instead of a SDCC Deadpool Duck we can look forward to SDCC Deadpool Mouse?

MattPetersen

Ma1234 said:

There is little stopping LEGO from doing that now. 

Actually not true.
Marvel DOES have an embargo on certain characters that they don't want on merchandise that companies have licensed from them.
the X-Men and the Fantastic Four are two teams that Marvel is telling people not to use. 

elspankdog

CCC said:

So instead of a SDCC Deadpool Duck we can look forward to SDCC Deadpool Mouse?

Deadmau5?

vwong19

I guess I should have provided some background on why we probably haven’t gotten any Lego XMen or FF lately.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davegonzales/2015/05/31/marvel-is-killing-x-men-and-fantastic-four-merchandising/#779674af2b51

M1J0E

Thanks for an interesting read!  I didn’t know any of the licensing issues.

SumoLego

There are also other licensing conflicts within the general Marvel/Disney - Fox rift (and similar issues with Sony and Universal), where the movie studios have restrictions on what merchandise they can produce in support of their comic movie.

And there are distribution rights and all sorts of other collateral agreements that need to be in place in order for a Star Wars-esque merchandise blitz.

(This is why we've never seen LEGO sets in support of Fox or Universal Marvel movies.  And also why we do see such sets with respect to Sony.  Thus, the long history of movie-based Spider-Man sets.  Although, one could note that LEGO and Universal seem to have no issues doing licensing - so that would lead me to believe it is truly a Marvel/Fox rift.)

Anyhoo - Marvel did work around it for LEGO sets by making them comic book based. 

I'd be interested to see what sort of 'payoff' fee was paid to Warner Bros. for the 'not' Suicide Squad sets from two years ago.  Or if they just had to eat potential royalties because the sets were coincidental... 

PapaBear

I think the Marvel movies are decent, but I'm not a huge fan of the new Star Wars movies, so I don't really care if Disney gets 21st Century Fox or not.

KingAlanI

I had thought the not Suicide Squad sets were to avoid direct association with a kid-unfriendly movie/title

vwong19

It seems like talks between the studios are serious and may happen within weeks. The implications on the MCU and Lego could be big and bad for my wallet.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/12/06/a-disney-fox-deal-means-far-more-than-just-x-men-joining-marvel/#11a9b1803c12

KingAlanI

In short, a big media company buying another could be anticompetitive

icey117

PapaBear said:

I think the Marvel movies are decent, but I'm not a huge fan of the new Star Wars movies, so I don't really care if Disney gets 21st Century Fox or not.

And I think all StarWars movies before Disney sucked! :-D

SirBrickalotOfLego

icey117 said:

PapaBear said:

I think the Marvel movies are decent, but I'm not a huge fan of the new Star Wars movies, so I don't really care if Disney gets 21st Century Fox or not.

And I think all StarWars movies before Disney sucked! :-D

....All of them??

KLOKRIECHER

Here is a list of movies/TV shows I think we might be getting thanks to the deal between 20th Century Fox and Disney:

- Fantastic Four, X-Men and Deadpool (Maybe there might be a possibility for those movies to be part of the MCU)
- Predator
- Ice Age
- Avatar (the one with the blue people)
- Alone at Home (Would be great if they made Kevin's house in LEGO)
- Planet of the Apes
- Maybe more Simpsons sets

gmonkey76

Plus I hear Disney would have the rights to 66 Batman. Don't know if we would get any new sets, but there are a couple if Minifigures I still want.

SumoLego

Even if this deal were to happen, it'll be years before we see any of the effects.

Once a deal is consumated, then neither entity is in any hurry to do cross-promotion or expand licensing to things like LEGO sets.  The 'we'll get to it' attitude will take precedent - and the real priority - reducing redundant staff, management, production companies, distribution rights, and existing licensing contracts is what keeps attorneys and business-folk working for decades.

They'll need to show fund managers and investors that the conglomerate has 'saved' money with the merger and ensure that the stock continues to perform.  Because these companies do many of the same things, I can't imagine that'll be sorted out for atleast 3-5 years.  (I'm sure just doing the internal analysis of Fox's operation would take a significant amount of time.)

It's quite a bit different than Disney acquiring Marvel and LucasFilms, as those entities primarily produce content and can operate as another subsidiary of Disney.

The deal with Sony and Spider-Man only came about because two gigantic entities that know exactly the value of their franchises could agree to divide up the enormous piles of cash that would be generated by sharing essentially a handful of characters.

Not knowing how long the rights to Spider-Man reside with Sony, they could certainly go back to producing independent (Sony-only) films after this iteration of Spider-Man runs his course.

SumoLego

Also, movie studio management does change, and a new Sony Executive Vice President of Blah Blah Blah could fancy himself Kevin Feige-ish and try to helm their own Sony Spider-Man Universe.  

This would be to the shagrin of MCU fans - but the name of the game is to make blockbusters and generate revenue - not to do 'really cool stuff' that fans may believe they want to see.  It comes down to if they want to pay.

That said, how awesome would a crossover X-Men and MCU event movie be?  Maybe for Generation 2 of both Universes - once this group of actors turn over?

gmonkey76

How far fetched would it be for Disney to give some of the more adult(not fitting Disney family image) properties to Sony in exchange for Spider-Man? I know it could take years to figure out the deals and licensing, but I think there's a bigger picture than we think we know.

monkeyhanger

Would it really be that long before we see any effects? Disney have already shown that they're ready to move forward quickly with new acquisitions - didn't take them long to start churning out new SW films after buying the rights to the franchise.

Bumblepants

I just want them to sneak Hugh Jackman in the final avenger film.

SumoLego

monkeyhanger said:

Would it really be that long before we see any effects? Disney have already shown that they're ready to move forward quickly with new acquisitions - didn't take them long to start churning out new SW films after buying the rights to the franchise.

The new wave of SW films were already in the pre-production before the merger.  And by all reports the discussions started between Disney and Lucas in 2011.  That's about four years worth of merger-wrangling before the Force Awakens hit theatres.  And given the long relationship between Disney and Lucas before that - I'm sure Disney knew exactly what it was getting in LucasFilm.

But what do I know?  Disney may want Fox for their real estate holdings or because they still hold all of distribution rights to Episode IV... and some of the distribution to the first six films.

Or maybe Disney wants a controlling share in Hulu for streaming distribution of its content.

monkeyhanger

Bumblepants said:

I just want them to sneak Hugh Jackman in the final avenger film.

Or sneak him into Deadpool 2, Deadpool spoke quite fondly of him! :D

CaptainPirateMan

Yes, all you need is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in Avengers 5. He doesn't need much explanation, just drop him in, and just him. His presence is all you need for the entire X-Men universe. Plus, can you imagine Logan and Tony Strak banter... could be great.

SumoLego

I think they're both dead.  Or will be dead... ish... um... multiverse!  

gmonkey76

According to engadget.com and the LA Times the deal is done for 52 billion.

CaptainPirateMan

Boom. Wolverine in the MCU has been a dream of mine ever since they got Spiderman.  Before the MCU started, the Mt Rushmore of Marvel was Hulk, Cap, Spidey, and Wolverine. It made me sad that 2 of them were not possible because of these film deals. Well... that's not a problem anymore!!!

flord

I’m going to try not to get too excited about a potential motherlode of new X-Men figures, spanning different eras and timelines. 

Please give us a Cable. A Dark Phoenix Jean Grey. Nightcrawler. Havok. Professor X. I could go on and on...

Also, my dream of an X-Mansion D2C lives!

AdeelZubair

I've heard the deal will be complete in 18 months, it needs to be checked so don't expect any changes until 2019 / 2020.

Shib

In all honesty I think the only really good way to bring the x-men into the MCU would be to reboot it.

Fantastic Four could be added fairly easily but the lengthy mutant backstories would require too much ignoring continuity issues to my mind. I’m sure they could shoe horn them in but given the length some of the MCU actors have been going a reboot is likely sooner or later anyway so adding xmen is a logical excuse.

natro220

Shib said:

In all honesty I think the only really good way to bring the x-men into the MCU would be to reboot it.

Fantastic Four could be added fairly easily but the lengthy mutant backstories would require too much ignoring continuity issues to my mind. I’m sure they could shoe horn them in but given the length some of the MCU actors have been going a reboot is likely sooner or later anyway so adding xmen is a logical excuse.

I'm not sure how they would introduce mutants to the universe when they've already pretty much replaced the concept (horribly) with Inhumans.  Unless they somehow combine the two properties.

Marvel already has things planned out for years.  They were able to successfully add Spiderman to the lineup...maybe they can be successful again?

Shib

^adding one character who is meant to be young vs adding a whole cast with decades long back stories is a different situation.

As I say I’m sure they could do it but a reboot is a better solution in the long run

MattPetersen

Shib said:

^adding one character who is meant to be young vs adding a whole cast with decades long back stories is a different situation.

As I say I’m sure they could do it but a reboot is a better solution in the long run

No backstory needed if you add them fresh.
Just start off XMen as the First Class crew (Cyclops, Jean, Beast, IceMan, and Angel) and move from there.

natro220

MattPetersen said:

Shib said:

^adding one character who is meant to be young vs adding a whole cast with decades long back stories is a different situation.

As I say I’m sure they could do it but a reboot is a better solution in the long run

No backstory needed if you add them fresh.
Just start off XMen as the First Class crew (Cyclops, Jean, Beast, IceMan, and Angel) and move from there.

The problem with that idea is the First Class X-Men are set in the 70's and 80's.

gmonkey76

natro220 said:

MattPetersen said:

Shib said:

^adding one character who is meant to be young vs adding a whole cast with decades long back stories is a different situation.

As I say I’m sure they could do it but a reboot is a better solution in the long run

No backstory needed if you add them fresh.
Just start off XMen as the First Class crew (Cyclops, Jean, Beast, IceMan, and Angel) and move from there.

The problem with that idea is the First Class X-Men are set in the 70's and 80's.

Isn't Captain Marvel supposed to be set in the 80's? I think X-Men need a reboot when the join Disney. The Fantastic Four we can forget the movies ever happened and start from scratch.

MugenPower

I don't see why they can't start adding the newly acquired characters midstream without having to go deep into backstory, assuming we're talking about major ones (i.e. Wolverine, Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Magneto, etc.).  I reckon a good number of people watching these superhero movies have at least a basic knowledge about what the X-Men are about.  That's what they did with the Spider-man reboot and I think it worked out great.  Sure, allude to what happened in the past here and there, but no need to slog through and waste a whole movie just to go deep into the details of an origin story that many people were already familiar with.

Shib

It’s not so much about needing origin stories, it’s more about what the general movie goer currently accepts as canon.

When thing require a greater amount of wilful suspension of disbelief it becomes harder to keep the average person engaged. Given that the Fox take on Xmen has done fairly well the average person accepts that as it’s own canon.

While xmen could be added to the current continuity it would require a lot of “oh they were in hiding during the chitauri attacks” type explanations which don’t tie in well with the older characters - inc Professor X who cannot be explained away as being too young, and is absolutely nessesary for the franchise.

Also given that the current MCU began ten years ago, and there are films already planned for up to 2019, a reboot is a logical way of adding such a big franchise at a logical time.

SearchlightRG

Disney could always use the Reality Infinity Stone to make some things happen...

Legopassion8

INCURSION (like Miles, the last Secret Wars, etc.)

then Avengers vs X-Men

$$$$$ :)