For a Minute, It Looked Like the X-Men Had a Chance to Join the MCU

The X-Men and other mutants have been barred from joining the Avengers on the big screen for years, and it’s not because Tony Stark didn’t want to deal with Deadpool. The cinematic rights to Marvel’s comics characters have been famously divided between several companies for years, splitting the X-Men and the Avengers.

For a brief moment on Monday afternoon, it looked like that might change. CNBC reported that The Walt Disney Company has supposedly been in talks with 21st Century Fox about acquiring “most of the company.” The rumored deal would strip 21st Century of its more entertainment-focused aspects and primarily leave it as a news and sports mogul. However, Bloomberg reported that those talks where dead less than an hour after the news initially broke.

“The talks have taken place over the last few weeks and there is no certainty they will lead to a deal,” CNBC’s original report read. “The two sides are not currently talking at this very moment, but given the on again, off again nature of the talks, they could be revisited.”

Disney acquired Marvel in 2009, and with it, the rights to the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe. Missing from the MCU, though, were the X-Men, Fantastic Four, who belonged to Fox, and the Sony-owned Spider-Man, Then, in a wholly unexpected move, Disney came to an agreement with Sony Pictures in 2015 that allowed Spider-Man to join in on the MCU.

So, now, the only Marvel characters left out of the MCU are the Fantastic Four and Marvel’s mutants, including the iconic X-Men, and, yep, Deadpool, who are all owned by 21st Century Fox.

If Disney ever were to buy up Fox’s film and television assets, then that’s more than just good news for Disney’s upcoming streaming service — it could also mean the MCU Avengers lineup might finally look right to long-time fans.

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