Fox 'going 100mph' on superhero projects Silver Surfer, X-Force and Dr Doom

With the looming probability that Disney's proposed purchase of 20th Century Fox will go through, Fox is reportedly "going 100 miles per hour" to get the most out of its Marvel Comics properties before the rights potentially revert back to Disney-owned Marvel Studios.

In a report detailing Fox's current plans for films falling under the rights it owns to Fantastic Four and X-Men, The Hollywood Reporter cites sources claiming uncertainty regarding the merger has hastened production, rather than slowed it down.

The report references multiple projects including spinoffs focusing on Kitty Pryde and Silver Surfer, written by veteran comic book writers Brian Michael Bendis and Brian K. Vaughn respectively.

There's also a Doctor Doom spinoff in the works from Fargo and Legion showrunner Noah Hawley, Channing Tatum's troubled Gambit film, which is still searching for a director, and Drew Goddard's Deadpool spinoff X-Force.

X-Force, THR reports, will begin shooting in October with Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Josh Brolin as Cable.

"We actually have way more in development and production in Marvel IP than at any point in the history of the studio," one insider said. "There's been zero slowdown on that front given Disney."

All these films come in addition to three planned for release over the next year. First up is Deadpool 2 in May, followed by X-Men: Dark Phoenix in October/November and The New Mutants, which was recently delayed by a year until February 2019.

In the case of The New Mutants, the delay was reportedly made so the film could undergo a round of additional filming over the summer so a new character can be added Josh Boone's teen thriller.