Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige To Take Over X-Men Franchise
Step aside, Professor X — a new dude is in charge of the X-Men now.
The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger confirmed on Thursday that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will take over the X-Men film franchise following Disney's acquisition of most of 20th Century Fox's assets, which include Marvel Comics characters who haven't yet been able to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Once the $71.3 billion merger officially goes through (99 percent of Disney and Fox shareholders present at a July 27, 2018 meeting already approved the details of the deal), Disney will own the X-Men series' heroes and villains, and Feige will be their master.
Iger dropped the news during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, during which the outlet's Matthew Belloni asked him how Disney's subsidiary Marvel Studios will "absorb" the X-Men franchise and whether Feige, who supervises everything that happens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, will oversee it moving forward.
"I think it only makes sense," said Iger. "I want to be careful here because of what's been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn't be two Marvels."
The Mouse House CEO then teased that Feige is already thinking of how the MCU could incorporate Fox-owned characters down the line. Asked if Deadpool, played on screen by everyone's favorite charismatic Canadian Ryan Reynolds, would eventually become an Avenger, Iger responded, "Kevin's got a lot of ideas. I'm not suggesting that's one of them. But who knows?"
Ever the astute businessman, Iger was careful to not make any hard and fast declarations about the future of the MCU — particularly how, when, and if the X-Men film series will become a legitimate sector of Marvel's movie world. Disney bought a ton of badass characters from Fox, so there's plenty of room for some crossovers of literal heroic proportions to happen whenever Marvel wants to blow some minds, break the internet, and set new box office records.
Iger revealing plans for Feige to take over the X-Men movies comes roughly a month after The Wall Street Journal issued a report indicating that Disney was likely to seize control of both the mutant-filled franchise and James Cameron's Avatar series. At the time the story was published, there was no telling what Disney might do with the X-Men films — and that really hasn't changed with this new development.
After the House of Mouse formally appoints him as the supervisor of the X-Men films, Feige lift the franchise up by the proverbial bootstraps and toss it on its head by recasting all the characters in remakes of the series' entries. Conversely, he could bring back the same actors to lead new movies that exist within the MCU, having them brush shoulders and engage in brutal battles against baddies with Marvel heroes like Captain America, Iron Man, and the Hulk. (If they survive Avengers 4, that is.)
Regardless of whether Earth's Wildest Mutants ever meet up with Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the MCU, it's smart on Disney's part to put Feige in charge. Who knows what works for Marvel better than the guy who's been calling the shots for the past 11 years?