Marvel Movie Boss Could Take Control Of X-Men, Says Disney CEO

The Walt Disney Company and 21st Century Fox recently approved a merger, creating an even larger media empire for the house of mouse. The deal cleared the way for the X-Men franchise to finally enter the Marvel cinematic universe, and now Disney CEO Bob Iger has hinted that's likely in the cards.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Iger was asked if Marvel would absorb the X-Men franchise from Fox, and if Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige would be overseeing it all together. His answer isn't quite a confirmation, but he certainly signaled what he prefers.

"I think it only makes sense," Iger said. "I want to be careful here because of what's been communicated to the Fox folks, but I think they know. It only makes sense for Marvel to be supervised by one entity. There shouldn't be two Marvels."

That could lead to some wild combinations, of course. Fox's X-Men franchise hasn't quite matched the tone of the MCU films, especially in the cases of the gonzo Deadpool films and the moody anthology movie Logan. Asked if Deadpool could become an Avenger, Iger said, "Kevin's got a lot of ideas. I'm not suggesting that's one of them. But who knows?"

Currently the X-Men and Marvel films are on two fairly distinct tracks. The X-Men franchise has Dark Phoenix and New Mutants coming next year, while Marvel is preparing to culminate its sprawling ten-year multi-film vision with Captain Marvel followed quickly by Avengers 4. Those are two film franchises that don't exactly fit neatly into each others' universes, so we'll have to see if Marvel swallows up the X-Men--and if it justifies the transition with a story-based explanation.