By now, everybody must know that the Fantastic Four didn't just underperform, but it was literally clobbered at the box office. Also, both the moviegoers and the critics tore it apart, being now called the worst Marvel movie ever, as well as one of the worst comic book movies of all times.

Even the previous Fantastic Four films, directed by Tim Story, made about $500 million on a total budget of $250 - the reboot didn't even reach $30 million in its opening weekend.

So now, obviously and just like always, the fans demand that the franchise returns to its rightful owner. But would this make everything better for Marvel's first family, after 3 (or 4, depending on how you look at it) failed movies?

The Spider-Man precedent

Fantastic Four is not the only property sold by Marvel. Spider-Man, Blade, X-Men, Punisher, and many others are (or were) in the same situation. The deal made by Marvel was for the studio purchasing the rights for the characters to make a movie featuring those superheroes. A sunset clause thus said that, for example, Fox shouldn't have a decade without a Fantastic Four film.

Which is, by the looks of it, the only reason why we had this reboot from the first place.

Spider-Man, the biggest Marvel name owned by other studios, was in the same situation. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 made about $700 million worldwide, so in no way it is a flop. However, it didn't meet the expectations of the studio. So a deal was made between Marvel and Sony concerning the web-crawler.

Fantastic Four is now way worse than Spider-Man was. With $27 million in the opening weekend, its only chances are the overseas markets. Only in this way can Fox dream to recoup the $120 million budget (which doesn't include the marketing campaign).

So could Marvel cook up a deal with Fox in the same way it did with Sony?

Check out on the next page if the fans should even take into account such a possibility!

Why would Fox want to help Marvel?

While the Fantastic Four franchise is more than a disappointment, Fox is actually fine and dandy, as far as superhero movies are concerned. The X-Men series is alive and well, even if it had two hiccups along the way (namely Last Stand and Origins: Wolverine). All of the X-Men films made a profit and, with no less than 3 mutant-based movies coming next year, things are looking pretty well.

So, basically, Fox is in no way in the position of Sony, who owned only one superhero. Furthermore, by selling the rights back, Fox would also sell the rights to several other characters besides the Fantastic Four, characters such as Silver Surfer and Doom. And the latter one is considered one of the best Marvel villains in the comic book universe…

Fox might hold onto the rights for some more years, even if it won't make another Fantastic Four movie. Marvel will just have to wait until 2025 to get the rights back"¦

But, even if the reboot flopped, why wouldn't Fox give it another try? Check out the next page!

Third time's a charm?

Not really, especially when big budget movies are concerned. As said, the X-Men Universe is expanding, with 3 movies announced next year. Sure enough, with the right director and screenwriter, a sequel (or another reboot) of the Fantastic Four might perform well at the box office.

But the risk is now higher than ever. So don't expect for the team to come back in 2017, as it was announced.

As a matter of fact, and this is a good news in all this debacle, the rumor is that Fox is actually considering making a Deadpool sequel instead of a Fantastic Four one, for a 2017 release date"¦

As far as a Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover is concerned, Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg said two different things. We actually don't believe that it is possible at this moment. X-Men might end up losing tickets if the fans even hear about this.

And to think that a crossover seemed exciting a couple of months ago"¦

But if a deal is made, will the Fantastic Four get another shot in the MCU? Check out the next page!

Is the Fantastic Four a needed addition to the MCU?

Not necessarily. When the news about the Sony and Marvel deal was announced, every fan of the superhero was pleased. However, this announcement brought with itself the rescheduling of other MCU superhero films. Just to make way for the crawler, for example, Thor: Ragnarok was delayed. The same goes for the Inhumans film. Which is a shame.

So there is this downside to the Fantastic Four joining the MCU. But there is also another.

If the first family was already a part of the MCU, some other films wouldn't have been made. The best example is Guardians of the Galaxy. With the team back to Marvel, the studio might not want to risk with unknown heroes such as the ones mentioned before, or such as the Inhumans, Ant-Man, as well as others.

It isn't always a good thing for a studio to own all the rights. Check out on the next page another reason why Fantastic Four shouldn't join the MCU!

Overload

At the moment, Marvel is releasing about 3 movies each year. Fox's X-Men Universe is also expanding, with 3 movies next year - and who knows how many afterwards. DC is also planning for quite a few releases. Basically, there will be about 8 superhero films released each year, until 2020.

Sure enough, this is a great thing. But it is great because these will be different types of productions: light, dark, in-between. The market may become oversaturated, sooner than anybody might expect it, if more of the same is released.

So if Marvel steps up its game and adds some more movies, besides the ones already announced until 2020, the moviegoers might just get tired of the same type of movies.

On the next page, there is no certainty that Fantastic Four will be rebooted by Marvel!

A Fantastic Four reboot in the MCU?

Not necessarily. While the Fantastic Four were a popular superhero team two decades ago, things have changed. The comic books are no longer released, so no new fans were added. The already existing ones feel bitter after the Tim Story movies and after the reboot. So it would be risky for Marvel to make a Fantastic Four movie in the following years.

If the rights do come back, a film will be made. But not in Phase III. And we won't see the main characters on screen for quite a while.

However, this does open a possibility for Marvel - in the form of the Fantastic Four villains. Thanos is expected to exit the MCU after the Infinity War. And, quite frankly, Doom and Galactus are the best villains which could be used in the later Phases.

So even if the rights revert, even if they are kept by Fox, we won't see Marvel's first family on the big screens in the following years.

But there is good news!

Deadpool II or X-Force might arrive earlier!

So, from this entire debacle, there is something to gain after all!