21st Century Fox (FOXA) wants to be more like Marvel, and it's hired writer-producer Simon Kinberg to help realize its goal, says Fool contributor Tim Beyers in the following video.
The deal, revealed exclusively to The Hollywood Reporter last month, gives Fox first-look rights to Kinberg's Genre Films projects. But there's also more to it: Specifically, Fox wants Kinberg to expand its X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises into an interlocking movie universe. "I have a lot of ideas on how to buil[d] those brands and do what everybody is thinking of these days: Be like Marvel," Kinberg told THR.
He's referring specifically to the idea of creating a shared universe where the X-Men and FF interact with one another and related characters. Fox consultant Mark Millar -- a well-known comic-book creator in his own right -- has expressed a similar view in public interviews. My guess is they'll begin collaborating soon if they haven't already. What would that mean at the box office? At the very least, a more regular cadence of Marvel movies developed by Fox, but with interrelated plots and more recurring characters.
We've already seen this dynamic at work in last summer's The Wolverine, which features an end credit that we now know teases May's X-Men: Days of Future Past. That film, in turn, will likely include a teaser for either 2015's Fantastic Four reboot or X-Men: Apocalypse, which is due in 2016. Either way, Tim says, all signs point to Fox matching Walt Disney when it comes to bringing Marvel movies to the big screen.
Do you agree? What do you want to see from Fox's Marvel team? Please watch the video to get Tim's full take and then leave a comment to let us know where you stand.
