Who needs X-men and Fantastic Four anyways?

[Shikamaru]

Looking in hindsight, I think Marvel not having the X-Men rights can potentially make mutants feel better integrated in the MCU whenever the X-Men rights revert. It never made much sense for mutants to be feared in a world full of superheroes. But if you already have teams like the Avengers established which have an ongoing track record of saving the world, having that stay consistent when mutants emerge might make their integration feel far more natural.

It would also make sense thematically. Mutants are the next step in human evolution, so why wouldn't they show up after people started obtaining powers?

 

[Green Goblin]

Fox are making an XCU, Sony are making a SMCU. Maybe Namor will get a cinematic universe of his own

 

[bubbadoom]

Contracts, of all kinds, often cover future events. This is why Fox was able to sue Marvel over Mutant X, which had totally different characters, and was unrelated to the comic book. Mutant X, like Future Foundation, was created after the rights were optioned. I'm not 100% sure that the Future Foundation rights were included, but if they weren't, then Fox's lawyers are incompetent, and Marvel should make a group called Future Foundation led by "Steve Stichards" married to the Intangible Woman and rake in the cash.

Also, we don't know if FF would not have gotten the Surfer with the FF if they hadn't gotten him first. There's nothing that says that Silver Surfer would not have been included if they didn't already have access to him.

True - there is no way to know for sure, and perhaps Marvel would have given Fox permission to use SS - but the fact that other major Marvel characters like Sub-Mariner, Black Panther, and the Inhumans are not included in the FF deal suggests that the Surfer would not have been either.

Likewise, even if Marvel gets the FF back that does not automatically mean the Surfer and Galactus come with them...

 

[Orba]

True - there is no way to know for sure, and perhaps Marvel would have given Fox permission to use SS - but the fact that other major Marvel characters like Sub-Mariner, Black Panther, and the Inhumans are not included in the FF deal suggests that the Surfer would not have been either.

Likewise, even if Marvel gets the FF back that does not automatically mean the Surfer and Galactus come with them...

The reason Fox have the Surfer and Galactus is because they are part of the FF film rights. To be honest I'm not sure why SS is part of the FF franchise when the Inhumans and Namor have their own film rights, but if Marvel got the FF rights back SS and Galactus would come with it.