Simon Kinberg Explains Why X-Men And Fantastic Four Won't Share A Universe

Disney's Marvel movies are all connected. Sony's Marvel movies will be connected to one another (but not to Disney's films). Warner Bros.' DC movies are connected. So it was pretty safe to assume that Fox, which controls the X-Men and Fantastic Four, would be connect those franchises. That won't be the case, says writer/producer Simon Kinberg. In a new interview, the writer of both the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past and Fantastic Four explains why these two teams won't share a universe.

Read why Kinberg says there won't be a Fantastic Four X-Men crossover below.

Kinberg layed out the Fantastic Four X-Men crossover difficulties in an interview with ScreenCrush. Here's the exchange:

ScreenCrush: Do the Fantastic Four movie you wrote and the X-Men live in the same universe?Simon Kinberg: Well, it's complicated. Because none of the X-Men movies have acknowledged the notion of a sort of superhero team — the Fantastic Four. And the Fantastic Four acquire powers, so for them to live in a world where mutants are prevalent is kind of complicated, because you're like, "Oh, you're just a mutant." Like, "What's so fantastic about you?""We have powers ... just like that team down the street."Right, right. Exactly, "So, I guess we'll go to school now. We'll go to Xavier's school." No, it is, they live in discrete universes.

That seems definitive, and logical. A Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover film seems like a surefire hit, and a worthy goal to work towards. But, hypothetically, it's also far away. The X-Men universe is in transition and there's no guarantee Fantastic Four is going to connect with audiences. And even if it did, there would surely have to be at least two movies before this could happen. So, we're looking at 2020 potentially. Maybe Fox thinks there's no reason to plan that far ahead.

For that reason, I like Kinberg's sentiment. As it stands, develop two independent worlds and franchises. Make them as good as they can be. We're so conditioned on these connected universes now, it's nice to see a producer not bow to fan demands. Plus, what Kinberg says makes sense. Since the mutants in X-Men are such a huge deal globally, the rise of the Fantastic Four would have less impact if it was in that universe.

Then again, this statement goes against what Kinberg has said in the past. And having these people lived together always worked in Marvel comics, so why not on film? Maybe he changes his mind moving ahead.

Head to ScreenCrush to read more of Kinberg's thoughts on Fantastic Four. But, for now, what do you think of Kinberg's statement?