Shareholders at Disney and 21st Century Fox have approved a deal which will allow the House of Mouse to purchase the majority of Fox’s assets. The deal, which is worth a whopping $71.3 billion, was confirmed during a shareholders’ meeting this morning. The merger is expected to be completed before Q3 2019.
This is a big move for Disney, following the company’s previous acquisitions of Marvel Entertainment and Star Wars. Though there are a variety of potential outcomes to this deal in terms of how it will impact Fox’s various properties, let’s take a look at how it could play out the MCU, gaming, and more.
Disney Buys Fox: X-Men, Deadpool in the MCU
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The Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be hugely affected by this deal, in a good way. With Fox having previously owned the rights to X-Men, Deadpool, the Fantastic Four and more, now Disney will be able to bring these franchises over to the MCU properly. This is big news for superhero fans as it opens up the MCU to some of the most well-known names in comics, including Wolverine, the Silver Surfer, and more.
It’s been odd to see the MCU skirting around some of its well-known names for all this time, though Disney being unable to pull the trigger on X-Men movies has ensured that we’ve seen the rise of lesser-known properties such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man. With The Avengers: Infinity War seemingly leading the entire MCU in a brand new direction, being able to bolster its next line-up with these huge names will be incredibly beneficial to the blockbuster film franchise. Which brings us to…
Disney Buys Fox: More Characters for Marvel Games
Marvel games have kinda been a let-down considering how successful the MCU has been, with Marvel vs Capcom Infinite failing to take advantage of its huge rise in popularity, while there have been very few successful Marvel games that have popped up in recent years. There’s no telling whether or not this will change with Disney’s acquisition of Fox, but at the very least it will allow Marvel games to feature more characters from the Marvel Universe.
Outside of a potential Marvel vs Capcom sequel being able to feature the X-Men, Deadpool, and co. we could also see some new standalone video games, or even DLC for the upcoming Crystal Dynamics Avengers game. We know very little about this release aside from the fact that a recent job listing suggests it will be a live service game, indicating it will have monetizable updates in its future. What better way to get more money out of players than by releasing DLC characters like Wolverine, Mr. Fantastic, and Dr. Doom?
Disney Buys Fox: Alien, Predator, The Simpsons, and All the Other Stuff
This move doesn’t just ensure that Marvel characters have a new home; it also means that a bunch of other major properties will be moved around, too. We’re not entirely sure what a Disney-funded future will mean for big film franchises such as Alien and Predator, though we’ve got to imagine that The Simpsons’ and Family Guy‘s writers’ rooms will have something to say about the acquisition in their upcoming episodes. Then there are other blockbuster properties such as Avatar, which has already made its way into Disneyland and will now likely be owned by Disney proper. So many possibilities!
