Well, here's the problem: the rights are all divvied up across multiple studios.

Marvel/Disney owns the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that's Iron Man, all the Avengers, SHELD, Daredevil etc.  They're the ones who REALLY made that interconnectivity work, the characters can pop up from movie to movie and build up a story that continues, and other studios want in on that fat cash.

20th Century Fox owns X-Men and Fantastic Four, and those flicks are sort of winding up (Apocalypse will be the last one before the reboot).  Those don't come out every year.  I don't know if there's EVER been a good Fantastic Four (except for The Incredibles), I haven't heard much fan anticipation for it, but clearly the studio is hoping for big success.  We'll see.

Marvel Comics literally cancelled the Fantastic Four comics in the new reboot, all the characters got resorted into other properties. the Thing joined Guardians Of The Galaxy, I think.  That's the benefit of the comics and the MCU, they can move characters and actors around.

Columbia owns Spider-Man.  Just Spider-Man, which is why the rebooted franchise was so dense with extra stuff, they were trying to build their own mini EU with all the villains (the Sinister Six).  If they sit on Spider-Man long enough, the rights will revert, which is why they did the reboot in the first place.  But the sequels make less and less money each go-around, which is probably why they worked out a sharing deal with Marvel.  Columbia isn't going to fully give up the rights, and Marvel would be fools to give away the rights to their current and very-popular Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen characters, which the **** fans would rather see.  I don't think audiences are particularly interested in any more Spider-Man flicks.

Since DC is owned fully by WB, Warner is making all those movies: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern Corps, etc.  This worked GREAT for them on TV because they had a pipeline going, but they don't seem to have that in movies like Marvel does.  They do seem to be building up momentum, finally, after the horrible Man Of Steel, Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad look... interesting.  But I can't imagine parents taking their kids to Suicide Squad, and Batman V Superman looks dark enough for some parents to say "I don't think so."  MCU movies are far more inclusive, which means more tickets sold.

Universal is the only company that doesn't do superheroes.  They're also the biggest earning movie studio, and have been for 15 years.  So they have NO need to get into the game.  But they still do big movies; Fast 7, Jurassic World, etc.

But a huge thing is that movies have to be events now, they need to be big and important enough to get people out of the house and into the cinema.  They don't even have to be big, they have to be an event.  Dramas, original stories, and so on don't feel important, so that's left to TV, who are happy to pick up the slack.  Anything new or interesting in terms of movies will probably come from VOD services like Netflix or Amazon.

And it's worth pointing out that all these comics are OLD.  Old old old.  It's near impossible to conceive a genuinely new, interesting hero (there was almost a superhero arms race in the 60s, every superhero that could be was, only the strong survived and those are the ones we know today), and just as tough to launch one.  So as audience interest wanes, we could see the rights for Spider-Man, X-Men and Fantastic Four lapse back to MCU/Disney, then we'll have a two-sided thing and there will be more spacing between titles and things might die down a bit.  Maybe.

Are they not making this TV shows because the fans want them, or the studio's doing this with a blind eye.

I've heard over time the big picture (as you guys describe) and how it's a progressive nature. I guess bottom line for me, I'm not nearly the film geek like some folks are. This far range plan just doesn't matter to me. I barely shrug as next years walking dead or the 106th sequel to Fast and Furious. Far reaching interlaced stories are not in my wheelhouse.

Far too many things would have to align for something like that to happen.  Just getting Spider-Man in the MCU required a buttload of extra work, and that's ONE character.

MCU and DCCU combining?  WAY too many chefs in the kitchen, too many different people to appease, and since the profits would be split down the middle?  Too much work, not enough reward.  MUCH simpler movies that both parties WANT to get made don't get past this stage.  A friend of mine was on a TV show that was quite popular and got cancelled because the rightsholders started disagreeing on sh*t.

Well, the reason why I brought it up is that Marvel and DC Heroes can only fight the same Villains over and over before it runs its course. Now you have to mix it up and crossover to make things more interesting for both the characters and of course the viewer. Yes, I understand the logistical nightmare of two companies merging for a payday, but I think it could actually happen if there is a chance for a guaranteed $1 Billion + cash windfall of a dying genre. Granted, this is 15 years into the future. It still has legs at the moment.

RedLetterMedia did a great video about all these superhero movies, as well as maybe my favourite observation about geek culture: "it's cool to say you're a nerd, it's not cool to actually BE a nerd!"

It's nuts.

A HUGE red flag is that they made the movie "for the wrong reasons."  Has there ever been a Fantastic Four movie that was made because the studio wanted a good Fantastic Four movie?  No.  It's always been about protecting the rights.  It's why they're making a sequel!  Yes, Fant4stic is getting a sequel.  And I'm sure the actors are locked in for another one, though I'm sure NO ONE wants to go back and do another one.  Maybe the new creative side can find a way to salvage it.  Maybe not.

Collider talks about this, I watched this a few days ago, most telling bit at the five minute mark:


I will say that Fant4stic is one of the many recent cr*p films (alongside Pixels and Vacation) that I think will provide really interesting notes.



The stuff about Doug Liman, that dude is notorious for the way he makes movies, he just films until the money runs out, then raises more money, films more, etc, there are SEVERAL wrap parties on each of his films... plus he keeps recasting parts, adding stuff in and cutting stuff out.  I kept hearing that Fant4stic feels like it's missing a reel, and I had that EXACT reaction to Mr & Mrs Smith, because that movie just abruptly ends, plus there's all these set-ups that are just forgotten about.

Fox has no choice, they gotta keep making these movies.

I wrote a blog post about all these problems and "solutions" when Fan4stic came out, when everyone was trying to write their own Fantastic Four movies.  Maybe worth a look, if you like.   just don't have the energy or time to write out the bullet points yet again.