When it comes to the X-Men, Chris Claremont is a bonafide legend. The British-born writer is revered for his tenure with Marvel Comics, particularly when the X-Men are concerned. Claremont worked on the Uncanny X-Men between 1975-1991 and created dozens of strong, uncompromising female leads such as Rogue. For many readers, Claremont is the man who transformed the X-Men into one of the comic industry’s biggest names, but that reputation has dimmed somewhat over the last few years.

And, if you ask Claremont why that is, he will point his fingers to Hollywood.

Bleeding Cool had a chance to speak with Claremont about his work on X-Men and asked the writer what advice he’d give to Marvel to help them make the team competitive again. Claremont said the franchise’s slow demise has “nothing to do with comic sales” and “everything to do with the fact that the film rights are controlled by a rival corporation.”

“I guarantee you that if 10 years ago, when Marvel was approached by Disney, if the X-Men film rights were owned by Marvel Studios and not Fox, the X-Men would probably still be the paramount book in the canon,” he said. “the reason for the emphasis on the other titles is because Marvel / Disney control the ancillary film rights whereas all the film rights for the FF- the Fantastic Four – and the X-Men are controlled by Fox who has no interest in the comic books.”

Claremont continued, saying, “I think the corporate publishing attitude is: ‘why would we go out of our way to promote a title that will benefit a rival corporation’s films when we could take that same energy and enthusiasm and focus and do it for our own properties?’”

Of course, Claremont’s observations ring true for many fans. Comic book readers began question whether Marvel Studios was intentionally devesting their time in non-Marvel Cinematic Universe franchises to sabotage studios like 20th Century Fox. For instance, when Marvel Comics published Death of Wolverine in 2014, fans were convinced the publisher did so to spite their rival. Those rumors only grew when Marvel began touting the Inhumans as a sort of X-Men filler franchise to mixed success.

There are also fans who solely blame Fox’s inability to produce a quality X-Men cinematic franchise. The studio wowed fans when they debuted the original X-Men film, but their spin-offs have failed to live up to expectations. These days, the mutants are more likely to be mocked for their wonky continuity than praised for their progressiveness. When you combine the franchise’s lackluster reputation with Fox’s recent Fantastic Four bomb, fans have little reason to believe the studio will help return the X-Men to their once touted mantle.

For creators like Claremont, the whole ordeal is a shame. The writer is also a fan of the series, and his opinions on the frigid relationship between Fox/Marvel are shared by many.

“It’s purely a matter of ownership,” he lamented. “If at some point Fox decides that the X-Men properties are no longer lucrative I’m sure that they will cut a deal with Disney. But I also expect that the deal they would want to cut would be extra-ordinarily expensive and Disney or Marvel might just as easily say “screw it” we love the X-Men but we are not going to hurt ourselves to get it because we have our other properties that we own that are doing far better. If you want to give it back or take a reasonable deal that’s one thing, if you’re just going to go crazy - screw you.”

[H/T] Bleeding Cool