‘Fantastic Four’ Marvel Film Coming In 2020? Fox May Have Let The Rights Go [Report]

Could a Fantastic Four Marvel film be planned for 2020? Rumors are pointing to the possibility, but nothing has yet been confirmed.

Fox’s attempt to make a film franchise out of Reed Richards’ team has met with lukewarm reception at best, with fans left disappointed every time. The 2005 film with Jessica Alba and Chris Evans had been a mild success, but the way it handled Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) seemed like an insult to the fan base. The film barely made him a villain, instead deciding to have the superhero team use their powers to fix their own blunders for most of the film. The fight at the end was little more than a riddle-fest, as they used “science” to defeat Dr. Doom.

Technically, Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans playing the roles of The Thing and Human Torch was the best part of both films. Their back and forth banter as they adapted to their newfound powers was the film’s highlight, and The Thing’s story arc about his wife leaving him was about the most emotional scene in the whole first movie.

Fox had rebooted the Fantastic Four in 2015 so Marvel couldn’t take the rights back by default, but it ended up being a costly mistake. Fans were annoyed with the casting of Michael B. Jordan as Human Torch, and even one of the stars had joked about how bad the film was. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Kate Mara had admitted to having not seen the film herself, adding that nobody else had either.

A film has to be horrible when one of the stars is slamming it alongside the fans of its subject matter.

It seems that Fox may have decided to wave the proverbial white flag after the failure of its latest Fantastic Four to perform to expectations. Marvel may have gotten the rights back, and added their own take to the mystery list of 2020 releases in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Den of Geek has reported that Fox may have struck a deal with Marvel allowing them to create two TV series based on their most successful superhero franchise, X-Men. By negotiating to allow Hellfire and Legion to legally air, Fox may have given up the rights to the franchise they couldn’t manage to make successful.

Hellfire will focus on the club that was first seen in X-Men: First Class, while Legion will be about the son of Professor Xavier.

This possible trade coincides rather well with the recent announcement of three new entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With Ant-Man and the Wasp pushing Captain Marvel back, that left at least a couple of mysteries left unsolved.

That “Marvel taking back Fantastic Four” rumor is false [UPDATED] http://t.co/5b7leiSuSB

— io9 (@io9) October 15, 2015

One of those mysteries may be Marvel’s Fantastic Four, and if they do have the rights back, this means staple characters like Dr. Doom, Galactus, and the Silver Surfer might make appearances in other films before then, according to Polygon. Fans would probably love to see Galactus face off with Thanos, especially after the latter completes the Infinity Gauntlet. This could be part of the two-part Avengers follow-up in phase three.

If a Marvel Fantastic Four film is being planned, this also might lead to cameo appearances from some of the franchise’s characters in films like Captain America: Civil War. Silver Surfer might even team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy.

After two failed franchises, it seems Fox may have finally given up trying to keep the rights, instead focusing on the franchise that Bryan Singer started and brought back. As Apocalypse is allegedly set to end the film series, with possible spin-offs planned, it seems Fox is going to focus on doing what Marvel and DC have both successfully done.

Sadly, according to i09, the rumor may be completely false, though their sources, as credible as they claim them to be, weren’t named.

What do you think of Fox possibly trading Fantastic Four to Marvel in order to try two new X-Men TV series?

[Update 1 pm EST] Comic Book has officially confirmed via word with 20th Century Fox that the Fantastic Four Marvel movie is nothing but a rumor. Fox still owns the rights to the franchise.

[Featured image via Fox / The Mary Sue]