The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) could get bigger and stronger in 2019. Marvel boss Kevin Feige expressed that the franchise might soon include a crossover with the characters of the "X-Men" and the "Fantastic Four."
Feige said in a Variety podcast that things are looking good for the long-awaited crossover. He also revealed that they could start planning about what to do with these characters as early as the summer of 2019.
For the longest time, FOX owned the film rights to the "X-Men" and "Fantastic Four" franchise despite being created by Marvel Comics. So, a crossover with the MCU was not possible then, despite a strong clamor from fans, since a different studio owned the characters.
But FOX will soon be merging with Disney, Marvel's parent company. Feige was told that negotiations are heading in the right direction and once that finally happens, the ownership of the characters will technically belong to one umbrella.
However, Feige also clarified that there had been no official greenlight from Disney. But even so, he's confident that they could start planning stories for Wolverine, Phoenix or the Thing by the second half of the year.
Meanwhile, MCU will enter its 11th year in 2019 with a heavy slate of films to debut at the box office. In March, fans will finally be introduced to "Captain Marvel" with Brie Larson (Marvel) and Samuel l. Jackson (Nick Fury). In May, the long-awaited "Avengers 4: Endgame" will finally answer if Robert Downey, Jr. (Tony Stark/Iron Man) and Chris Evans (Steve Rogers/Captain America) are leaving the franchise.
By July, MCU will enter Phase 4 with the sequel "Spider-Man: Far From Home" with Tom Holland (Peter Parker/Spider-Man) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Mysterio). The franchise is also set to release "Guardians of the Galaxy 3," the solo movie featuring Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), "Doctor Strange 2" and "Black Panther 2." Fans expect that one of these upcoming movies will feature the X-Men or Fantastic Four heroes.
Incidentally, Captain Marvel and Wolverine worked together for 20 years in the comic book versions. So, it's now possible to develop a movie based on this once the merger with FOX and Disney is complete.
Disney won over Comcast and bought FOX in July for $71.3 billion. The studios have since been integrating its assets and liabilities. Apart from the films, Disney is also set to launch its streaming service in 2019 to compete with Netflix. Disney+ will likely feature the programs Netflix canceled, such as "Daredevil" and "Luke Cage."
