The fact of the matter is this. And this might be hard to hear. Right now, Marvel doesn't desperately need Fantastic Four, Galactus, X-Men, or Silver Surfer. Would it be awesome if all those film rights were at Marvel Studios? Yes. But Marvel Studios is also doing fine without them.
So no Fantastic Four? Well, Marvel turned around and made Guardians of the Galaxy a billion dollar movie franchise. Doctor Strange got better reviews than all of the DC movies released this year. Marvel cannot be taken lightly at this point. They are converting their brands into beloved, high level IPs right now. Right now, Marvel has enough on its plate that there isn't a big rush to do Fantastic Four.
The point is, Marvel has built its library and backlog. Marvel Studios' film base is strong. The TV base is strong and constantly growing. They don't need to rush and desperately secure anything.
While Fox is struggling to figure out what to do with X-Men outside of Deadpool or Fantastic Four, Marvel is sitting pretty. In the war of attrition, Marvel is ahead of the curve of anyone now because audiences and critics alike genuinely like their films. They like the actors, and they like these characters for the most part. It means Marvel is on the right path and they can continue branching out. Even if they branch out to more experimental type of stuff or characters who are lesser known, they can still find success with them. A lot of people thought Ant-Man would be a bomb or at least a big disappointment for Marvel. That got turned on its head.
If it's a waiting game, Marvel can play for keeps, and like Captain America, they can wait all day long because Marvel is sitting in the cat bird's seat.
Marvel has planted its flag and built its film universe. It's not going anywhere. I truly believe, no matter how many years it takes, all of it's going back to Marvel at some point.
I agree they don't
need FF, but I also think they would
like to have the FF sooner rather than later.
Sure, they can develop minor characters, but that requires more effort than giving people characters they already want to see.
When Marvel makes Guardians of The Galaxy, people who don't know anything about GOTG show up because it's a Marvel film. But people also show up for characters they know (look at Fox's first FF film or recent DC efforts which have been savaged by reviewers but people show up because they know and like the characters).
So while Marvel can develop minor properties it's a lot better for them to have a one, two punch of Marvel
plus known characters.
Also, Marvel is working toward creating a true Marvel universe. Their MCU will feel like a weak imitation of the Marvel universe fans know as long as Galactus, Silver Surfer, Dr. Doom and Reed Richards aren't part of it.
And lastly, Marvel has illustrated the wisdom of variety. When they were talking about introducing characters like Black Panther, Dr. Strange, Inhumans etc. part of me was thinking "Why Bother? Why not just make Thor 7, Iron Man 10, Captain America 9 etc.", but we can see now how vibrant and dynamic and interesting this universe is as they introduce new characters and mix and match those characters. And on the other side, we can see how stale the X-Men are getting as Fox continues to make the same film with the same characters over and over again.
With that said, it's not critical that Marvel needs to start introducing the FF now. As long as they know Fox won't make another film and they'll get the rights back, they can be patient and wait.
But that's a risky strategy as we saw in 2013. As long as they don't have the rights locked down, there is a chance that Fox will continue to play "keep away".
Marvel doesn't need FF now, but it would be very good for them to ensure they will have them in the years to come. For that reason, if they have the opportunity to obtain the rights for a reasonable price, they should be making an effort to do that.
If Marvel isn't making at least some effort to lock down the rights, I would be both disappointed and surprised.
