Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch conundrum (?)
Ok, I think I’ve spotted a problem in the Marvel Movie-verse. Someone check me to see if I’m right because, to my knowledge, no one else has picked up on this…
*Before I get into it: SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS! ok, now that that’s over…*
Here’s the thing… Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch appear in Days of Future Past as well as the Winter Soldier. In X-Men, Quicksilver is a relatively young man, recruited in “the past”. It’s not the 60s, because Quicksilver is wearing headphones, so it’s probably the early 80s, based on when the original story was published, but, also because the characters don’t appear too much older than when they appeared in First Class.
Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch ALSO appear in the post-scene in the Winter Soldier. “The Twins”, as they’re called, do not appear to be twins in the stills from Days of Future Past that I have seen. Wanda is clearly younger, by several years, than Pietro. This leads to several obvious questions:
A) HOW CAN THEY BE TWINS?!?!
B) If they play a significant role in Days of Future Past, do they get captured during the course of the film and turned over to S.H.I.E.L.D./Hydra?
C) If so, what makes them think that they’re twins?
D) Am I over thinking this? Should I just see them as two different sets of characters in two different franchises with two different studios and leave it at that? Or,
E) Have I just found a continuity bomb that will explode all over the internet in a month?
We shall see...
Comments
FOX and Disney don't play together but legally share a few characters.
M
I'm sorry. I'll let myself out now...
The contracts stated that Fox would have access to the characters created within the X-Men comics up until that point and after. The contracts featured a long list of X-Men characters Fox had compiled that would fall under their license. The ambiguous part of the contracts stated Fox would also have the rights to use any other character closely associated with the X-Men that aided in them telling the story they wanted to tell.
According to Kevin Feige, there are a few characters who fall into a legal gray area, but not many of them. Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are 2 of them. From what I remember, the duo weren't listed along with those other characters in the contracts, which puts them in said grey area. Even though Fox didn't list them, they fall into the category of characters closely associated with the X-Men. That allows Fox to use them without legal ramifications from Marvel Studios. That being said, because Fox never claimed them in the contracts, Marvel Studios is also able to use them without legal ramifications from Fox.
The Skrulls are also characters that both Fox and Marvel Studios can use. I don't know the facts behind the Fantastic Four deal, or how similar it is to the X-Men deal, but it's pretty much the same thing. They're up for grabs.
Viper/Madame HYDRA is yet another character in that grey area. As we know, Viper was a major character in The Wolverine, as well as in Fox's Nick Fury telefilm from the 90's. Viper wasn't created in the X-Men comics and wasn't listed with the other characters in the contracts, but she is closely associated with Wolverine. That allows Fox to use her, even though they don't explicitly own the rights to her.
As for Marvel Studios, Viper was created in the Captain America comics and I believe made most of her appearances in Avengers related titles. I believe this makes her part of the Captain America license. This allows both studios to use her, though Fox can't use her Madame HYDRA moniker.
I don't have a problem with it myself, but I could see audiences being confused by the two different set of characters who are supposed to be the same, but will be different in the two movies. It easy to think that because of those similar characters people will try to make connections between the two movie universes when there isn't one.
A properly-seasoned geek can come up with an explanation for any anomaly.
Fox is barely using Pietro and not using Wanda at all, while Marvel is making them central characters in Age of Ultron and probably future films.
M
Their exposure to the public is at least doubled, as they wouldn't be able to produce that many additional movies per year.
Notice that all the licensed features still feature the Marvel logo in every preview.
It all builds brand awareness.
Most non-geeks don't even realize it's not all one big franchise.
And there are certainly royalties involved as well.
While, as a fan, I'd love to see Marvel able to incorporate their "orphaned" characters into the MCU, I doubt their accounting department is crying over the arrangement.