User blog comment:Rockman1216/The Fox Marvel dilemma/@comment-993964-20160105234835

So Disney/Marvel does all the work while Fox gets a free handout? I don't think so. The Sony deal was feasible because Spiderman is one of Marvel's most popular franchise, even if they don't cash in from distribution and selling tickets from stand alone movies, Marvel still profits from selling merchandise like toys, comics, and t-shirts, as well as the appeal of having spidey in avengers movies. F4 is nowhere as popular as Spidey. It's best financially for Marvel to wait it out, if there is a contract expiration, or some sort of sweetened deal like they give back the rights to f4 if they do some avengers/x-men crossover movie. Though I would dread when the mcu canonized the constant retconning and not very good Fox's X-men universe.