Are Fox’s X-Men and Fantastic Four Already Connected to the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
We all saw the same thing, right? We all went to the same room at San Diego Comic Con? Having watched Kevin Feige introduce the Skrulls for the solo Captain Marvel movie, we asked the same question, right? I hope we did.
Aren’t the Skrulls a Fantastic Four thing?
This fundamental thing is almost inescapable when I read the old comics for Marvel’s first super-powered family. It’s like if the MCU decided to take the Brood or the Phalanx for any of their movies, when they are exclusively part of the X-Men story lines.
However, Kevin Feige confirmed the Skrulls would be the main villains of Captain Marvel. Interestingly enough he also confirmed the movie would take place in the 1990s. And a recent casting call revealed the three Skrulls we will most likely see in the upcoming film are Titannus, Anelle, and Dorek VII.
Now the Dorek VII casting is where things get interesting. Because we just learned that Jessica Chastain’s character in Fox’s upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix movie will not be Queen Lilandra Neramani of the Shi’ar Empire. In fact, the most popular theory is that she will play the Skrull Empress Veranke.
Now, you might be thinking how are Fox and Disney both using Skrulls? Well, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn explains:
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/888952402749132800
https://twitter.com/JamesGunn/status/750774146414415873
So, we do know that both studios can use the Skrulls.
Too Much of a Coincidence
It seems all too much of a coincidence for both studios to happen to introduce the Skrulls in movies taking place in the 90s and will release less than a year apart. X-Men: Dark Phoenix is expected to debut on November 2, 2018 while Captain Marvel is expected to come out on March 6, 2019.
But let’s look at the characters both Fox and Marvel Studios are using. Captain Marvel is expected to use Dorek VII. In the comics, he’s the Skrull Emperor who refuses to believe Veranke and the Skrull religious sect known as the Dard’van. They predicted the Skrull Throneworld would be destroyed. Veranke even challenged his claim to the throne. However, Dorek VII would not have his authority undermined. But he couldn’t execute Veranke for fear of turning her into martyr. Instead he exiled Veranke. The prophecy would come true and Galactus, a cosmic being in the Marvel Universe that needs to devour planets to sustain his hunger, destroyed the Skrull Throneworld.
The Skrulls would then fetch Veranke out of exile and make her their Empress. Veranke would then launch the Secret Invasion story line. The Skrulls, who are shapeshifters, would infiltrate Earth by taking on the personas of a number of Earth’s mightiest heroes. Their end goal was to make Earth the new Skrull home world.
It’s not too far-fetched to believe that Jessica Chastain’s potential role as Veranke could be the bridge to connect the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Fox’s X-Men and Fantastic Four properties.
We’ve also seen some minor connections with the first Deadpool. While it was most likely just a jest, but the final fight scene between Francis and Deadpool takes place on what definitely looks like a crashed S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. We know Captain America and his team of Falcon and Black Widow took down three of those S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarriers in Captain America: Winter Soldier.
With the rumors of Disney buying Fox just coming out in the open this month, it’s possible the deal between the two studios has been in the works for a much longer time. If you remember, no one had any idea that Disney was negotiating to buy Lucasfilm until they announced it.
Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch
To sweeten this theory even more, let’s look at how Marvel Studios and Fox have developed their previously shared IPs. Both properties introduced us to Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel Studios killed off Quicksilver, but continued to move forward with Scarlet Witch, who played an important role in Captain America: Civil War. Meanwhile, Fox has given us a much beloved version of Quicksilver beginning in X-Men: Days of Future of Past.
It’s not too hard to see Marvel Studios bring in Quicksilver actor Evan Peters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In fact, if the MCU even loosely follows the comics storyline, Thanos will kill a number of Marvel heroes. However, once Nebula obtains the Infinity Gauntlet she is able to undo Thanos’ actions. It’s possible the Infinity Gauntlet could also be used to incorporate the X-Men and Fantastic Four. Can you image an end-credits scene to Avengers: Infinity War where you hear Wolverine’s claws go “Snikt” and three slashes tear through a curtain. The audience would rightfully go insane!
We’ve Seen this Somewhere Before
Just two years ago, Marvel Studios brought back in one of the most iconic characters. Peter Parker aka Spider-Man joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Captain America: Civil War. Just a few simple reshoots brought Spider-Man into the Marvel Universe. His iconic fight scene at the airport where he takes Captain America’s shield and a scene with Tony Stark flirting with Aunt May is all it took. Marvel Studios, Disney, and Sony came to a deal to allow the webslinger to be incorporated into the MCU.
The companies went full steam ahead after Civil War, and put Spider-Man front and center in his own movie this year in Spider-Man: Homecoming. However, what’s really interesting about the Sony and Marvel deal is that it was only revealed after Sony was hacked. The entire deal was kept under wraps. It’s possible the same thing has happened between Fox, Disney, and Marvel Studios, but in this case we don’t have hackers discovering the information for us.
While a Wolverine post-credit scene would be epic, it’s also possible we could see the Baxter Building show up in New York or Storm joining the forces on the battlefields of Wakanda as they attempt to fight back against Thanos’ invading forces.
Why?
It might be natural to speculate. But why talk about this at all? Unlike Sony’s situation, Fox has had some decent successes with the X-Men and Fantastic Four (the last iteration an exception) on both film and television. They have the Simpsons and Family Guy. They also have Legion and Deadpool. Unfortunately, sustaining something at that level is a tough thing for a production company that wants to focus more on news and sports.
Notwithstanding some of Fox’s successes, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was once a captain of their X-Men property. He had a plan for what direction to take them, unfortunately Fox decided to go a different route. Instead Feige took his vision to Marvel Studios and applied it to Iron Man. Just 10 years later, and look at where each respective studio stands. The MCU is raking in the cash. Fox in the meantime can only gain from properties that take enormous risks in their content. And that for only stand-alone movies. They have no formula to sustain. The studio has no goal for one of their most popular franchises other than to go back to an old story from 2006.
On top of all that, we’ve had some teases from Hugh Jackman about reprising the role of Wolverine only if he was part of the MCU. We also heard from Stan Lee about how he wanted to have the other parts of the Marvel IP all under one roof. In the long run, this might be a better choice for Fox as a studio. The MCU benefits and the audience benefits.
We also have to talk about the flip side of this discussion. Seeing one less studio on the list, creators might feel a strain. We also have audiences who enjoyed the risks of those other movies. One of the biggest risks of Disney buying Fox would be to water down the recent success of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool. And it’s not just fans even Ryan Reynolds has expressed concern.
If this is true, I wonder how the fudge it would affect Deadpool? https://t.co/66RNUDU80S
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) November 6, 2017
At the end of the day, this is all just wild speculation. Some of it might be substantial, but most of it is just wishful thinking. I would think it would be great to see the X-Men back under Feige’s auspices. It would be exciting to witness the direction he originally wanted to take it. The Fantastic Four would also benefit. All of these are valid points, but they are just hopes and dreams at this point. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens next week when they make an official announcement.
But what do you think? Do you think the X-Men and the MCU are already connected and we just don’t know yet? Or do you think this is just wild speculation?
Avengers: Infinity War will premiere May 4 of next year. Filming for Captain Marvel begins in January. X-Men: Dark Phoenix is out in theaters in November of 2018.
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