Disney/Fox Merger: 8 Disastrous Implications It Has For The MCU

3. Marvel Studios Need The Competition

Fox

Competition begets quality; it's how the world works.

While it's fair to say that Fox haven't always produced a fancy rebuttal to Disney's superhero features, the company have very much done so in the last few years. They might've even done more, in fact, popularising R-rated superhero films and asking big questions of the genre in doing so. Logan and Deadpool are both testaments to that, and while there's little chance we'll see the House of Mouse option an R-rated comic book film in the future, we have seen that dynamic emerge on the small-screen, with shows like Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Punisher portraying the mature roots of their source material with an almost infectious enthusiasm.

The problem with Disney absorbing Fox lies in the fact the company will have one less competitor to learn from. Warner Bros. certainly don't look like they'll be providing lessons anytime soon (apart from Wonder Woman), and while we have seen mature depictions of Disney's recent acquisitions - exemplified best by Rogue One - behind-the-scenes drama and creative fallout seem to be a common occurrence, both in Lucasfilm and at Marvel.

This isn't to say that Fox aren't prone to studio interference either - quite the opposite. It's just that, when you look at Logan, Deadpool, and the more recent X-Men films, you can tell that filmmakers have been allowed to execute their vision in full, unencumbered by the requirements of a shared universe.

The simple fact is Fox dare Disney to be better. Without that outlet, where does that leave the genre?

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.