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)
The Tony Awards on Sunday lured 4.85 million viewers to CBS, its largest broadcast audience in six years. CBS says Monday that Nielsen data shows the telecast — hosted by “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo — scored a 38% increase over last year’s 3.53 million viewers. That’s the largest audience for the Tonys since 2019, when the telecast that year nabbed 5.4 million viewers and “Hadestown” was crowned best new musical. The latest version also had to compete with the second game of the NBA Finals, between the Thunder and Pacers,
After stumbling out of the starting gate in Big Tech’s pivotal race to capitalize on artificial intelligence, Apple tried to regain its footing Monday during a developers conference that focused mostly on incremental advances and cosmetic changes in its technology.
Six weeks before UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel last December, Luigi Mangione mused about rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and expressed that killing the executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming."
Shaquille O’Neal and Allen Iverson once clashed on the court in the 2001 NBA Finals, but now the basketball legends are joining forces to revive the Reebok brand they helped make iconic.
Midea is voluntarily recalling about 1.7 million of its popular U and U+ Smart air conditioners because pooled water in the units may not drain fast enough, leading to mold growth.
