On Thursday, December 14, Disney announced a merger with Twenty-First Century Fox to acquire most of the company’s film and television assets, for $52.4 billion.
All details can be found at Disney’s own press release.
With this merger, Disney acquires franchises such as X-Men, Avatar, and The Simpsons, in addition to some of Fox’s more adult lines, such as Family Guy and, quite humorously, Deadpool.
This agreement also allows for the possible merger of Marvel characters such as the X-men and the Fantastic Four with the Avengers and other current properties of Disney.
This deal is fascinating and is sure to have great implications all entertainment in films and television, and even LEGO, as briefly outlined by this Brickset article. It is also interesting to note a contrast in certain properties acquired in the deal with Disney’s traditional entertainment values. I am very interested to see what Disney will do with these assets. The prospect of X-Men and other Fox characters in the MCU (now confirmed by CEO Bob Iger) is particularly interesting.
Discuss.
[Update: 5/23/18]
Comcast (NBC, Universal) has now outbid Disney for 21st Century Fox assets and intellectual properties.
NO THIS IS STUPID DISNEY BUY DC INSTEAD AND TAKE THEIR GOOD PEOPLE LIKE BATMAN AND FLASH KILL PFF SUPERMAN IN THE FIRST TWO MINUTES OF THE FIRST CROSSOVER MOVIE X-MEN ARE TRASH DONT USE THEM
Seriously, I don’t really like this. I’m afraid of what X-men and mutants may do to the MCU, as they don’t really seem to fit. Though I do like some characters, like Juggernaut and Cyclops, I feel mutants are a cheap excuse to not make a backstory. “How’d they get their powers” “Oh, they were just born with them and didn’t know until they reached a certain age” As a writer (as a hobby), I want something complicated and fresh and not overdone. How’d the human DNA even get to this point? I’ve bashed on X-men enough, this is a topic just about the deal. I’m afraid of what Deadpool may do to darken the MCU, I really hope Marvel doesn’t touch him with a twenty-foot long pole, but I’m interested to see what characters could be added. If explained properly, with maybe an actual backstory to their powers, mutants could be handled very well. Juggernaut could be in Homecoming two!
Marvel, Lucas Film, and now Fox. I predict Lego and Hasbro within the coming decade. Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network by 2030. By the 2050’s absolutely everything ever is either owned by Disney or Walmart, each one is essentially their own nation at this point. In the ensuing chaos of the great product war of 2052, both Texas and Australia move to the moon, where they wait for both of the warring factions to eventually kill each other, and they will then return, and rebuild the shattered remains of society, and all political debates are decided through giant robot fights.
I sometimes get ideas like that. They don’t happen often, but when they do, they’re a bit of a big thing. I don’t even know where they come from. They sorta just happen…
So other than them getting the x-men and fantastic four, I do not like this deal. This will have a massive ripple affect throughout the entertainment industry. People have been saying they’re not going to make r rated movies anymore, but keep in mind, Disney owned miramax when they made pulp fiction.
I’m interested to see how this will effect the entertainment industry at large, there’s just so many assets, franchises and plans that have been interrupted by this deal. I kinda wonder if Fox will remain mostly intact, being used as another puppet of the mouse, or if the Disney brand will just devour the entire corporation and bring it into it’s own lineup.
I don’t have a lot of attatchement to many Fox properties, but it feels really weird. I can’t list everything off the top of my head that they bought, but it’s quite a lot. The part that I find the most odd is the fact that Fox owns so many more “adult” properties (just thinking about Disney owning a show like American Horror Story is really weird). Seeing what Bob Iger said about Deadpool, I doubt they’ll be toning much of this stuff down, but there’s gonna be a bit of a clash (though Disney technically owns Daredevil, Punisher, and Jessica Jones which are all pretty grown up).
I can’t say I’m mad or upset about the merge. I do worry somewhat about other things being bought and then ending up to be not that good. But for now, this just feels super weird to me.
Technically, Mutants do actually have a backstory… they just share a larger one with the rest of the Mutates.
Similar to the origin of the Inhumans, an alien race known as the Celestials actually visited Earth and began experimenting on humanity, grafting benificial traits into the genome of the entire species at large. Said traits are not only responsible for the X Gene, but also a variety of other things, such as the Fantastic Four’s ability to absorb Cosmic Radiation or Bruce Banner’s ability to absorb massive amounts of Gamma Radiation (which is the sole reason why they received their powers at all), and their technology and methodology was later used by the Kree during their own experiments. This is why, at least in the comics, the term “Mutant” doesn’t just apply to our species, but others of an extraterrestrial origin as well.
So in order to make them fit into the same universe, all one would need to do is introduce the Celestials in some way, shape, or form. Problem solved.
Yup, that’s what I get for only watching the first x-men and all of my knowledge is based on that… About the whole celestial thing… um… Seen guardians 2 recently?
NO! NOT AWESOME! IF IT’S RATED R ILL ALWAYS BE MISSING A CHUNK OF THE MCU AND I CAN’T LIVE WITH THAT!!!
However, I do believe production of Deadpool 2 will continue, though it will not be Marvel, and will not be part of the MCU. At least, that’s what I’m hoping. Deadpool 2 would have to be connected to the last one, which is connected to the X-Men, which is definitely not part of the MCU. So, if Deadpool were to be in the MCU, they would hire a new actor with a new storyline, like Spider-Man in Civil War.
Fair enough, but I was also implying that they needed a segment which explained what they were truly responsible for within the confines of the MCU.
Preferably in detail, to avoid further confusion.
