Update: 20th Century Fox has denied that any deal is in place to give the Fantastic Four franchise back to Marvel Studios.
Marvel Studios echoed Fox's statement to insist there is no current agreement for characters such as the Fantastic Four, Doctor Doom, Galactus and the Silver Surfer to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Rights to those heroes and villains remain at Fox, along with the X-Men.
Original article:The Fantastic Four had a rough time at the box office this summer, but Marvel could be about to swoop in and rescue their first family.
According to Den of Geek, Marvel Studios have struck a deal with 20th Century Fox to bring Reed Richards and gang into the MCU.
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The new improved Fantastic Four will reportedly be in cinemas as early as 2020. Coincidentally, Marvel just revealed a trio of mystery movies for that year - could one of them be Fantastic Four?
Kevin Feige and Marvel allegedly struck a deal with Fox by granting them the TV rights for X-Men. As a result, series based on the Hellfire Club and Legion will be forthcoming.
The reported agreement follows on from Spider-Man's dramatic return to Marvel earlier this year.
The webslinger - who'll be played by British actor Tom Holland - has effectively been leased to Marvel by Sony, and will appear in Captain America: Civil War next year.
Spider-Man will then star in his own solo movie in summer 2017, with Sony and Marvel Studios co-producing the blockbuster.
As yet there's no official word from Marvel on a new Fantastic Four movie, but expect to hear something soon if these rumours turn out to be true.
Movies Editor
Simon has worked as a journalist for more than a decade, writing on staff and freelance for Hearst, Dennis, Future and Autovia titles before joining Cision in 2022.
