Though an unremitting success in the realm of franchise filmmaking, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has long been subject to one consistent complaint: no Wolverine. Many comic book tass who’ve reveled in seeing the likes of Iron Man, Captain America, The Hulk and company come together on the big screen have reserved a pocket of disappointment for the series’ inability to rope the X-Men for into its ever-tangling web of adventures due to discordance in property ownership; while most Marvel characters reside together under the Disney banner, the Gifted Youngsters have always made their home at Fox.
But not even Professor Xavier’s bevy of freedom fighting mutants can stand their ground against something as powerful as $54.2 billion dollars, the price of the Mouse House’s industry-rattling acquisition of its longtime competitor, as made official on Thursday morning (via BBC).
Though we caught a glimpse of Disney’s boundary-breaking influence when Spider-Man, himself a Sony property, was ushered into the MCU by way Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming thanks to an agreement between the two companies, Disney’s purchase of Fox is something else entirely. The dissolution of the longtime powerhouse studio gives Disney complete control over not only its X-Men and fellow Marvel superhero team the Fantastic Four, but box-office-busting franchises like the slowly-but-surely-expanding Avatar series and the long-dormant-but-hey-who-knows-these-days Home Alone, plus small screen powerhouses like The X-Files, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia—and all of FX and FXX for that matter, not to mention National Geographic—and (here’s the kicker) The Simpsons.
And that’s hardly the end of it. Such an acquisition gives Disney controlling stake in Hulu (of which Fox owned a significant sum) and not one but two major networks: ABC and now Fox. While the union of X-Men and the Avengers might be an exciting prospect, all this cultural power in Disney’s clutch might evoke images of Thanos cradling a complete set of Infinity Stones.
What do you think about the deal? Let us know!
Image: Fox
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