A potential Disney-Fox deal may not bring Marvel the Fantastic Four.
The entertainment world has been collectively biting its nails over Disney’s possible acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s assets. Comic book faithfuls are specifically excited about the possibility of the X-Men and Fantastic Four finding their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As Screen Rant recently reminded eager fans, however, Reed Richards and his family may not get to join in on Marvel’s fun, at least for the time being. You see, Fox doesn’t technically own the superhero’s movie rights, at least not entirely.
The situation is quite complicated, so let’s take a deep breath and go through the Fantastic Four’s cinematic history.
Finding a home for the Fantastic Four
Marvel currently dominates the comic book landscape, but things were much different three decades ago. With bankruptcy looming in the horizon back in the ’80s, the House of Ideas sold its characters’ movie rights to different studios. The Fantastic Four landed in the hands of Bernd Eichinger, from Constantin Films.
Constantin had close to seven years to start production on an F4 movie, but things didn’t come together as expected. Studios just weren’t willing to put in the amount of money needed to create a faithful live-action Fantastic Four adventure. By the ’90s, Constantin approached Marvel about an extension to their contract, but Marvel refused.
Then, in a true example of necessity being the mother of invention, Eichinger had an idea. The producer approached Roger Corman about making a low-budget Fantastic Four movie, and Corman accepted. The project took off, but unbeknownst to the cast and crew, it would never see the light of day. Eichinger developed the film simply to keep the Fantastic Four rights. His plan proved successful, and Constantin secured the superhero franchise for the next few years.
Partnership with 20th Century Fox
Looking to make a new, more appropriate adaptation of the property, the company teamed up with 20th Century Fox. That’s were the legal lines got blurry, because Fox came in as a distributor and co-producer. The companies approached Marvel about extending their movie deadline until 1999, planning to make X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Silver Surfer. This led to 2005’s Fantastic Four, its sequel and the 2015 critically-panned Fantastic Four.
While there’s a lot we don’t know about the partnership, it seems that, despite Fox’s active involvement in the franchise, Constantin still holds the F4 rights. That alone makes the heroes’ inclusion in the MCU an unlikely scenario. To put it in layman’s terms, Constantin’s stake would prevent the Fantastic Four from transferring to Disney if an acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s movie division goes through.
Is there a way for Marvel Studios get the Fantastic Four?
The Fantastic Four’s legal situation is complicated, but Marvel Studios getting a hold of the rights isn’t impossible. As Screen Rant’s Mansoor Mithaiwala theorized, Fox and Constantin’s symbiotic production-distribution partnership could lead the former to strike a deal with Disney.
There’s also the possibility of Constantin leaving the Fantastic Four behind. THR revealed in 2016 that one of Constantin’s shareholders, Dieter Hahn, proposed for the company to drop its movie division to focus on sports. Fred Kogel, Constantin Medien’s CEO, stated:
"“Positioning ourselves as a sports-only company is in our estimation the best and most promising strategy for the Constantin Medien Group in the long term. It will give us the opportunity to increase the group’s return on sales and profitability permanently and sustainably.”"
If that happens, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the Fantastic Four rights would revert back to Marvel. Now, keep in mind that the company focusing on sports isn’t a sure thing. The proposal encountered heavy opposition from Highlight Communications, the division in charge of Constantin films.
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At this point, all we can do is wait to see if Disney’s 21st Century Fox deal goes through to see what happens.