Earlier today, The Walt Disney Company held their Quarter 3 Shareholders Meeting, marking the first meeting since Disney acquired the rights to 20th Century Fox last month. Disney CEO Bob Iger answered shareholder’s questions, mostly pertaining to the rights to the dozens of intellectual properties Disney has just purchased. Another big topic of discussion was what Disney plans on doing with these IP’s and how they will affect the upcoming Disney streaming service.
Of course, one of the biggest questions was what Disney plans to do with the specific properties of Deadpool, X-Men, and the Fantastic Four, in co-existence with the current Marvel Cinematic Universe. Iger said that the acquisition gives Disney opportunity to explore new possibilities, both on the big screen and on the streaming service. Iger specifically listed Avatar, X-men, Fantastic Four, Deadpool, Planet of the Apes, and Kingsman as properties that provide lots of opportunities, so I would bet Disney has pretty big plans for those franchises. As far as X-Men: Dark Phoenix and New Mutants, there were no changes set to those release dates, so we can still expect those movies to hit theaters in 2019.
“The assets we’re buying fit perfectly with our plan to substantially grow our portfolio. FX is renowned for high quality television. Our plan is to provide even more resources to further FX’s existing business.” “National Geographic is another tremendous brand built on quality, one that has global reach and cross generational appeal.” Clearly, Iger has big plans for FX and National Geographic, and it doesn’t seem like Disney is going to be changing the content on FX, as some people were concerned they might.
The other big talking point was the unnamed Disney streaming service and how the acquisition would enhance that. With projects like shows based on High School Musical, and Monster’s Inc., new episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Jon Favreau’s live action Star Wars show, the service already seemed pretty great. Plus the abundance of Disney movies, including the live action Lady and the Tramp that is supposedly going to release exclusively on the streaming service. However, Iger confirmed that with the addition of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool, Marvel will play a huge role on the service; he even hinted at some original content like television shows on the service as well. It’s always been a dream to see the MCU, in it’s current state, with the likes of the Fantastic Four and X-Men, but now that Disney has acquired the rights, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before our dreams come true.
Does this excite you for the future of Marvel, FX, and National Geographic? Does Disney bringing the characters of the Marvel Universe together make you feel better about the Fox acquisition? Are you more likely to subscribe to the streaming service now? Let us know below in the comments!
A few of my favorite things include my pet dragon (Drogon), Game of Thrones, Disney movies and theme parks, the MCU, DC movies, Star Wars, sports, and my rather large Funko Pop collection. Daenerys Targaryen is my queen, Robert Downey Jr is my man crush, and Simba is my spirit animal.