X-Men, Iron Man and the Hulk in one film? Anything is possible since Disney’s huge Fox buyout
Disney’s US$52 billion deal has brought together superheroes from the X-Men universe and the Marvel pantheon under the same umbrella as Star Wars, Avatar and The Simpsons. The team-up possibilities are endless
The US$52.4 billion deal announced last Thursday, under which Disney gains a massive swathe of Fox entertainment and media properties pending final approval, offers specific rewards for fans of nerd culture.
One of the most hopeful developments is that Fox’s X-Men can live with Marvel’s Avengers on the same screen, given that Disney will own both major superhero teams, as well as the group that kicked off modern Marvel Comics five decades ago, the Fox-owned Fantastic Four.
The deal has far-reaching implications for how viewers consume content, especially the boost it provides to Disney’s forthcoming streaming services, given that Disney could amass 40 per cent of the domestic box office once you add Fox’s current share.
Together Fox and Disney own 10 of the top 20 titles on Box Office Mojo’s inflation-adjusted list of the top-grossing films in history domestically, including Star Wars and Avatar, both of which are ongoing franchises. Disney is trying to compete, not just with traditional studios, but also tech titans like Apple, Netflix and Amazon for control of content.