Why Disney's Fox Acquisition Might Mean Happier Fans
*By Max Godnick*
Disney may have won the bidding war for 21st Century Fox's prized assets, but if the deal goes through, fans may be the real victors.
"If you're a fan of Marvel, you're going to get the X-Men and the Fantastic 4 back with the Avengers," said Tim Baysinger, a TV reporter for The Wrap, in an interview with Cheddar on Friday. "How can you not be excited about that?"
Comcast, which announced this week it would not pursue its bid for Fox, cleared a path for Disney to complete its $71 billion acquisition of the company's movie studio and various cable channels. That means Marvel Studios, which Disney acquired for $4 billion in 2009, will also re-absorb rights to the "X-Men" and "Fantastic 4" movies, which had been controlled by Fox.
And if Disney's deal closes by next summer, Baysinger said Marvel could be poised to deliver some earth-shattering news at 2019's Comic-Con, an event the studio skipped this year.
"I would not be surprised if, a year from now, \[Marvel Studios President\] Kevin Feige is standing in front of Hall H announcing a Phase 4 slate that could very well include the 'X-Men' and the 'Fantastic 4,'" Baysinger said.
Next spring's follow-up to "Avengers: Infinity War" marks the end of Marvel's third phase in its theatrical release strategy. The studio has been quiet about plans beyond that, but a Fox deal may crystallize things.
It's an exciting prospect, given that critics [panned](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/fantastic_four_2015/) the latest installments of Fox's "X-Men" and "Fantastic 4" franchises, but have been [much kinder](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/avengers_infinity_war) to Disney's superhero fare.
"Marvel knows how to do their characters better than anyone else," Baysinger said.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/what-the-disney-fox-deal-means-for-fans)
About 780,000 pressure washers sold at retailers like Home Depot are being recalled across the U.S. and Canada, due to a projectile hazard that has resulted in fractures and other injuries among some consumers.
President Donald Trump has fired one of two Democratic members of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to break a 2-2 tie ahead of the board considering the largest railroad merger ever proposed.
Ford is recalling more than 355,000 of its pickup trucks across the U.S. because of an instrument panel display failure that’s resulted in critical information, like warning lights and vehicle speed, not showing up on the dashboard.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
