Can Marvel Studios Use Daredevil to Rescue Silver Surfer and Galactus From Fox?
Which Marvel Comics "cosmic" characters should we expect in the upcoming Guardians of The Galaxy movie? That might depend on the outcome of unexpected -- and potentially fictitious -- negotiations between Marvel and 20th Century Fox relating to the future of the latter's planned Daredevil reboot. Confused? You will be.Variety reported yesterday that Fox is in negotiations with Marvel over their existing option on the Daredevil movie rights, which are currently set to expire if a movie isn't shooting by October 10 this year. That'd be a problem for Fox, which is currently said to be in discussions with A-Team director Joe Caranahan over rebooting the character in a "Frank Miller-esque, hardcore 70s thriller" that wouldn't be ready by October, leading to Fox asking for an extension. The Hollywood trade paper revealed that the studio had a potential bargaining chip in its favor: The movie rights to characters created in the Fantastic Four series, including the Silver Surfer and Galactus, the latter of whom is "rumored to play a key role in future Marvel pics," according to anonymous sources.
Make that anonymous Marvel sources. According to sources within Fox, the rights to those characters aren't on the table. "With Chronicle helmer Josh Trank on board to direct, Fantastic Four is a big priority and the studio would be crazy to give away a cornerstone villain it could use now or down the line," explained Deadline's Mike Fleming, rebutting the Variety story.
So what, exactly, is going on between the two studios? I suspect that Variety's Plan B - That Marvel co-produces the planned Daredevil do-over with Fox - will end up being the main result; even if Fox was considering giving up the rights to Galactus and the Silver Surfer, I wouldn't be too surprised if the fan excitement that erupted on social media yesterday following the Variety story made them think again, re-evaluating just how much fans care about them and what they might be worth. Then again, maybe this is all a negotiation tactic and Fox would swap Silver Surfer for another Marvel character it would like for its Daredevil project. It's not as if Marvel is doing anything with Dakota North, say, anyway... Or even Luke Cage.