SALT LAKE CITY — A new report indicates a Fox executive will remain at Disney despite creative control of Deadpool and the X-Men being turned over to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige.
Deadline reports that Emma Watts, the vice chairman and head of production of 20th Century Fox, will continue working with Disney, despite losing control over Marvel properties. Instead, Watts will stay on to oversee James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequels, which will release in 2021, 2023, 2025 and 2027.
“Watts’ decision to stay the course makes a good deal of sense if Disney is serious about broadening its slates as it makes product both for theatrical and to feed the Disney+ streaming service,” Deadline reports.
Watts previously worked at Fox to oversee movies like the “Kingsman” series, “Deadpool” and “Murder on the Orient Express,” which starred Kenneth Branagh as Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot.
Previous reports indicated Watts would take on a leadership role at Disney thanks to her strong relationship with actors and filmmakers like Ryan Reynolds (“Deadpool”), James Mangold ("Logan"), Matthew Vaughn ("Kingsman") and Ridley Scott ("The Martian"), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
As for Marvel, ComicBook.com notes that Feige teased appearances from both the Fantastic Four and X-Men this past weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, but no concrete information was provided. Feige has said in the past he’s excited to bring Fox’s superhero properties to a “level they deserve.”
"The truth is, I’m excited for all of them. I’m excited, and it’s not just the marquee names you know — there are hundreds of names on those documents, on those agreements,” he said. “And the fact that Marvel is as close as we may ever get now to having access to all of the characters, is something I’ve been dreaming about for my almost 20 years at Marvel.”
We might not have a ton of information on some heroes’ next appearances, but I recently reported that Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld shared on Twitter he believes a third film starring the Merc with a Mouth will happen “soon!”