Fantastic Four movie rights have not been reacquired by Marvel Studios, says 20th Century Fox

It was widely speculated yesterday (15 October) that Marvel had reacquired the rights to the Fantastic Four after 20th Century Fox's 2015 reboot starring Miles Teller and Kate Mara, failed to live up to expectations at the box office. Given the frosty reception it also received from movie-goers and critics worldwide, it seemed a likely move that was bound to happen eventually and no one doubted the claims. However, according to a more recent report by Den Of Geek, the rumours are in fact false, states Fox Studios.

It was originally suggested that Fox had exchanged its licence to make more Fantastic Four films in exchange for the TV rights for X-Men, with the intention of developing two separate series based on the Marvel Comics characters, Hellfire and Legion. In addition, it was believed that one of the three untitled movies that Marvel Studios recently announced would be making its way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe sometime in 2020, was going to be based on Mr Fantastic, The Invisible Woman, The Human Torch and The Thing.

The studios reportedly issued a statement to the publication confirming that the rumours "were completely untrue". Den Of Geek also received a denial from Marvel too.

Despite both studios' official dismissal of the news, it turns out, they didn't really need to dispute the reports after all, given that the rumours were actually flawed to begin with. The X-Men television rights have rested at Fox for years already, so for the company to wager them in some kind of deal would never have happened and the plans to develop the mutants' story on to the small screen have been in the making long before Fantastic Four's most recent flop in cinemas.

Similarly, Marvel Studios and Marvel Television are two completely separate entities under the larger Disney umbrella, so a deal that wagers movie rights for television rights seems unlikely.

As it stands, Fox is said to be still planning its own sequel to this year's Fantastic Four, but no official news, other than the fact that it is due to come out in 2018, has been released about the proposed project. Marvel's next film will be Captain America: Civil War, scheduled to reach cinemas on 26 April 2016.

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