It is finally happening. Fox’s shareholders have approved the over 73 billion dollar bid from Disney to buy 21st Century Fox, so, pending some arbitrary paperwork, Marvel Studios (a Disney subsidiary) will be getting the rights back to many of their most iconic characters! This means that many of fans’ favorite characters are coming home, including Marvel’s First Family and an entire subspecies of humanity! Here is a look at who all is coming home for potential appearances in the future of the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe)!
THE X-MEN
One of the most obvious gets for Marvel here is the X-Men. Marvel’s long standing and ever revolving team of gifted youngsters, the X-Men are a team of mutants, or people who are born with a genetic mutation that gives them extraordinary powers, and the fight against evil for a humanity that mostly shuns them for their differences.
Created by Stan Lee as an analogy to the Civil Rights Movement in the 60’s, the core team consisted of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Ice Man, Angel, and Beast.
After the first iteration, other mutants came along such as the metal mountain of a man, Colossus, the phasing beauty, Kitty Pride, the weather master, Storm, the feral Canuck, Wolverine (more on him later), and many, many more. The mutant library contains hundreds of characters for Marvel to choose from, and only Marvel could do any of them any real justice. This also includes the likes of Deadpool, X-Force, etc.
THE FANTASTIC FOUR
The First Family of Marvel is the other huge get in this transaction. Mr. Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, and Thing are finally back where they belong, and we might finally get a good Fantastic Four film.
Beyond just a decent FF movie, the addition of these characters, specifically Reed Richards, to the MCU can lead to some very great story adaptations like the Illuminati. They also bring with them a plethora of amazing villains, Like Dr. Doom, Galactus, and more.
DEADPOOL
Is the Merc with a Mouth now a Disney Prince? I’m sure he’ll see it that way, as Deadpool also comes to Marvel Studios. The massive success of the Deadpool movies, albeit R-Rated and quite raunchy, is probably Fox’s most successful film interpretation of one of Marvel’s comic creations (the X-Men movies, as a whole, have been successful as well, but not great flicks).
There is a lot of debate amongst fans as to whether Disney will water down the character, cut him completely, or allow him to continue on his successful run as is. There is a rumor that the X-Force movie may be retitled, Deadpool 3: X-Force, but only time will tell on that one.
WOLVERINE
Logan is back where he belongs! The man who is the best at what he does, and what he does ain’t pretty, is also coming back to Marvel. Now, Hugh Jackman has retired as the feral X-Man, but has stated that he’d come back if it was with the Avengers.
Whether we see Jackman come back, or they cast a whole new actor, Marvel’s cinematic take on this character is sure to be done beautifully.
GALACTUS & SILVER SURFER
A few years ago, back when Blade and several other properties were coming up to revert back to Marvel, the studio offered Fox a deal: Fox could keep all the properties that were reverting if they gave up Galactus and Silver Surfer. This, of course, didn’t happen, so Marvel received Blade, Daredevil, Elektra, and others.
While Galactus would have been an amazing villain for the MCU, as well as having the cosmic abilities of Silver Surfer, it seemed to have worked out for the best, as Daredevil has been a huge hit on Netflix.
Thanos has been an excellent big baddie for the MCU and now these cosmic beings can enter into a more well developed Cosmic MCU. Galactus is, of course, the Celestial World Eater who has targeted the Earth on multiple occasions, only to be thwarted by our heroes. And, his herald, the Silver Surfer, abandoned his post with Galactus to join Earth’s heroes against his former master.
DOCTOR DOOM
Victor Von Doom, ruler of the fictional realm of Latveria and long standing foe of the Fantastic Four, is also coming home to Marvel. Doctor Doom is a truly compelling villain, one that Fox had even planned on giving his own solo film. His high intelligence rivals that of his nemesis, Reed Richards, and his technological prowess is up there with the Iron Man, himself.
He strives to mix magic and technology to make Latveria the World’s strongest country and eventually use his might to rule the world.
SUPER-SKRULLS
This one is a very interesting get, considering the upcoming films in the MCU. The Skrulls as a species have already been confirmed for the Captain Marvel movie, but the Super-Skrulls, specifically, still sat with Fox. Now, Marvel can bring in these power mimicking baddies to bring a whole new threat to the MCU!
SABRETOOTH
Wolverine’s longest running foe, who is also like a brother to him, may finally get some justice done now that he’s coming to the MCU. Although done twice in the X-Men movies, he hasn’t really been done well. Now, we could actually see a well done version of the vicious and truly feral beast of a mutant.
MAGNETO & OTHER X-MEN VILLAINS
The X-Men Rogues Gallery is a plethora of fascinating characters. Magneto, Professor X’s friend and enemy, is a dynamic character that has actually been done justice on the silver screen by both Sir Ian McKellan and Michael Fassbender. But, being back at Marvel, we could see an even more developed version of the character, maybe even a solo film.
We’re also getting back Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Sentinels and more. Many of these have already been seen in the X-Men film franchise, but none of them done well. Now, maybe these villains can be done with justice.
ANNIHILUS
Annihilus is to the Fantastic Four as Thanos is to the Avengers. This cosmic entity has created huge issues for our heroes on the universe altering level. He also rules the Negative Zone, which could easily be adapted to fit within the realms already explored in Dr. Strange and Ant-Man.
KANG THE CONQUEROR
Another fascinating Thanos level villain coming from Fox is Kang the Conqueror. Kang would be very interesting as an overarching baddie for the next few phases of the MCU, and he doesn’t need the crutch of an Infinity Gauntlet or other weapon, as his abilities are on the reality altering scale.
NAMOR, THE SUB-MARINER
This one has me the most excited, personally. Namor is the first mutant, and the first true superhero, even predating Superman, himself. Aquaman was inspired by him, but besides their powers, they vary drastically. Namor could care less about the surface world, and has even at times been a villain. He is also a member of the Illumanti. His attitude and demeanor would translate well to the big screen and would make for a dynamic character whose allegiance is never truly known.
Yes, the rights to a solo movie being distributed are with Universal similar to The Incredible Hulk, but maybe we could see something like what was done with that character done with Namor.
THE SAVAGE LAND
The Savage Land is an area in Antarctica that is a magical, tropical place of prehistoric creatures like dinosaurs, sabre tooth tigers, and more. Kazar is the Tarzan of the Marvel Universe, protectingthe Savage Lands from outside interference as well as internal threats like Sauron, the half man, half pterodactyl villain.
This, among many other minor characters, add to the MCU’s already extensive library of characters to choose from. But, these are some of Marvel’s biggest characters, and to finally have them back where they belong is a great sigh of relief to fans worldwide. We all can’t wait to see these heroes and villains brought to life like only the MCU knows how.
Are you excited to see some, if not all, of these characters join the MCU? Let us know in the comments below!