*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)

Share:
More In Business
Fed's Powell Was Tricked by Fake Call From Russia Pranksters
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was tricked into an extended phone call in January with Russian pranksters posing as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during which Powell appeared to discuss the economic impact of interest rate hikes.
Amazon Q1 Revenue, Profit Grow but Cloud Unit a Concern
Amazon on Thursday reported stronger-than-expected revenue and profits for the first quarter, sending its stocks higher in after-hours trading. But its prices took a dip in the evening amid concerns about a continued slowdown in the company's profitable cloud computing unit AWS.
Load More