Last week it was reported that The Walt Disney Company had held talks with 21st Century Fox about acquiring a number of its film and television assets, including the movie studio 20th Century Fox.
Although those talks are said to have broken down, Fox isn’t finding itself short of suitors. Comcast – the parent company of Universal – has been circling, and now comes word from The Washington Post that Sony has also been in early, informal discussions.
Acquiring 20th Century Fox’s assets – including franchises such as X-Men, Fantastic Four, Avatar, Planet of the Apes, Alien, Predator and Die Hard – would certainly be a smart move for Sony, which has struggled with its own franchises, and recently lost the rights to James Bond.
Should Sony acquire Fox, it would also potentially open the door for the X-Men and Fantastic Four to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Sony already having teamed with Marvel Studios to incorporate Spider-Man into the MCU.
That being said, with Sony intent on launching a series of Spider-Man spinoffs like Venom, Silver & Black and Morbius, it’s also possible that the studio would want to keep Wolverine and company out of Disney and Marvel’s hands in order to further expand their own shared superhero universe.