Earlier this summer, there was a lot of talk about anX-Men/Fantastic Four Crossover Movie. And while some involved with both franchise claimed this might happen sometime in the near future, the prospects became much more hazy once theFantastic Fourreboot bombed big time, becoming the second biggest money loser of the summer. It’s estimated to cost 20th Century Fox between $80 and $100 million in lost revenue. But that hasn’t dampened the studios prospects for their otherMarvel titles. Writer and producerSimon Kinberg, who is really pushing forThe Fantastic Four 2to happen, has confirmed that theFox Marvel movieswill crossover at some point.
Simon Kinbergis currently focusing all his energy onX-Men: Apocalypse, one of threeX-Men moviesheading to theaters next year.Deadpoolarrives first, opening on Valentine’s Day weekend. It will be followed byX-Men: Apocalypsein May, with the sequel officially kicking off the 2016 summer movie season. And thenGambitwill hit theaters that October. While speaking at the Toronto International Film Festival in promotion of his upcoming sci-fi adaptationThe Martian, which he produced,Simon Kinbergsays there are plans to cross-pollinate all three of these titles.
This makes sense, as they are all technically X-Men titles.Deadpoolis already serving as somewhat of a crossover, as it featuresX-Men membersColossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead in prominent roles. A crossover would come after the massive timeline shift set-up in last summer’sX-Men: Days of Future Past.Simon Kinberghad this to say about any impending crossover.
“The idea is that we’ve sort of reset the timeline after ‘Days of Future Past’ in some ways, and if not erased, certainly allowed for change from ‘X1,’ ‘2,’ ‘3,’ everything from ‘Days of Future Past’ forward, 1973, everything we set now becomes canon…So the ‘Gambit’ movie, the ‘Deadpool’ movie, will exist in a world that acknowledges whatever happened in ‘Days of Future Past’ and moving forward. Doesn’t mean they’ll always interact with those characters, obviously, it’s not like every movie has all the characters, but they all have to exist within the same rules…There will be interplay between different characters in different movies.”
The timeline has caused some problems for the creators of these movies. Only because it’s hard to keep up with where all of the mutants are at in these upcoming films, as compared to the previous ones.Simon Kinbergkeeps a chart to plot out the timing of each standalone installment in Fox’sMarvel shared universe. He explains.
“I don’t have it up on a wall, but I have it on my computer, and I have it sort of tattooed on my brain now too…Nothing external, so that if I get knocked over the head, no one can read it. It’s literally behind my eyelids. But yeah, we have a clear sense of the directions we want to take them in and in my my mind at least, how we could start to cross-pollinate sort of with those characters that have their standalone movies.”
Already under fire from fans in regards to theFantastic Fourreboot,Simon Kinbergis now trying to defend the look of the title villain inX-Men: Apocalypse, hoping to not rock the boat any further before the release of the film.Oscar Isaac’s Egyptian Mutant, believed to be the first ever in existance, has been compared to Ivan Ooze in the Power Rangers franchise, as well asGuardians of the Galaxyvillain Ronan the Accuser. Some fans think he looked plain silly in the first footage released during Comic-Con 2015, and the subsequent photos that followed. About the design, the producer had this to say.
“I feel like we have been, the ‘X-Men’ franchise, has been growing a little bit more into science fiction. I think ‘Days of Future Past’ with time travel and the Sentinels took us into a slightly broader, more science fiction world than the films had occupied in the past…We felt like the movies were ready for something that was slightly more, let’s say, cosmic. Once we made the decision for Apocalypse to be the villain at the center of the movie, we wanted to be true to the comics, which are sort of, like you, say, not costume, but it’s not just a guy in a helmet. It is more cosmic.”
Does that make sense? Are you ready for a more cosmic villain in the X-Men franchise? Do you think a crossover between all titles is a good thing? Do you thinkFantastic Fourshould still play a role in all this? Let us know your true thoughts on the matter in the comments below.
