When Will Fox and Marvel Announce Their Apparent Partnership?

As of late, there's been more than a fair amount of speculation in regards to whether or not Marvel/Disney will ever make a deal with 20th Century Fox to bridge the two sects of Marvel's cinematic universes. The Marvel brand has been split down the middle for years, but it's about to time for the two universes to rejoin — and it's not just speculative anymore.

Marvel and Fox Are Already Working Together On The Legion TV Series

Multiple projects currently in development are under joint cooperation between Marvel and Fox. The Legion TV series is the best example of the two studios working together. Legion is produced by Fox, with Marvel's writers joining the project to add some creative juice to it. But it isn't just the creative minds behind Marvel and Fox working together. Guardians Of The GalaxyVol2 also gives us a very good reason to believe Marvel and Fox have already negotiated a deal — they just haven't finalized a deal or made an announcement yet.

For those who saw Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2, we know Stan Lee made his cameo appearance alongside the Watchers. And it was this cameo that got the attention of quite a few fans.

When Kevin Feige was asked about Stan Lee's role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Feige confirmed that Lee is playing the same character in every movie.

Yes, we always thought it would be fun. Stan Lee clearly exists, you know, above and apart from the reality of all the films. So the notion that he could be sitting there on a cosmic pit stop during the jump gate sequence in Guardians was something very fun – James had that idea and we shot that cameo and loved it so much, you know, you see it a couple of times in the movie. It wasn’t in for a long time and we put it back in towards the end of the process where he references that time he was a Federal Express agent – we thought it would be fun to put that in there because that really says, so wait a minute, he’s this same character who’s popped up in all these films.”

Stan Lee's Character Is A Bridge Between Cinematic Universes

Now, that may seem insignificant at the moment but what about Stan Lee's cameos in the X-Men, Fantastic Four and the Spider-Man movies? There's a good chance Lee's random appearances in those movies were attributed to the fact that he's also playing the same character in their universe. We can't identify who he is yet but Lee's character is obviously someone who transcends time and space, so appearing in separate movies universes isn't that preposterous either.

That said, whoever Lee is playing is the strongest connection between the separate movie universes. He may very well be the person who unites them. Although, it seems like Marvel and Fox intend to accomplish that feat in a more defined manner.

Of course, we'll have to wait for an official confirmation to say anything ourselves but that's essentially all we're waiting for. Just from looking at the studios' willingness to work together, it seems as if some deal is already in the making. If it is, we could potentially see the two universes merge during the MCU's Avengers 4 movie or immediately after.

Since we know the MCU will be changing up its dynamic for the presumed Phase 4, merging with the X-Men universe could be that change in direction Kevin Feige was referring to. Feige commented on the matter, stating that he's unsure of what Phase 4 will look like, but that sounds like a misdirection on Feige's part.

"We’ve been lucky that [contract expirations] haven’t factored in too much. We’ve had people under contract for certain films, then we’ve had new ideas and new directions like Civil War like we wanted to do, and we’ve been lucky enough to make new contracts. Or Spider-Man: Homecoming, the cast has been awesome in their enthusiasm for the direction and the storylines that we’ve been telling. So it really does, right now, all start with where we wanna take the stories. Certainly as we get to Infinity War there is a sense of a climax if not a conclusion to, by the time we’re at untitled Avengers 4, the 22 movies that will have encompassed the first three phases of the MCU. And what happens after that will be very different. I don’t know if it’s Phase 4, it might be a new thing.”

Will Phase 4 Kick Off With The X-Men Joining The MCU?

If Marvel and Fox are in the process of working out a deal for the X-Men to enter the MCU in Phase 4, then Feige saying Marvel's future is uncertain could definitely be a misdirection to throw fans off. That said, we will have to wait until an announcement is officially made to start speculating on how the crossover will take place. But, one thing is almost a guarantee: Hugh Jackman joining the MCU.

Jackman is most well known for his role as Wolverine, going on record saying that Logan was his last outing as Wolverine but he made the stipulation of being willing to return to the role for one reason: an Avengers / X-Men movie. Jackman didn't elaborate any further but if his stipulation is met, we could see Jackman portray Wolverine one last time. It also doesn't hurt that fans have been begging to see the X-Men crossover with the Avengers so bringing Jackman back as Wolverine right before he hands up the claws for good would excite so many fans.

Regardless of theories, neither studio has directly said they're ready to work on a movie together. Until they do, Marvel's deal to merge with Fox's X-Men brand won't happen. That is unless it's already underway and they're just waiting for the right moment to announce the separate Marvel brands merging.