Fantastic 4 Movie Rights Have Returned to Marvel, Report Says

[Update] Fox has said reports the Fantastic Four movie rights are returning to Marvel are "completely untrue." Marvel has also indicated the rumours are not true. [Update ends]

Ever since this summer's Fantastic Four failed at the box office, a question mark has hung over the future of the superhero team at Fox. Until recently there was still talk of a sequel, but it now looks like the rights to the property may be returning to Marvel.

Den of Geek reports the rights to the Fantastic Four, which Fox have owned since 2004, have been handed to Marvel as part of the deal that has also allowed the two studios to partner on two new X-Men TV shows.

While Fox own the films rights to X-Men, Marvel has retained those for television. Given Fox's huge box office success with the X-Men movies over the years, their desire to be involved with a TV version is unsurprising, as is their willingness to return Fantastic Four to Marvel after this summer's commercial disaster.

This news mirrors the deal made between Marvel and Sony late last year, which saw Spider-Man join the Marvel Cinematic Universe after the box office disappointment of Sony's Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Earlier this month, Marvel's updated slate of releases listed three currently unnamed films for release in 2020. Den of Geek's sources state that the studio's first Fantastic Four movie will be on of those.

Jon Watts, director of the 2017 Spider-Man movie, has discussed his vision for Peter Parker, who will be played by British actor Tom Holland.

"I love the idea of making a coming-of-age high school movie. We're really going to see Peter Parker in high school and get deeper into that side of it. He's just 15 now," Watts said. "Tom was pretty perfect. He's very athletic. He can actually do a backflip! If he didn't already capture the spirit of the character, with that on top, the kid is Spider-Man".