One of these days, Disney and Fox might complete a merger that will have massive ramifications on the entertainment landscape. Until that day happens, Fox seems content -- on the film side -- to keep developing the properties that fall under their umbrella, developing a strong stable of superhero properties and trying to compete with Marvel Studios. Though it's possible that the X-Men and the Fantastic Four may one day belong to the MCU, Fox for now seems to be moving ahead with multiple comic-book movies, and a surprise one just surfaced in the form of a possible Silver Surfer movie.
This nugget was dropped in a larger piece on The Hollywood Reporter about Fox's plans for the future despite the possibility that business could pick up and shift to Disney's lot. According to sources, Fox is not worrying about Disney's possible involvement, and instead is "going 100 miles per hour" on development on projects such as the Doctor Doom movie and a secret Silver Surfer film. The THR report goes so far as to say that comic book creator Brian K. Vaughan -- whose award-winning credits include Y: The Last Man, Runaways and X-Men -- has been hired to pen a script for the film.
Fox went down this road before. The Silver Surfer, a cosmic being who usually serves as the herald of the world-eating villain Galactus, was a major part of the second Fantastic Four movie at Fox -- the kid-friendly one that starred Chris Evans as The Human Torch. It wasn't that long ago that comic-book blockbusters looked like this:
And it makes sense for Fox to continue to develop projects as if they were operating as their own standalone studio. There is no guarantee that Disney's deal to acquire 20th Century Fox will ultimately go through, so for now, it needs to be business as usual at Fox proper. In fact, a Fox insider tells THR:
We actually have way more in development and production in Marvel IP than at any point in the history of the studio. There's been zero slowdown on that front given Disney.
In addition to this potential Silver Surfer movie (which would be YEARS away, and not right around the corner), Fox has Deadpool 2, X-Men: Dark Phoenix and New Mutants on the release calendar. Channing Tatum's Gambit movie is still in active development (with a script due in March, reportedly), while Deadpool 2 is supposed to feed into an X-Force movie, that Drew Goddard might direct. Add to that mix the Doctor Doom movie that Noah Hawley allegedly is working on, and you can see that things are full steam ahead on the Fox side.
Would you be interested in a standalone Silver Surfer movie? Would the Fantastic Four need to be involved? The character held down countless stories in his own comics, so there should be plenty of material for a possible Surfer story. Vote in our poll below.
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