Even with the potential of a Disney merger and the absorption of the X-Men and associated properties into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, 20th Century Fox is continuing to develop its mutant movies. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio is developing a new, stand-alone take on The Silver Surfer.
The character, who turned up in 2007's Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer has been mooted before as a potential stand-alone, but Fox's focus has been elsewhere, especially since the failure of the most recent attempt to bring the Four to the screen. Now, though, Brian K. Vaughn is writing a new take that would bring the character – whether or not he's still the herald for planet-chomping baddie Galactus – to the fore in his own movie, perhaps an origin story?
It's just one of a number of movies the studio is developing based on the Marvel properties it owns, including a mooted Kitty Pryde film with Tim Miller and Brian Michael Bendis involved and Drew Goddard's X-Force, which is now gearing up to shoot in October with Ryan Reynolds and Josh Brolin loosely attached to star. Talking of those two, Deadpool 2, which will introduce Brolin's Cable, is out on 16 May. And Legion/Fargo creator Noah Hawley is still working on his Doctor Doom film.
Then there's Gambit, which continues the hunt for a director after losing every filmmaker who has so far agreed to shoot it. A new draft of the script is on the way, and the budget has been found, so it'll be made eventually. Probably...
Also facing a slight delay, though headed for re-shoots to add a character, taking advantage of a shift in release to 2019, is The New Mutants, headed our way in a year. Adding an entire character seems like an odd move for a film that already wrapped its main shoot, but who knows what the team has planned?
Aside from Deadpool 2, Fox has X-Men: Dark Phoenix arriving on 31 October this year. For now, the studio is continuing on with business as usual, since the Disney deal hasn't yet closed, but it'll be interesting to see what, if any, impact, a merger does have on future plans.
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