It looks like the X-Men will be entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe
Almost like the takeover of a football club, the ongoing saga between Disney and 21st Century Fox has dragged on for a while now. It is, however, all but complete after the vast majority of Disney shareholders agreed to the purchase of the rival studio in a $71.3 billion deal (£54.39 billion).
The move will see X-Men and Fantastic Four join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just in case you were getting bored of their already vast array of comic book talent.
Only a single shareholder voting against the move, on the grounds that they believed Disney was spending too much money. Unfortunately for that person, the other 99% of the board voted yes and the very, very, very onesided decision was made in around 10 minutes.
The deal will likely see the integration of Fantastic Four and X-Men into the MCU as well as Disney receiving the rights to other franchises such as Avatar and channels like FX and National Geographic.
21st Century will keep Fox News, Fox Sports and the Fox broadcasting network as a separate company.
Fox executive chairman and media mogul Ruper Murdoch said that after the move he expects the new combined venture to become”pre-eminent in the entertainment and media industries.”
Disney had been trying to purchase Fox since December, but was forced to enter a bidding war with Comcast, who originally outbid them with an offer of $64 billion before being blown out of the water by a significant counteroffer that, ultimately, they couldn’t match.
Disney now own Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Fox, pending a review by international regulators. If that seems like a lot for one company, that’s because it is.
But still. X-Men in an Avengers film. Not all bad is it? Got to look at the positives.
