Don't Get Your Hopes Up For X-Men Or Fantastic Four To Enter The Marvel Cinematic Universe

At one time, it was thought to be nearly impossible for Marvel Studios to get Spider-Man back into their hands from Sony Pictures in order to bring him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But earlier this summer, the webslinger made his debut in the MCU with an appearance in Captain America: Civil War, and now Tom Holland is reprising the role in a new franchise for Spidey. This unprecedented deal between Marvel and Sony was exciting not just because it was Spider-Man's homecoming, but also because it made fans believe that bringing in other Marvel characters like X-Men and Fantastic Four wasn't impossible either.

However, Kevin Feige has crushed the dreams of that happening anytime soon in a recent interview.

Speaking to Collider, Kevin Feige had this to say about Marvel's relationship with 20th Century Fox:

Well, it's the same as it has always been. I don't want to attribute it as a frozen wasteland or anything like that. We all get along and I see them occasionally but there's no change in any dynamic.

At this point, trying to fit the X-Men in the Marvel cinematic universe would be pretty difficult without rebooting the characters. There's a pretty expansive mutant universe established over at 20th Century Fox, especially with Deadpool entering the fray earlier this year. Plus, all the timeline and time travel manipulation just makes it even more complicated.

However, it should be noted that with Doctor Strange introducing the concept of the multiverse, if the time came for X-Men to be introduced into the Marvel cinematic universe, it could easily be explained that they existed in a parallel universe without the rest of Marvel's characters.

As for Fantastic Four, their introduction would be much easier, if only because no one cares about Fox's last reboot of Marvel's first family. While the studio, including producer Simon Kinberg, thinks they're still going to make a sequel happen, it seems unlikely at this point. But Fox also isn't likely to budge when it comes to striking a deal with Marvel to share any of their comic book characters.

So we're not going to see X-Men or Fantastic Four in the Marvel cinematic universe anytime soon, but never say never.