Fox Confirms X-MEN TV Series in Negotiations

A fiver says it'll be called Westchester.

TV Insider has word that negotiations are in process for a possible X-Men television series, based on the Marvel Comics superteam created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.  This follows on rumors since last fall that the project was in development.

"It's in negotiations," Fox Entertainment chairman Gary Newman confirmed.  "We're cautiously optimistic, we had a good meeting with (Marvel).  That will not be on a fast track creatively.  This is just the deal, now we have to find the creative."

The problem is, while 20th Century Fox controls the film rights to the X-Men characters, the comic itself is owned by Marvel, which is now owned by Fox's rival Disney.  A live-action television series would require Marvel's approval.  According to the article, the talks are focusing on deal points first, so there's no writer and no firm concept yet, although online speculation claims the series might be based on the X-Men spinoff comic series X-Factor.) In addition, because the possible series will take time to develop, Newman doesn't believe a show would be ready before the 2016-2017 TV season.

Simon Kinberg, writer of the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past, told Collider last April that an X-Men TV franchise was just a matter of time.  "We're still in this place of figuring out what the future of the franchise will be," said Kinberg, "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."

This would be the second time the X-Men will appear in live-action on television, after Fox aired the Generation X TV movie in 1996, which was based on the X-Men spinoff comic that included past and present X-Men members Banshee, Emma Frost, Jubilee and M.  In addition, the much-beloved X-Men animated series aired on Fox for five seasons from 1992-97.