Disney rumors: Studio to acquire Fox-licensed Marvel characters?

Promotional photo for the "Avengers" comics from Marvel, featuring Hawkeye, Captain America, and Black Widow. Marvel

Disney is considering going the extra mile for mutants, as the studio may be considering buying off 21st Century Fox in order to acquire the license for the X-Men and other Marvel characters.

Reports from CNBC indicate that the Disney is now in talks about the acquisition. Should Disney follow through with the speculations, it could be able to add more Marvel characters to its growing list of superheroes and supervillains. Most of these characters would be from the X-Men universe and the Fantastic Four universe, both having had several run-ins with the Avengers in Marvel.

This opportune moment for Disney is largely because of Fox, the mother company of 21st Century Fox, shifting its efforts and focus on sports rather than entertainment, even considering dropping its entertainment branch. This acquisition of the license for the X-Men or Fantastic Four may prove crucial to Marvel Studio's (owned by Disney) ambition, as Fox's ownership of the two franchises have proved a hurdle for Marvel in pursuing some of its most popular comic book storylines such as "Avengers vs. The X-Men."

Unfortunately, fans may have to wait indefinitely for this, as Bloomberg reports that the talks between Disney and Fox have stalled. Still, no actual positive or negative developments have taken place between their deals, so it may still have a potential to push through.

This said deal may eventually end up like the recent "Spiderman: Homecoming" from Marvel, where the studio made a deal with Sony in order to incorporate Spiderman into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with the Avengers. No acquisition was made, but Sony allowed the character to be used, provided that the rights remained with them, as well as the majority of the profits. This, however, is not yet certain, and fans are advised to wait for further developments.

Apart from the two Marvel franchises which Disney may get to acquire, two popular entertainment cable networks in the U.S. would also be theirs, should the deal push through.

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