Fox may be a little too late but it’s better late than never. After director Bryan Singer’s recent cast announcement of “X-Men: Apocalypse“, TV Insider confirms that Fox Network is planning to assemble a new team of mutants and bring them to the small screen soon.
However, Fox entertainment chairman Gary Newman thinks that it won’t be ready to air before the 2016 – 2017 TV season.
After announcing the possible revival of “The X-Files” and “24” at the Television Critics Association press tour, the Fox TV chairman brought another piece of good news – that the TV network is working to bring the “X-Men” characters to TV soon.
Marvel first published the “X-Men” comic book series in 1963 and Fox’s sister production company, 20th Century Fox acquired the film rights to the “X-Men” franchise in 1994. Although Fox holds the film rights to the X-Men franchise, negotiations are under way to develop a live-action “X-Men” series because it may affect Marvel’s current and upcoming TV series including “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. “, “Agent Carter“, “Daredevil“, “A.K.A. Jessica Jones“, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and the miniseries “The Defenders”.
“It’s in negotiations,” Newman said. “We’re cautiously optimistic, we had a good meeting with them [Marvel]. That will not be on a fast track creatively. This is just the deal, now we have to find the creative,” he added.
The All New X-Factor (Polaris, Quicksilver, Gambit, Danger, Cypher & Warlock) debuted in January 2014 / Image
It came as no surprise to us that Fox will try to bring the “X-Men” series to television, especially after the success of “Gotham“, a Batman origins series from DC Comics and Warner Bros. TV. However, this isn’t the first time Fox is said to be developing a potential “X-Men” TV series as Bleeding Cool previously reported that the development of “X-Men” TV series was real. It was also widely speculated that the series will be adapted from a “X-Men” spin-off comic series, “X-Factor” but Fox did not respond to report.
Earlier in April 2014, “X-Men; Days of Future Past” co-writer Simon Kinberg told Collider that the TV series was inevitable.
He said:
We’re still in this place of figuring out what the future of the franchise will be, but when you look at S.H.I.E.L.D. to some extent and what Marvel is doing now with Daredevil and other shows on Netflix, it makes sense to tell some of these stories in TV.
According to THR, Fox TV is in talks with “24” producers Evan Katz and Manny Coto to develop the live-action series. There’s no firm concept yet but Patrick McKay and JD Payne are set to pen the script for the pilot episode.
Back in 1992, Fox brought the “X-Men: The Animated Series” to the television as part of its Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup. The principal of the series included Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Beast, Gambit, Jubilee, Jean Grey, and Professor X. It is unclear which character will appear on the live-action “X-Men” series because as we’ve previously mentioned, there’s no firm concept for the series yet.
What do you think of Fox’s decision to bring a live-action “X-Men” series? Do you think the cast members from the film franchise will join the series? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
(Source:1, 2/ Featured image)