The Real Reason Disney Bought Fox, and It's Not Marvel-Related

When Disney bought Fox, many assumed the move was done just so they could get the X-Men and Fantastic Four in the MCU. This hasn't proven to be the case since Kevin Feige keeps telling fans that we won't be seeing the characters anytime soon (suuuuure Kevin). Well, during an interview with CNBC (via Yahoo), Disney revealed the real reason they bought 21^st Century Fox and it makes a ton of sense in hindsight.

Bob Iger confirmed to CNBC that they bought Fox so that Disney+ would have more streaming content. Since the company likely knew that old Disney Channel shows and some classic films weren't enough to entice viewers, getting shows like The Simpsons on the program is a huge plus to get the people buying into this service.

Here is Iger's full statement:

We would have have done [the Fox] transaction had we not decided to go in this direction. Because if we hadn't, we would have been looking at that business through a traditional lens: "Oh, we're buying TV channels. We're buying more movie-making capability," etc. But by the time the acquisition opportunity came up, and we knew we were going in this [streaming] space, we evaluated what we were buying through this new lens of "Wow, what would National Geographic mean to us?"

To be fair, having shows like The Simpsons exclusively showing on your streaming service ensures a huge boost in viewers. Add original movies and some Marvel shows, it's clear that we will be getting a ton more Fox content when Disney needs to spike up sales.

Disney+ launches on November 12.

Read: The Simpsons is Surprisingly Open About Disney Being Their Corporate Overlords