Marvel/ABC and DC/Warner Bros. are currently killing it in the TV realm and now Fox wants a bigger piece of the action for itself.  Back in April 2014, Simon Kinberg hinted at the possibility of X-Men moving over to the small screen.  Here's what he told Steve then:

“We’re still in this place of figuring out what the future of the franchise will be, 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 partly because there’s just not enough screens to do all these characters, and also because the serialized format of comic books is better suited for TV. Because that’s it, every week you come back to the same characters different story, and in comic books every week it’s the same characters, different story.

 

I think what [Fox is] seeing now is with the proliferation of new kinds of visual and special effects, there’s a way to make these stories that doesn’t cost $300 million every time you have to make a huge movie.”

x-men-days-of-future-past-fassbender-jackman-hoult

Now, according to TV Insider, Fox is trying to put the benefits of the medium to use and is in the very early stages of development on a live-action X-Men TV series.  The thing is, 20th Century Fox only has the film rights to the material.  Fox will need to get the OK from Marvel, based at rival company Disney, in order to use the characters for the series.

Here’s what Fox Entertainment Chairmen Gary Newman told the outlet about the status of the negotiations:

"We're cautiously optimistic, we had a good meeting with them.  That will not be on a fast track creatively.  This is just the deal, now we have to find the creative.”

It’s nice to hear that Newman has a positive outlook on the arrangement, but even if the deal does go through, it’ll be a while before we actually get to see the X-Men show.  At the moment, there are no creatives involved, so Newman thinks the show won’t be ready before the 2016-2017 TV season.

In the meantime, Fox still has Gotham going strong and all set to return for a second season. The show averages 10.6 million viewers and is the top broadcast drama among men 18-49 and 18-34.

x-men-days-of-future-past-hugh-jackman-michael-fassbender-james-mcavoy-evan-peters
Image via 20th Century Fox