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Fox ’s secret plans for theX - Menand theFantastic Fourcould actually have meant the MCU had some serious competition . When the Marvel Cinematic Universe was launch in 2008 , it was something of a terrific experimentation , and even Marvel Studios could n’t be confident that it would prove to be a success . The key to Marvel ’s portion out universe was its horse sense of momentum and direction , which made viewer see each movie as another chapter in an ongoing narration .
It ’s easy to forget that the neophyte MCU was n’t the only secret plan in Ithiel Town . Although the DC Extended Universe was yet to enter the scene , Marvel was already competing with another established superhero stigma , which was also found on characters who rebound from the pages of Marvel Comics . Fox ’s 10 - Men franchise had been launched back in 2000 , and although it had beendamaged by 2006’sX - Men : The Last Stand , the studio apartment was exercise to put together a plan that would lend the ex - Men back to the big screen .
In the wake of the Disney / Fox acquisition , details of Fox ’s earlier programme are in the end becoming public cognition . The fascinating matter is that many of them are clear miss opportunities , approximation that - had Fox pursued them , and carried them out well - could have establish the X - Men as just as big a brand as the MCU . As early as 2010 , Fox had design in the work that could potentially have damaged their competition .
Fox Had Civil War And Secret Invasion Films Planned For The X-Men & Fantastic Four
It seems that Fox promptly watch the potential of the MCU ’s shared universe model . Back in 2010 , they began to put together plan to make a shared cinematic world of their own , one that incorporatedthe X - Men and the Fantastic Four . Lifting ideas from Marvel Comics ' " Civil War " event , they commission screenwriters Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz to publish a handwriting that would force the two teams to go headspring - to - headland . The narration kicked off with the Human Torch going nova while trying to cop the villain called the Molecule Man , blowing a jam in Manhattan and sparking the Super - Human Registration Act .
The heroes split on opposing sides , some supporting the SHRA and some opposing it , and naturally it presently turned to war between the two groups . Astoundingly , one of the key battle was apparently between Wolverine and Mr. Fantastic , stop when Reed Richards pinned Wolverine down , extended his hands until they were just a single molecule wide , and used them as scissor grip to cut Wolverine ’s arm off . After a third act battle , the hero would make peace - and then a post - credits scene would tease what was come next . As well as a superhero Civil War , Fox was planning to contribute inthe Skrullsfor a Secret Invasion .
It ’s not hard to see the potential for this , not least because the coup d’oeil of a shapeshifting Skrull would have top to intense debate among viewer . Which X - Men and FF member were secretly Skrull faker , and how had they influenced the Civil War ? It ’s reasonable to take on the armless Wolverine would have been reveal as a Skrull ; the theme even has comic book precedent , with an ill - fated Skrull infiltrating the ex - human race by pretending to be Wolverine back in the ' 90s .
Related : Dark Phoenix Reshoots Explained : Every modification Fox Made To Their Final X - Men Movie
Fox Would Have Done A Crossover At The Same Time As Marvel
This crosswalk movie would have changed the narrative wall 2012’sThe Avengers . The Avengerswas a bang , gross over $ 620 million domesticated and $ 1.5 billion worldwide . One major contributing divisor was the fact that there had never been anything like it , and at the time nothing like it was in the workplace either;The Avengerswas unique , a crossover movie compound different superhero franchises in a unmarried larger-than-life story . The DCEU’sBatman V Superman : Dawn of Justicewasn’t even announced until SDCC 2013 , and it would be five year before Warner Bros. could launch their own team crossover movie , Justice League .
Now imagine a scenario where , althoughThe Avengerswould still be the first , Fox had already announced an X - Men / Fantastic Four crossover event . Marvel would have been ahead of the game , but it would have been clear to everybody that studios believedThe Avengerswould be a achiever , and that a new wave of superhero blockbuster was on the way . What ’s more , it would n’t have been Warner Bros. who were escort as Marvel ’s master competitor ; it would have been Fox .
Fox Would Have Used Up Two Of Marvel’s Best Stories
make matter spoiled for Marvel , Fox would have been adapt two of the most influential comic book events of the last 20 years . That would have mean they were operating on a graduated table even Marvel Studios had n’t yet reached . Furthermore , assuming the initial Fantastic Four / X - Men crossing over performed well in the box office , there ’s no reason to assume Fox would have immediately decided to range the Secret Invasion story . They could have imitated the funnies , using each outcome movie to establish the context for their next freestanding movie , building up to a forthcoming crossover .
This would also have effectively taken certain plots off the tabular array for Marvel . Captain America : Civil War , for example , would almost surely never have been made;the Sokovia Accordswould have felt imitative rather than original . Marvel credibly would n’t have chosen to introduce the Skrulls inCaptain Marveleither ; another studio would have beat Marvel to the musical theme of shapeshifting aliens , and frankly would have already used them on a vastly unlike scale , with a full - fledged encroachment .
Related : Why Fox Did n’t Make Their 10 - Men / Fantastic Four Crossover Movie
basically , it would n’t have taken long for Fox to begin looking as though they were moving ahead of their competitor . Marvel would have needed to take a unlike approach , with Fox ’s every decision closing off options that they ’d have loved to search . When Warner Bros. announcedBatman V Supermanin 2013 , it would have felt as though their " versus " mannequin was imitate Fox rather than Marvel , implicitly suggesting Fox could become the market drawing card .
Would The MCU Have Expanded With Competition?
It ’s important not to overstate Fox ’s militant advantage , though , because Marvel Studios has always been highly responsive to changes in the market . When Warner Bros. announcedBatman V Supermanin 2013 , Marvel Studios presidentKevin Feige determine the time was proper to pivot to more ambitious ideassuch asCaptain America : Civil War . He ’d presumptively have made the same form of determination a couple of years earlier in this scenario , and it ’s reasonable to presume the tail - end of Phase 2 and the entireness of Phase 3 would have looked whole different . What ’s more , while the going of Civil War and Secret Invasion arcs would have been a coke to Marvel , it would n’t have been black . Marvel has literally decades deserving of funny book write up to draw upon for inspiration , including a whole boniface of effect that do n’t involve any Fox attribute at all , and so could n’t possibly be compromise by Fox ’s plan .
The real impact , however , would have been on the DCEU . Warner Bros. was already go out play taking into custody - up after the succeeder ofThe Avengers , and the first few DCEU motion picture were forever contrast with Marvel . Now , Warner Bros. would have been the third studio apartment to endeavor to launch a share cinematic universe rather than the second , and theirBatman V Supermanpitch would have felt echoic of Fox ’s versus blockbuster . The DCEU would have had an even more troubled beginning because of Fox ’s competition , and it may never have been able to establish itself at all .
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The X - Men / Fantastic Four Civil War secret plan has clear potential , but at the same time it ’s easy to see why Fox did n’t in reality take that approach . 2011’sX - Men : First Classproved that the X - Men dealership could still do well in the box office , and the Fantastic Four brand just was n’t quite substantial enough ; Fox would have chance damaging the X - Men if they committed to this crossing . The studio do n’t seem to have been wholly sway by Stentz and Miller ’s take on the FF either ; when they hire Josh Trank as film director ofFantastic Four , he was given the okey to rewrite the script wholly . It ’s easy to criticize Fox for these decision - specially in light of the box part failure of Trank ’s film in 2015 - but at the same time , they were certainly perceivable .
More : Marvel Should Do The Dark Phoenix Saga Again ( But Make One Big Change )
