Back in December 2017, Disney shocked the world when it announced that it had come to an agreement to merge with Fox Entertainment.
This was particularly mind-shattering for Marvel fans, as it meant that hundreds upon hundreds of characters could now be used by Marvel Studios in future projects. Beloved characters like X-Men, Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool all became fair game. This monumental move meant that Marvel Studios now had nearly full access to 99% of their catalog of characters.
Since then, nothing of the merger has been seen, at least on the MCU side of things. The last of Fox's Marvel franchises finished off, with both Dark Phoenix and New Mutants fizzling out, yet not a single sign of the deal has been seen within the MCU.
That's all set to change this year though, as The Falcon and The Winter Soldier will be the first project from Kevin Feige and co. that will utilize a former Fox property.
TIMES ARE CHANGING FOR THE MCU
In a recent interview by Entertainment Weekly , the topic of the Fox acquisition was discussed. Namely, the fact that the world just heard Elizabeth Olsen's Wanda Maximoff referred to as Scarlet Witch for the first time in WandaVision , and that Lovecraft Country star Jonathan Majors was cast as Kang The Conqueror .
In response, Marvel President Kevin Feige was quick to note that those particular cases were “already free and clear” for them to use before the acquisition, but then went on to tease an upcoming location in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier :
"There's a setting in particular that people have already glimpsed in some of the trailers that is a setting from the Marvel Comics that was not previously available to us, but it's more of an Easter egg in and of itself."
WHERE IN THE MARVEL UNIVERSE COULD IT BE?
So where could this mystery location be? Well, it's not too hard to connect the dots. A long while back it was all but confirmed that the fictional city of Madripoor would be making its debut in the Disney+ streaming venture. Several shots within the trailers not only line up with the set photos but also that of the general imagery of the location -- making it all but a sure-fire thing.
It's interesting to note that Kevin Feige mentioned that the location is more of an Easter egg, which indicates that it doesn't necessarily play an important role in the plot -- at least not in of its deep connections to events and characters from the comics that were once owned by Fox Entertainment. That means that audiences likely won't be seeing any X-Men-related elements, despite the location existing itself.
In the comics, Madripoor has deep ties to the mutant Wolverine, as well as having been ruled by longtime mutant villainess Viper. Magneto even founded his own X-Mansion on the island at one point.
While it's easy to see why people may be disappointed in this, it's important to look on the bright side of things. This brings everything one step closer to finally getting all of those Fox properties properly weaved into the MCU landscape. Not to mention, it's all but a given that the MCU will be making several more trips back to the infamous slums and luxurious high-rise hotels of the X-Men-based Madripoor.
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