For years, the prospect of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, the two cinematic Marvel properties that still remain at 20th Century Fox, being incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe was just a dream. That changed early last December, when it was formally announced that Disney is purchasing large chunks of Fox's entertainment assets. There's still a lot of work to be done before this deal is finalized, but shortly after the news came out, it was reported that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was particularly excited at the prospect of finally getting his hands on the X-Men. However, now Feige has said that not only is he not in the loop with what's happening between Disney and Fox, but he hasn't been giving it much thought, as he's focused on what's coming in the MCU's immediate future. As Feige put it:
The truth of the matter as I understand it is the deal has to be figured out. There's been no communication. We're not thinking about it. We're focusing on everything we've already announced. If and when the deal actually happens, we'll start to think more about it. Until then, we have a lot to do.
Given Kevin Feige's previous experience producing the first three X-Men movies over at Fox, one would imagine that he is indeed looking forward to the day that the mutant superheroes and villains can join the shared universe he's overseen since the beginning. That being said, for now it appears that Feige isn't concerned about the Disney and Fox deal, as he's staying focused on what's already on the MCU slate, from Black Panther arriving in just a few weeks to Avengers 4 concluding Phase Three next year. Only once the deal has officially gone through will Feige and the other MCU brass start figuring out where to go from there.
That's all fine and reasonable, but hypothetically speaking, what would be the soonest we would see any X-Men and/or Fantastic Four movies in the MCU if the Disney and Fox deal goes through, and would these projects result in any existing slate changes? That's what Vulture asked later in its interview with Kevin Feige, and this was the producer's response:
It would be years away. We've announced everything through 2019, so none of those would be adjusted.
So far only two post-Phase Three MCU projects have been officially confirmed: Spider-Man: Homecoming 2, which swings into theaters in July 5, 2019, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which is expected to come out in 2020. There is also a Black Widow movie in development, but that's still in the early creative stages. So everything through 2019 is already set in stone, and presumably there are other movies that Marvel is working on that haven't been revealed to the public yet. So even if/when the X-Men and the Fantastic Four hop over to the MCU, don't necessarily get your hopes up about them leading their own movies in this franchise right away.
The MCU continues on February 16 with the release of Black Panther. Avengers: Infinity War will follow on May 4, and Ant-Man and the Wasp will wrap up the MCU's 2018 offerings on July 6.
