With DC and Marvel both already having multiple TV shows (not including the upcoming Supergirl), I suppose it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Fox has decided they want to throw their hat into the ring as well. Fox has entered in preliminary talks with 24 producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto to bring a live-action X-Men TV series to the small screen.
Before any of you get your hopes up about this show making it to next season’s fall lineup, it should be noted that while Fox does have the film rights for the X-Men franchise, the comic rights still belong to Marvel and by extension Disney, and Fox needs Marvel to sign off on it before they can move forward with the series.
This detail is important because Fox’s business relationship with Marvel has been “strained” to put it generously. Things have been so bitter between the two, Marvel has gone so far as to forbid the creation of any new X-Men characters in the comics to prevent the film rights of any additional characters from going to Fox. They’ve also opted to discontinue their Fantastic Four comic book series later this year in an effort to undermine the rival studio’s upcoming Fantastic Four movie. So naturally, any negotiations between the two sides are likely to be tricky at best.
That being said, Fox entertainment chairman Gary Newman says that they’re “cautiously optimistic.” The bad news is that between the talks with Marvel and development of the show itself, Newman believes the earliest the show will be ready to air is during the 2016-2017 TV season.
Personally, I’m all for this idea. Even though this series won’t be able to do the cool series crossovers like we’ve seen with many of the other comic book shows, X-Men has their own rich mythology that producers can use to sustain the show (as proven by the 90s animated series). What’s more The Flash has proven that there have been more than enough advances in special effects and CGI to make the presumably effects heavy X-Men series much more feasible than it was say a decade ago.
Would you want to watch a live-action X-Men TV series? Do you think Fox and Marvel will be able to reach an agreement? Tell us your thoughts in the comment section below.
Source: Super Hero Hype